On January 6th of this year, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office awarded a patent (U.S. Patent 8,925,313) protecting the innovative design and technology behind the low-cost and ultra-simple Spindrift Wave Energy Device. On March 26th, the Japanese Patent Office also granted patent protection. Remaining international patents are still pending.
Prototype buoy and tube that will be tested at sea in summer of 2015.
With funding provided by the California Energy Commission, Spindrift Energy has completed the fabrication of its first power-generating prototype. Preparations are now complete for prototype testing at sea, this June, off the coast of Santa Barbara, California.
A Spindrift Energy device consists of a buoy rigidly connected to a deeply submerged tube. The buoy’s movement in response to passing waves, drives the attached tube up and down through the still water deep beneath the waves. As water surges back and forth through the submerged tube, it passes through a bi-directional Venturi tube, which amplifies the water’s speed. At the point where the water is flowing most quickly, a turbine extracts its power, which is then transfered by shaft to a generator inside the buoy.
