Wind Power F.A.Qs
Posted by Laird on Jul 13, 2008
How does Wind Turbines work?
A wind-Turbine generator installed on top of a tower or your home that will convert the kinetic energy in the wind into electricity to be used in a home’s electrical system.
In a typical residential application, a home is served simultaneously by the wind-Turbine generator and a local utility (or if you have a bi power wind/solar power system). If the wind speeds are below “cut-in speed” (8 mph) there will be no output from the generator and all of the needed power is purchased from the utility or . As wind speeds increase, the Turbine output increases and the amount of power purchased from the utility is proportionately decreased. When the Turbine produces more power than the house needs, the meter spins backwards creating a “credit” that can be used later. All of this is done automatically without any interaction by the homeowner. Batteries are not required with a Bi energy setup.
Can I run my wind turbine along side my Solar panels?
Yes you can combine both Wind & Solar power inputs to work together with your local utility.
Will A Wind turbine save me money?
Depending on the wind speed average and the amount of energy consumed every month, a turbine typically lowers a household electricity bill by 30% to 80%. It is not uncommon for Turbine owners with total-electric homes to have monthly utility bills of only $8 to $15 for nine months of the year. The amount of money a micro turbine saves you in the long run will depend upon its installed cost, the amount of electricity you use, the average wind speed at your site, and other factors.
Will it help the environment if I install a Wind turbine at my home?
Because a wind powered turbine is a renewable energy source, produces no pollution, and uses wind power, you will be offsetting pollution that would have been generated by your utility company. Over its life, a turbine can offset more than 6000 pounds of global warming pollutants (carbon dioxide and other gases that are associated with global warming) every year.
Does a turbine create and sound or interfere with TV reception?
A Micro turbine is extremely quiet and makes a small amount of operating sound similar to the level of a small office. It generally cannot be heard over typical background noise such as the sound of the wind. Turbines does not interfere with TV reception.
Is a wind turbine dangerous to birds?
While no formal studies have been done, anecdotal evidence indicates that birds occasionally collide with small wind generators as they do with any other type of structure. However, such events are very rare.
Should my neighbours be concerned about safety if install a wind turbine ?
No. our turbines design was done in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratories. As part of this project, extensive computer modelling and field testing was done to ensure a safe design. All of Turbine testing was done to internationally accepted standards for small wind safety and reliability. Your neighbours’ who may have some concerns about safety may appreciate the following information:
Tower stability: Thousands of small wind generators are installed in the U.S. every year and their safety track record is excellent. Trees are much more likely to fall than a properly installed turbine, but no setbacks or minimum property sizes are required for trees.
Safety of utility repair personnel during a power outage: In accordance to IEEE and UL, our turbines will automatically shut down in the event of a power outage, and will not energize a dead power line. This is necessary to protect the utility line repair person.
Ice shed from rotor blades: Ice buildup makes wind turbines blades less aerodynamic, so that they turn more slowly. Typically, ice will drop to the base of the generator tower and is not dangerous.
Children and towers: In terms of educating children about not climbing structures, a small wind generator should be treated no differently than other climbable structures such as water towers or amateur radio antennas.
Will a Wind turbine damage neighbouring property values?
No. With thousands of small wind generators installed today in the U.S., there has never been any evidence to support this claim. Actually, there are several survey sources that indicate otherwise.
Will my utility allow me to hook up a Wind turbine?
Yes. Federal regulations (specifically, the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978, or PURPA) require utilities to connect with and purchase power from small wind energy systems. Your dealer should be able to help arrange the required utility company approvals.
Will my local government allow me to install a Wind turbine?
A Large wind turbine is a structure that normally requires a building permit. Zoning regulations often limit the height, placement, and other characteristics of “appurtenant” structures, so a conditional (special) use permit or variance may be necessary.
Will I have to change any of the wiring in my house?
No. Our turbines can easily be installed at any existing home without the need to change any wiring or appliances. In most cases, the utility will install a second utility meter to measure how much surplus electricity it is receiving from the generator owner.
What about towers?
Towers as short as 35 feet are available with our turbines. However in some circumstances, a taller tower may be necessary to raise the generator above turbulence created by obstacles on the ground and/or trees. Wind speed increases with height above ground, and increasing speed increases the amount of energy your generator will produce. Relatively small investments in increased tower height can yield high rates of return in energy production. A rule of thumb for proper and efficient operation of a Turbine suggests that the generator should be 20 feet (6 meters) above the top of anything within 300 feet (about 100 meters).
Wind belt generator
Posted by Laird on Jul 6, 2008
Shawn Frayne invented an inexpensive non turbine wind generator called the wind belt. I have no specs other than what you see on the video. I imagine it’s use on the roof of an electric car but obviously it can be used anywhere there is wind. The bennefit is that it is very inexpensive to build as opposed to a standard turbine wind generator.
The fan simulates the wind which moves the belt which moves the magnets through the coils to make electricity to power the clock and LEDs. I don’t know how much the output voltage is.
The Windbelt is a device for converting wind power to electricity. A windbelt is essentially an aeolian harp except that it exploits to motion of the string produced by the the aeroelastic flutter effect to move a magnet closer and farther from one or more electromagnetic coil(s) and thus inducing current in the wires that make up the coil.
A famous example of aeroelasticity is the fall of the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which became known as Galloping Gertie and is commonly shown to engineering, architecture, and physics students as a cautionary tale.
Prototypes of the device are claimed to be ten-to-thirty times more efficient than wind microturbines, even though greater than 100% efficiency is not physically possible. One prototype has successfully powered two LEDs, a radio, and a clock using wind generated from a household fan. The cost of the materials was well under US$10, giving a savings of 10s of dollars per watt.
UK TO ADD 7,000 MORE WIND TURBINES
Posted by Laird on Jun 6, 2008
UK Government plans will see up to 7,000 new wind farms built offshore before 2020
Up to 7,000 wind turbines are to be built off the coast, according to Government plans unveiled yesterday.
The $160billion proposal would see the equivalent of two turbines going up every day until 2020, making it one of the biggest engineering projects in recent history.
Government Ministers said the plans - which include a massive wind farm a few miles off the World Heritage ‘Jurassic Coast’ in Dorset - were essential to meet EU green energy targets.
Britain already has seven sea farms producing up to half a gigawatt of electricity. In total, the UK has 2,032 turbines on and offshore, producing up to 2.5gigawatts. Another five offshore farms are under construction, while a further 159 onshore and 14 offshore farms have been approved. The extra 7,000 wind turbines would treble the capacity of Britain’s wind farms to 33gigawatts - enough for 20million homes.
By comparison, Britain’s existing coal, gas, nuclear and hydroelectric power stations can produce up to 75gigawatts.
Eleven potential sites were named by the Crown Estate, which owns the sea bed around the UK, after a study of geology, wind strengths and shipping lanes. They include one ten miles off the Dorset and South Devon coast, between Dartmouth and Weymouth, and others off East Sussex, Cardigan Bay in Wales, the Irish Sea off Cumbria and the North Sea off Norfolk.
Energy firms will bid to build the turbines, which rise 300ft above sea level and usually stand in water less than 100ft deep. A Crown Estate spokesman said: ‘They are not likely to be visible from the shore. ‘These sites are purely indicative. An environmental assessment still has to be done.’ Over a year, a typical wind turbine works at around 35 per cent of its capacity, averaging out the times when it is at full power against calm periods when it is idle. Half the pre-construction costs of the farms would be met by the Crown Estate.
WIND POWER IN THE UK: FACTS AND FIGURES
- The UK has 2,032 wind turbines on land and at sea, producing up to 2.5 gigawatts of electricity.
- If every turbine worked at full capacity, that’s enough electricity for 1.4 million homes.
- Another 159 onshore and 14 offshore wind farms have been approved which will add another 6.5 gigawatts.
- The new round of offshore turbines will bring the total capacity to 33 gigawatts - enough, in theory, for more than 20 million homes.
- Britain’s existing coal, gas, nuclear and hydroelectric power stations can produce up to 75 gigawatts of electricity.
- To meet EU targets, around 40 per cent of electricity - or 30 gigawatts - will need to come from renewables by 2020.
- A typical offshore wind turbine rises 300 feet above the water. It is usually built in water less than 100 feet deep.
- The Crown Estate estimates that the new round of offshore turbines will cost $160 billion.
- Some could be six miles from the shore. However, the Crown Estate says they will not be intrusive.
- Critics of wind turbines complain that they are unsightly, unreliable and cannot meet peak surges in electricity demand.
Build a Homemade Wind Generator
Posted by Laird on May 19, 2008
Build a Homemade Wind Generator
Here at the Living Off the Grid homestead we like challenges. Our challenge here was to build a Homemade Wind Generator that satisfied the following criteria for design, and teach you how to build it efficiently while having fun too.
My wife Jane, our 12 year old son Andre’ and myself all took part in the challenge, and we have, after many months of work come up with a design that meets All of the above criterion. With our 15 years of experience living off the Grid with renewable energy we have seen many different wind generator designs. We think these plans are the very best plans available on the ‘net’, when cost, ease of assembly, and the short time frame to achieve the desired results are all considered.
Your Homemade Wind Generator can be built for under $100 usd and will produce 1000 watts of power
You will find FREE wind towers and batteries!
You will find FREE wind generator blades- built in an hour!
You will build your own FREE Battery Desulfator
The plans are easy to read and follow
You will match your generator motor to your blades
This is an Original design for the homemade wind generator
-Must be made from readily available material
Must be easy to build and assemble
Tough enough to endure the tough Canadian climate
Your home made wind generator will look good!
Protect your new wind generator from damaging high winds with a simple tilt-up or pilot vane system
And we make this promise to you: these plans do meet the preceding requirements, but it does take some work on your part. You bought these plans because you presumably didn’t want to spend over $2500 for a wind generator. These plans offer many solutions to the challenge above, use your own imagination too.
Click here to get started
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Domestic Wind Power
Posted by Laird on May 19, 2008
Domestic Wind Power
Wind power is taking off in a big way worldwide, in both giant utility-scale installations and small-scale turbines intended to power a single home. Remote off-grid dwellers are finding wind power an excellent supplement to solar during cloudy weather, and enjoying the extra freedom that more power input gives, especially after dark or during cloudy weather. On-grid folks are installing home wind turbines to offset rising power costs, and even selling extra power back to the utility.
Wind has been the world’s fastest growing renewable energy source for the last seven years, and this trend is expected to continue with falling costs of wind energy and the urgent international need to tackle CO2 emissions to prevent climate change.Wind power has come of age. It is now actually cheaper to generate electricity from the wind that it is from coal or nuclear fuelled power stations, and advances in technology are pulling the expanding wind industry into direct cost competition with gas. Wind energy already supplies 17,000MW worldwide - enough electricity for more than 10million households. Capacity is expected to grow by 25per cent per annum over the next few years.
Grid-connected power
Grid-connected wind turbines may use grid energy storage, displacing purchased energy with local production when available. Off-grid system users either adapt to intermittent power or use batteries, photovoltaic or diesel systems to supplement the wind turbine.
Small wind generation systems with capacities of 100 kW or less are usually used to power homes, farms, and small businesses. Isolated communities that otherwise rely on diesel generators may use wind turbines to displace diesel fuel consumption. Individuals purchase these systems to reduce or eliminate their electricity bills, or simply to generate their own clean power.
Wind turbines have been used for household electricity generation in conjunction with battery storage over many decades in remote areas. Increasingly, U.S. consumers are choosing to purchase grid-connected turbines in the 1 to 10 kilowatt range to power their whole homes. Household generator units of more than 1 kW are now functioning in several countries, and in every state in the U.S.
In urban locations, where it is difficult to obtain predictable or large amounts of wind energy, smaller systems may still be used to run low power equipment. Equipment such as parking meters or wireless internet gateways may be powered by a wind turbine that charges a small battery, replacing the need for a connection to the power grid.
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