For great tips and information on wind power kits, please visit: http://www.RenewableEnergyForUs.com
January 17, 2010
Almost every day, one can find an article online or on the news or in print about the environment, living “green”, pollution and the changing climate. While these articles deal with environmental issues on large scale perspectives, there are a number of aspects of the current state of the economy and environment that affect and are influenced by the average middle class citizen.
A good example of a current economic and environmental trend today is the growing popularity of the use of renewable energy sources to provide some if not all of the electrical power in private homes. While solar power is a very popular alternative renewable energy source, many people are also turning to wind power and wind generators to provide them with affordable electricity.
In many Midwest states, one can see examples of the large electric cooperatives using wind power to generate significant amounts of electricity. This wind power is produced by large “farms” of massive wind generators. These generators are essentially oversized propellers mounted on top of very tall towers. The wind turns the propellers which provides the kinetic energy which is turned into electricity.
All of these large generator farms are located in rural or semi rural areas. However, it is possible for people who live in towns and cities to have efficient wind generators. The residential wind generator is simply a downsized version of the larger generator. Most residential wind generators are mounted on top of 20 to 30 foot tall towers or on top of shorter towers mounted on the roof of the house. The tower is much less obtrusive than one would think and many are painted to blend in with the color scheme of the house. In some cases, zoning laws might restrict exactly how tall of a tower one may have, but in almost all cases the wind generator can be adapted to conform to the regulations.
Just as with solar panels, the wind generator can be tied into the house’s electrical system and can provide electrical power directly to the house. While it is not generally advisable to try to go off the grid with a wind generator, one will usually be surprised at how much power it can produce on even a fairly calm day. The power the wind generator provides will be applied as a credit on the house’s electric bill, and in many cases will be sufficient to zero out the bill. This can save a family thousands of dollars per year and also has the effect of reducing pollution by indirectly reducing the amount of fossil fuel needed to power the electrical grid.
In all, installing and using a residential wind generator is a smart move for financial and for environmental reasons. With the savings one will get from the reduction in utility costs, many people will be able to recover the cost of the system in the first year alone, and in some cases, there are tax credits available for people who make energy efficient improvements to their homes.
Filed under Vertical Wind Generator by on Jan 17th, 2010. Comment. 
January 11, 2010
The first part of the series explains how a home wind generator works and how you can generate electricity at home. Read more at www.home-wind-generator-plans.com
Filed under Vertical Wind Generator by on Jan 11th, 2010. Comment.
January 2, 2010
Applied Magnets is pleased to announce it’s low cost lineup of WindMax Hybrid Small Wind & Solar Power Generators.
The new line consists of the WINDMAX-HY06 600W Hybrid Solar-Wind System (generator, hub, 3 blades, tail , controller and one BP Solar 115W solar module) and the WINDMAX-HY11 1115W Hybrid Solar-Wind System (generator, hub, 3 blades, tail, controller and two BP 170w solar modules).
Both Hybrid wind/solar systems are compact & light weight with low start-up & cut-in speeds which begin producing power at 5.2 mph. These new systems are highly efficient, highly reliabile and encorporate state-of-the-art Electromagnetic Speed-Control.
The new WindMax Hybrid Wind & Solar Power Generators are also available as stand alone wind turbines in the WINDMAX-H05 500W Max Power Wind Generators w/controller and Electromagnetic Speed Control, Blade Over-speed Braking with Hybrid Wind/Solar Output Capability, the WINDMAX-H08 775W Wind Generators w/controller, with Electromagnetic Speed Control, Blade Over-speed Braking with Hybrid Wind/Solar Output Capability, and the WINDMAX-H20 2kW Wind Generators with Electromagnetic Speed Control, Blade Over-speed Braking with Hybrid Wind/Solar Output Capability.
The Windmax H series Wind turbine system is the perfect choice in a smart investment for a renewable energy solution built on advanced technologies. The Windmax H series defines a new level of superior performance and reliability by using:
1. Strong Neodymium magnet PMA, the unique winding and multi pole design reduces the start-up torque of the alternator that assures the WINDMAX-H series can generate electricity at low wind speed.
2. Advanced aerodynamic braking by patent-pending low noise, nylon/reinforced fiber glass blades.
3. Electromagnetic over-speed control, no more problematic mechanical furling.
4. Integrated solar-wind hybrid power generation.
5. Innovative low maintenance two-moving-part system design.
6. Easy to Install, Light Weight and highly reliable.
7. Generator: The generator is built using high-performance rare earth neodymium permanent magnets, so the alternator is compact and light weight with a high power generating efficiency. Generator housing is made using precision cast technology from high strength aluminum to assure a high quality finish. It is designed for various working conditions such as severe climate, sand and salt corrosive environments and marine usage.
8. Rotor Blades: Advanced airfoil design to capture maximum wind energy. Made of mixed nylon and reinforced fiber glass materials using the latest advanced thermoplastic engineering and precision injection molding technology for high strength, flexibility and aerodynamic braking. The blades have exceptional consistency and aerodynamic outline with a mass distribution that ensures the rotors operate with nearly no noise and minimal vibration.
In summary, Windmax H series are the most well built, reliable, most efficient and cost-effective small wind turbines available on the market today.
The result: greater energy production yield and lowest ownership cost.
Design Features
Advanced over-speed control mechanism vs. old style furling
Problems with old style furling: Old style furling works well in an ideal, wind tunnel test environment. Realistically, wind speed and wind direction changes frequently and mechanical furling doesn’t have instantaneous response to actual changes of wind status. Especially in bad weather conditions, small wind turbine furling components wear out quickly, therefore, increases maintenance costs and shorten wind turbine service life or causes system failure.
Most of old style furling based wind turbines have three moving parts. It is the moving parts for mechanical over-speed protection that wear out and require a lot of maintenance. Operation of furling based wind turbines would lead to mechanical abrasion, cause vibration, malfunction, and failure of the wind turbine and other devastating results in the long run.
The rule of thumb for a reliable wind turbine is that the fewer the moving parts, the more reliable the wind turbine is.
The Windmax Solution: Windmax H series adopted Innovative over-speed control so it improves the reliability by abandoning the moving parts for mechanical over-speed protection and minimizing the moving parts to only two.
Innovative over-speed control design of the Windmax H series: The Windmax H series speed limitation abandoned the traditional failure-prone mechanical furling system and solved safety and reliability problems facing most small wind turbines. Advanced speed limitation of Windmax H series is achieved through advanced electromagnetic speed limitation supplemented by aerodynamic speed limitation by blade deformation. Electromagnetic braking is used in combination with Aerodynamic braking to reduce the rotational speed of the generator.
Combination of Electromagnetic braking and aerodynamic braking maximizes energy capture by extending Windmax H series turbine’s operating speed range into higher speed winds and lower speed winds which are missed by the old style wind turbines.
1. Electromagnetic speed limitation:
Controller will monitor the wind generator rotation through the wind generator output voltage and frequency, and will timely control wind generator rotation by generating reverse reluctance torque if necessary, according to different wind conditions and battery status. Electromagnetic control features quick response, high reliability and therefore ensures the entire control system to be highly reliable.
2. Blade aerodynamic braking:
In high wind speed conditions, patent pending blades will generate a reverse reluctance torque, so that the blade efficiency falls and the blade rotation speed starts to decline. With the continuing reluctance torque, blade rotation speed is limited to a certain range to prevent damage to the wind turbine blades.
Wind-solar hybrid power generation wind turbine system
Problem with single source renewable energy system:
1st Generation single source renewable energy systems such as solar systems or wind turbines don’t use renewable energy efficiently. Wind turbines creates less output during the summer, whereas during the winter the solar panels will produce less output.
Windmax Solution:
Our Windmax hybrid solar-wind turbine integrated wind and solar power sources capture the most energy in all conditions. Since solar and wind energy availability differs by locations, seasons and climates, solar and wind energy can be mutually complementary in that solar and wind hybrid systems make full use of wind and solar energy together to generate as much power as possible compared to a single energy source for power generation. A solar & wind hybrid system is more cost-efficient than wind or solar alone.
Easy-to-install, light weight, compact, reliable and maintenance-free wind turbines, designed for both land-based and marine applications.
Problem with old style wind turbine systems:
Most old style wind turbines are heavy weight with unpredictable reliability, hard to install and require lots of maintenance. Due to the fact that most installations are in very remote and inaccessible locations, the old style systems make regular maintenance costly and sometimes impractical.
Windmax Solution:
Windmax H series maintenance free design has a minimum of moving parts with inherent reliability. Our light weight, compact die-casting aluminum alloy generator design makes installation very easy. Rotor blades built with latest advanced thermoplastic engineering and precision injection molding technology is durable and efficient.
Higher performance at low wind speed
The problem with small wind turbine system on the market today: The most challenging problem facing small wind turbine systems is that power output is very low or close to nothing under low wind condition. The wind speed in most locations don’t stay at rated wind speed all the time, wind turbine actually operates at wind speed lower than rated wind speed at most of the time. In order to have good overall energy output, it is critical for small wind turbine to output as much as power at low wind speed.
The WindMax Solution: Strong Neodymium magnet PMA, unique winding and multi pole design reduces the start-up torque of the alternator that assures the WINDMAX-H series can generate electricity at low wind speed. WindMax system components such as wind generator and blades are designed to output more electricity at low wind speed than other small wind turbines on the market today. WindMax system’s excellent power output under low wind speed results in greater energy production yield and lowest ownership cost.
WindMax H series components are built with advanced technologies
Generator: The generator is built using high-performance rare earth neodymium permanent magnets, so the alternator is compact and light weight with a high power generating efficiency. The unique winding and multi pole design reduces the start-up torque of the alternator that assures the WINDMAX-H series can generate electricity at low wind speed. The generator features class B insulation, IP55 class protection, and is designed with a sufficient cushion of overload to ensure overall wind turbine reliability.
Generator housing is made with precision cast technology from high strength aluminum to assure a high quality finish. It is designed for various working conditions such as severe climate, sand and salt corrosive environments and marine usage. Aluminum die cast alloys can withstand the highest operating temperatures of all die cast alloys. Ideal for demanding environments, it offers high strength and rigidity along with good corrosion resistance and heat dissipation.
Patent pending Rotor Blade design vs. traditional hand made fiber glass blades: Our Blades are made with the latest thermoplastic engineering and injection mold technologies. The blades are made of mixed reinforced fiber glass and nylon materials. These manufacturing technologies ensure the highest strength, flexibility of blades and consistency of the blade shapes. The blades will automatically slow the turbine in strong winds and reduce noise.
A set of 3 Blades designed to capture as much wind energy as possible. Patented aerofoil blade design makes the system run much more efficiently and the rotor blades are made with the latest advanced thermoplastic engineering and precision injection molding technology.
The blades have exceptional consistency and aerodynamic outline with a mass distribution that ensures the rotors operate with nearly no noise and minimal vibration.
The blades feature lower start-up and cut-in speed and begin producing power at 2 m/s or 4.5 mph.
Solar/Wind Hybrid Charge Controller: A 16-bit microprocessor powered Solar/Wind Hybrid Charge Controller delivers electricity generated by both a wind turbine and a solar module into batteries. The controller has over-charge protection, low-voltage protection, pole-confusion protection and automatic dump-load function. The controller adopts the constant voltage charging mode-PWM, and it is reliable and safe with a highly efficient, long service life.
Main Features
1. PWM CV charging function protects the batteries
from being over charged and energy can be fully
utilized.
2.16-bit Microprocessor chip ensures accurate control.
3. Return difference control function in the charging
voltage detector of various circuits to prevent
vibration status of switches
4.Perfect protections: over charge protection, over
discharge protection, reverse connection protection,
solar cell panel reverse connection protection
5.Automatic brake and manual brake ensures that the
wind turbine and the PV & wind hybrid charging
controller operate safely and reliably
Starting at just $665.00 USD the new WindMax line offers great value to small wind turbine feild of entries and can be viewed at www.magnet4less.com
Allen Wang has been in the magnet and wind energy industry since 2002.
Filed under Vertical Wind Generator by on Jan 2nd, 2010. Comment.
December 31, 2009
The second part of the series talks about the parts you will need to build a home wind generator and where you can obtain them. Read more at www.home-wind-generator-plans.com
Filed under Vertical Wind Generator by on Dec 31st, 2009. Comment.
December 30, 2009
A lot has been said about our wind generators’ power over the past few years. Initially thought of as the answer to the worlds energy crisis, we soon realized how many turbines, and the vast amount of space that would actually be needed to power the world.
People are already up in arms about wind turbines ruining scenic landscapes, and environmentalists are worried about birds getting caught up in the blades. But what if there was a solution? An idea so revolutionary that it is hard to imagine…
It appears there is. Time magazine even named it one of the best inventions of 2008. It’s called the “Flying Electric Generator”.
So what is it?
The FEG is a type of “rotorcraft” that hovers above the ground and generates power from strong high altitude winds. But what’s amazing about it is that it is lifted by the wind. To keep it from flying off, it is tethered to the ground, from which the electric current is sent back down to earth.
As the FEG lifts higher, it reaches stronger winds, which enable it to produce more power. In fact, it has been said that these high altitude winds or jet streams are so strong that using just 1% of them could power the entire planet.
And when will it become operational?
So far the only demonstration of an operating FEG was done in Australia, where they used electricity to get it off the ground. The experiment was very successful, showing that even in light winds close to the ground, the FEG hovered there perfectly.
Next they plan to test a larger rotorcraft at 240kW tethered at up to 15,000ft. And then they will scale up even further to FEG’s with four rotors, capable of producing ten to forty megawatts of power – which is far more than the current highest wind turbine capacity of five megawatts.
People have had there doubts about how lightning or turbulence at high altitudes could affect the FEG. For lightning, a warning system is in place where the FEG is then simply brought down to earth. The turbulence is not such a problem since the rotorcraft acts very much like a kite, and will simply settle back to how it was after a big gust of wind. And a GPS and gyroscope combination will be used to control its pitch and roll.
So, how much power production is possible?
According to the San Diego based company, Sky WindPower Corporation, an array of 600 FEG’s rated at 20MW, and operating over a ground space of 200 square miles could produce over three times as many megawatt hours per year as the 28,572,902MWh produced by the Palos Verde Arizona nuclear plant in 2003.
And just 43 of these FEG arrays operating at 85% capacity could produce up to 3,883,185,000MWh of power – that’s the total power consumption of the U.S. in 2003.
And how much will this power cost us?
According to a careful study made by Sky WindPower Corp, in the long range the cost of an FEG of ten megawatt capacity would be less than 2 cents per kilowatt hour (including land use costs). This is less than the energy costs of fossil fuels. But obviously site selection and proximity to existing power lines are very important factors.
What’s next?
Since the FEG’s are still in the testing phase, we are not quite sure how long it will take before we see any hovering in the distance. But one thing is for sure is that if all goes to plan, we may see airborne wind generators power the planet.
Tim McDonald and his wife have been living off the grid since June 2008. He recommends you Try Earth4Energy For FREE if you want to make your own home wind turbine and home solar power to reduce your electricity bill.
Filed under Vertical Wind Generator by on Dec 30th, 2009. Comment.
