One of the biggest criticisms against wind turbines is that they aren’t usually nice to look at, but that may be about to change thanks to the French company NewWind. Their new device, Tree Vent, is an array of vertical wind turbines that look a lot like a tree. 

Though the tree looks like a piece of modern art that would fit in at any urban area, it also provides a very important function. Each tree has a current power output of 3.1 kilowatts, which might not be able to power much on its own. However, using several of the trees together as landscape features in a park or along a roadside would make more of an impact to the homes and buildings nearby.

Each turbine “sheet,” called an Aeroleaf, is constructed out of lightweight plastic. The plastic has been treated with a resin which protects it from weather conditions such as humidity and salt (for areas close to the sea). The turbines are wired in parallel so that if one stops working for whatever reason, the others will not be affected.

For those wanting a Tree Vent for themselves, you are going to have to wait a bit longer. They aren’t due to go into mass production until the summer of 2016 and will initially only be available in France and other proximal European countries. There is no word on when or if they plan to extend the product into the United States. The approximate price of each tree will be about €29,500 (US$35,000), though that price will hopefully decrease as production becomes less expensive and the technology is further developed.

nanonews.net