Wind power just became a lot more accessible.
Canadian company Aurea has developed a portable wind turbine that fits in your backpack. Called Shine, it weighs just three pounds, it’s about the size of a water bottle, and it can charge any USB device, or up to four phones (though not at the same time). The turbine is shaped a bit like a mini Zeppelin. It features three gently curved blades that fold out like flower petals and a collapsible tripod that is stored inside. The product launched on Kickstarter last year and on Indigogo last week. It has raised over $270,000 so far and will be shipping in a matter of months–just in time for camping season.
Humans have been harnessing the wind for centuries, but it has always required massive infrastructure, be it windmills or wind turbines. In recent years, engineers and designers alike have taken it upon themselves to reinvent the technology by playing with scale and form (thinkwind turbines integrated into wallsorgiant grids made of tiny turbines). But Aurea’s founders had a different goal in mind: Make wind power portable.[Photo: courtesy Aurea Technologies]When Aurea was first started in 2017, the concept began as a grid of small-scale wind turbines that could be incorporated into building facades. The turbines would be positioned in such a way that each one of them would funnel air into the next, creating a mini-tunnel effect that would increase the amount of energy produced. But stringent building codes and complications around how the system would connect to the grid made it difficult to commercialize with the funds they had available, so the founders took what they learned and scaled it down to a handheld, portable device.
For now, Shine’s lifespan is about five years, or roughly 1,000 battery cycles, but the founders are exploring the possibility of a removable battery that could simply be replaced at the end of its life. And in case you’re wondering why a wind turbine bears a name that would’ve been more suited to a solar panel: “Shine is meant to reflect not its function but rather its value and what it’s giving to the end user,” Adaley says. “It enables you to shine outdoors.”