Patent ID: 7902690

Claim:
An energy recovery apparatus for mounting on a structure to recover energy from air movement caused by vehicles passing under the structure, the energy recovery apparatus comprising: a support assembly for mounting on the structure; a rotating assembly rotatably mounted on the support assembly, the rotating assembly including a rotating frame and a plurality of blades mounted on the frame such that the blades are free to be rotated by air movement caused by vehicle movement adjacent to the structure when the apparatus is mounted on the structure; and a generator operatively connected to the rotating assembly to be driven by rotation of the rotating assembly, the generator generating electrical power when rotated by connection to the rotating assembly; wherein the support assembly is configured so that, when the support assembly is mounted on the structure, the rotating assembly is rotatable about a substantially horizontal axis and the rotating assembly is supported in a position characterized by substantially an entirety of the rotating assembly being located above a plane, the plane including a lowermost surface of the structure and extending substantially parallel to a road surface under the structure.