Boston Museum of Science Test Turbines
Boston’s Museum of Science, in partnership with the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust, is installing the nation’s first museum-based rooftop Wind Turbine Lab this summer. As the centerpiece of its new “Catching the Wind” exhibit, the museum began installation of nine wind turbines of five different types in April. The turbines will range in size from…
Boston’s Museum of Science, in partnership with the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust, is installing the nation’s first museum-based rooftop Wind Turbine Lab this summer.
As the centerpiece of its new “Catching the Wind” exhibit, the museum began installation of nine wind turbines of five different types in April. The turbines will range in size from seven feet tall to 40 feet tall. The museum will investigate their strengths and weaknesses by monitoring local wind conditions and wind power generation data.
“This is a giant science experiment,” says David Rabkin, director for current science and technology at the Museum. “No one has tested five different small turbines in a rooftop laboratory. Despite a year of collecting wind data, we still don’t really know how much power they will generate. Although there’s lots of interest in small-scale wind turbines, we found little data on their performance and impact.”
SOURCE: Boston Museum of Science
