wind turbine

[snowcat]

Ok all, anyone had any experience of building one of these...... this is a proper project, for someone I know who lives off grid, budget is around 2K ex labour...... When I looked at this a few years back consensus was winding and making your own stators was the way to get lots of power, It wants to produce 240V, and be able to work side a diesel genny...I know theres 12V systems that charge to banks, but honestly they don't look all that.... anyone who's dabbled with one (fluff, Simon) input would be much appreciated...

 

[rusty69bus]

i know most systems seem to be generator connected to blades is there a reason why a gear driven system tends to be ruled out.

blades - drive shaft - gearbox - 12x 12v alternators ?

 

[snowcat]

i know most systems seem to be generator connected to blades is there a reason why a gear driven system tends to be ruled out.

blades - drive shaft - gearbox - 12x 12v alternators ?

the big issue with a domestic alternator seams durability, 6 months of continual running and there shot, with a home made stator, with X amount of windings on the fixed disc, then your getting lots of power, but still only running one bearing set.... the less moving parts the better IMHO......

 

[shenion]

blades - drive shaft - gearbox - 12x 12v alternators ?

Would produce 240VDC. Still not useful.

Most seem to charge batts then use an inverter to generate AC. It will be the easiest to do. You will need a high-end inverter if it is to add power to a genset so it can sync with the AC.

 

[fingers99]

I've got some plans for the stator and base assembly (but no details of the output or prop). Just about small enough to email you if you want them.

 

[snowcat]

there was one on the web that iv lost it produced about 10KVa in 15MPH winds...... the stator was huge and had around $500 of magnets in it, It cut in, on a 5MPH wind the stator magnets were so powerfull it ben the 2 13mm jacking rods when he asembeld it.... Iv lost the bookmark...

 

[Drains]

Hey Snowy. You'll have a 'mare doing 240v direct to the house. You can do that to the grid, via an inverter, no battery bank required, but that relies on being synchronous with the grid, and being able to buy elec as well as sell your excess.

Your pal could do worse than contact the Energy Saving Trust, who give grants (but not to make your own).
Also, Hugh Piggott does courses and sells plans for wind turbines, and really knows his stuff. He'll answer questions too. A very nice man.

My first approach, knowing no better, would be to build a Piggott turbine, feeding a battery bank (and ask me nicely, i'll tell you where to get the batteries ), then use an inverter/charger to feed the 240v to the house - a Victron multiplus for instance. That way the batteries take up the slack, and get charged by the genny when there's no wind. The inverter will also feed extra power direct from the genny when needed. The inverter will cost a bit for a decent size though. And the genny will need an auto starter too.

The big problem running multiple 240v ac supplies is making them synchronous - doing the system above is "relatively" cheap. There are other ways of doing it of course. I'd ask Mr Piggott if I wanted to know more...

 

[rusty69bus]

thinking car alternators minus diode packs 240 v ac

 

[Archie]

Also, if the power is coming direct, surely it would need to be at 50Hz? Bit of a bugger to have to get the things spinning at exactly the right speed. Unless you use a generator that has field windings. I did a project on this ages ago but can't remember anything about how they work now!

 

[Hitch]

Not much help on the electrical side of things, but seen a scissor tower one the other day, nice simple maintainence, and easier to install

The other thing to look into (more for your mate) is grants, although there is some catches to it, i think its on the Defra website somewhere.

If you can get a few quid towards it, it might be cheaper to buy one ready to bang up...

 

[Psymon]

Sco

You can get the .PDF written by Hugh Piggott from his web site or here:

http://shops-flower.com/StandbyPlug-TV-Standby/itpmg-hugh-piggott-www_scoraigwind_com.pdf


I was going to build one, I had the magnets the magnet wire the massive disks and hubs for the windmill. However I just never had good enough tools to complete the project. It was only to be a fun thing. I did make a small one to demonstrate the principal. The smaller one works and really amazes me when the wind used to spin it and light up 2 LED lamps. I think I would buy a PMG from Ebay if I were to make a proper generator.

 

[rusty69bus]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/wind-turbine-...39:1|66:2|65:12|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

 

[knoba]

B&Q do a 240v one.

No way of having a crafty look? (they do have a good return policy ).

 

[Drains]

One good thing about Piggott is he lives in a very (VERY) windy coastal village in Western Scotland where thay have no grid power. He's been building and mending turbines for over 30 years, and he knows what lasts, and what doesn't. His site will give you some good advice re turbines to avoid. The good thing about his home-made turbines is the bearing assemblies are based on vehicle hubs/drums. Build one around a lorry brake drum, it'll last a while...

 

[snowcat]

Ok chaps, sorry to mislead, the Genny and the turbine will not be harmonized, It will properly be 2 circuits, one from the turbine one for the Genny, that way he can just mix and match, Its only a fixed carravan........

He lives on proper marshland on the estuary , no trees, next stop the north sea........ so the wind emmmm blows.....all the time.....

Grants yeah well been down that route several times with defra(department for the eradication of rural affairs) or C*** as i prefer (bio fuels for a customer of mine was the last), and computer ALWAYS says no, If I was a one legged, black, Asian, transsexual, one eyed lesbo, then nah problems, seriously tho, most grants have huge standards to them, sooo often the expense of doing the job to a massive standard useing council aproved contractors, for 10% grant just isent worth it, plus shall we say this guy doesn't exactly "exist" and I think would rather keep his living arrangements well out of our friendly DCs eyes......

Cheers for the link, thats the one I was thinking of....... I still think 240AC is far better than F***in about with 12V and inverters battery banks etc, If he's keeping his Genny and not looking to store the power, I think this is the way forward.......

 

[Justme]

a Victron multiplus for instance.

Thats most of the budget blown then on just one item. I have a multi 12 3000 120 & they sell for about £1.4k plus vat.

thinking car alternators minus diode packs 240 v ac

Car alternators need to spin at about 5000 rpm to produce max power. Far to fast for a wind turbine. They can be rewound to a better spec but its costly.

B&Q do a 240v one.

No way of having a crafty look? (they do have a good return policy ).

They got slated for having specs / claims that could never actualy be achived

Justme

 

[Hitch]

I thought the mention of Defra might get a rise

Anyway back to the topic

 

[shenion]

Originally Posted by rusty69bus
thinking car alternators minus diode packs 240 v ac

Car alternators need to spin at about 5000 rpm to produce max power. Far to fast for a wind turbine. They can be rewound to a better spec but its costly.

Car alternators are also 3-phase. You can't add them together in series.

 

[Justme]

Cheers for the link, thats the one I was thinking of....... I still think 240AC is far better than F***in about with 12V and inverters battery banks etc, If he's keeping his Genny and not looking to store the power, I think this is the way forward.......

Personaly I would use a battery bank & inverter with the wind providing the power to the inverter directly whilst the wind is blowing & indirectly via the batteries & inverter whjen it is not & then if you dont get wind for a day ot 3 you can fire up the inverter to provide direct power & charge the battery bank.

This is almost exactly what we do. Except that we use solar mainly with genny backup but will also be adding a small wind set up later on.

With your method how exactly will you get 240v AC direct from the turbine? Most are 3 phase, some are direct dc, I dont know of any that are 240v ac without using either a grid tie inverter, battery bank & inverter or phase linking to a genny supply.

Justme

OH PS dont use 12v if you can help it go 24 36 or even 48. Lets you use much smaller cables for the same power for less losses. Higher amp chargers are also avaliable for less costs too.

 

[Archie]

Not wishing to drag another thread off topic, but you don't vote Conservative by any chance, Snowy?! Mind you with the wishy-washy attitude they're adopting these days I might even consider Robert Kilroy-Silk's lot!!! On second thoughts, maybe not.

I would have thought it'd be easier to build a 240V AC turbine but that's only because I understand nothing of electronics. Having said that, surely going for an integrated system with electronics and batteries means more flexibility in the building and running of the turbine and storage of power from the turbine so less need to run the genny. Problem is I suspect the electronic gubbins are F'in pricey...