“Last month we reported on Apple and Google being the top tech leaders in harnessing solar energy,” Jack Purcher reports for Patently Apple.
“In a new patent application published by the US Patent Office this morning, we discover that Apple has invented a new on-demand system to harness stored wind energy,” Purcher reports. “More specifically, Apple’s patent relates to techniques for storing rotational energy from a wind turbine as heat and using the stored heat to subsequently generate electricity on demand.”
“Apple’s invention provides a system that generates electricity. During operation, the system uses a set of rotating blades to convert rotational energy from a wind turbine into heat in a low-heat-capacity fluid,” Purcher reports. “Next, the system selectively transfers the heat from the low-heat-capacity fluid to a working fluid. Finally, the system uses the transferred heat in the working fluid to generate electricity.”
More info, including Apple’s patent application illustrations and diagrams, in the full article here.
