A Vietnamese man in the southern province of Ben Tre has received a certificate of patent issued by the Vietnam National Office of Intellectual Property for his pumpkin-shaped wind generator.

The machine created by Tran Thanh Thanh, from Binh Dai District, has also received an award from the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union for creative inventions.

The pumpkin-shaped wind generator has a two-meter-diameter and 10 blades which help it to catch wind from many directions.

The wind energy is then stored in a battery before it goes through a power inverter to be transformed into 220V electricity for usage.

The machine is strong enough to run household items such as lights, fans, a television, and an iron.

“Each house only needs one machine of this kind and it will have enough power for household items,” Thanh said.

“A generator costs VND15 million (US$706) (not to mention the shipping fee), has a five-year warranty and can work for 10 years. However, the life of this machine could be longer if it is maintained regularly,” he added.

Thanh said that the idea of making a wind generator came to him while he was riding an electric bike.

The bike ran out of battery, but regained power after he pedaled for a while.

Thinking that his movements could create power, Thanh was encouraged to research and build a wind generator to use on days when the national grid has problems, although people told him he was just wasting his time.

Many businesses have asked Thanh to cooperate with them to produce his pumpkin-shaped wind generator to sell, but he wants to take out a bank loan to set up his own business and sell the machine.