Flow concept turns wind into light with novel bamboo turbine
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At the tip of each bamboo blades is an LED module that lights up when the vertical turbine catches the wind
Diagram of how designer Alberto Vasquez expects Flow to be constructed
Flow features bamboo blades that spiral around a vertical axis, with a low-energy LED lighting module sitting at either end of each bamboo wind blade
Close up of the bamboo wind blades, which Vasquez says will hold the wind from every direction
A work of art as well as functional street lighting, Flow's design has been kept simple so that it can be assembled by an unskilled local workforce
The Flow vertical turbine concept features bamboo blades with an LED at each tip to provide light whenever the wind blows
Grid-powered street lighting is something that many of us take for granted, but there are parts of the world where electricity is a scarce resource and when the sun goes down, local pedestrian traffic in areas where public lighting is not abundant can all-but cease due to safety concerns. In searching for an inexpensive off-grid solution for places like the Colombian city of Cartagena, designer Alberto Vasquez looked to the wind for help. His Flow concept makes use of readily-available bamboo for the construction of a vertical wind turbine in a similar vein to the Power Flowers concept, but with LED light modules at the end of each blade. As the wind catches the blades, the LEDs light up the walkway beneath.
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