LED Lights Used to Demo Wind Turbine Behavior

Artist Patrick Marold from Denver, Colorado has created 1,000 polycarbonate poles topped by three aluminum cups. When turned by the wind, each powers a small built-in generator attached to an LED that sends light down into the shaft, thereby, displaying the wind's power. This Windmill Project is featured in an exhibition ("Human=Landscape") hosted by Burlington City Arts in conjunction with the ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center and the Energy Project Vermont.

This array of "turbines" maps the behavior of wind and allows us to visualize the resource's invisible potential.

These tiny wind turbines highlight a huge issue that has been spinning throughout Vermont: Should the State capture the wind to generate power or should Vermont avoid building turbines because they will ruin the view of the scenic mountain ridge lines?

This exhibit will be running through November 1, 2009. You can check out (a sampling of the windmills at ECHO's "Wind: Power & Play" showcase.  Get more information at: http://www.echovermont.org/programs/cafesci-topic9.html