Newhouse Farm

[mtcooper]

Has anyone come across this type of wind turbine before?

http://www.expansys.com/d.aspx?i=177145

Carnt find any further information on it. Nothing on 'Premier Systems' or any other suppliers.
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Mark
www.GoGreenForGaia.com

[RichardKB]

Same problems of any other wind turbine they do not like turbulent air flow. So unless you live in an open area or have a high tower they are no better than a chocholate teapot.

Rich

[Mike&Penny]

Not exactly. This type is much less affected by turbulent flow as it isn't directional.

a) I assume that the purpose of the Savonius component is to start the device from stopped/no wind. That's because a high speed Darrieus is not self starting.

b) The non self strating behavior of a Darrieus type can be useful. Close down the little "starter" Savonius and apply a brake and it goes "no lift". That's why they can claim a high survival wind speed.

c) Unrealistic rating This is a small device unable to produce more than a trickle of electricity at realistic wind speeds. You don't want to know what the device will produce at 15 m/sec. You want to know about output at some more reasonable speeds. Remember, 10 m/sec is a rather windy day and at that this device would be putting out less than 100 watts.

d) I haven't come across any designs able to adjust a Darrieus and adjusting a Savonius is difficult/clumsy. By adkusting I mean partial feathering so that it can keep producing power at some more or less constant rate as the wind speed increaases past it's "max" desing point.
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There is no possibility of social justice on a dead planet except the equality of the grave.

[retrotecchie]

Yes but....


100 Watts is 100 Watts!

That's 9x 11W CF lights, or plenty enough for a small dwelling.

Even a Rutland wind generator putting out 10 Watts in a 2.5m/s wind in a built up area with lots of gusting and turbulance will generate some power. Not much, to be fair, but at night it will be putting out a whole lot more than even a 1kWp solar panel....and even a few watts here and there can make a difference.

The point is, even a wind generator rated for, say, 250 watts in a reasonable wind in ideal conditions will still produce something....even if only 10% of the rated average power. Of course, you need to exceed the minimum wind power needed to get the thing started in the first place, but if the blades turn, you will be generating 'something'!

I live on a small housing estate in a semi-rural location, but don't have a clear 'fetch' of more than 60m in any direction. I have a small desk fan with the motor removed and replaced with an old stepper motor from a printer and in a gentle breeze, it will happily charge a couple of AA NiMh batteries for the Walkman in an afternoon or two....milliwatts, but even milliwatts is better than zero, and it cost me nothing to make!

The most effective 'production' turbine I can get (here in the UK) if I look at performance, price, reliability and environmental factors costs about £300 and will generate 25W on a 4.2m high mast at my location (av wind speed 4.1m/sec). If I mount it on a half-meter long pole on my shed roof, the best I will get (from a manufacturers site survey, no less!) will be an average of 5-7 watts, or 8% of the design rating. If, on the other hand I put the 4.2m mast on the eaves of the house, I should expect 35-41 watts of generation.

On the shed...£60 per watt. On the pole, £12 per watt. On a pole on the roof, less than a tenner a watt, but still more than three times the price of solar generation per watt.

You just need to trade off the initial cost versus the output over time...and in 90% of locations and cases, wind power is simply not worth the investment for microgeneration, unless you are completely 'off-grid' and have no choice, or are happy to play around with scrap and build your own turbine for peanuts, slashing the initial startup cost!!


If you need a bit of power, haven't got grid at all and wind is your only option, you can generate nominal amounts of power pretty much anywhere! You will only get 'useful', investment-repaying power if you are one of the lucky 10%!
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I wish I could be what I was when I wanted to be what I am

[retrotecchie]

[Mike&Penny]

[retrotecchie]

Actually, the Rutland running at full pelt only kicks out about 250 watts...although in theory the energy available from the wind is far greater - you'd need a more capable turbine to harness 15m/s!

My point was that, if you have no source of power at all even a few watts is better than nothing!

The Windsave Plug'n'Play grid tied wind genny that was on sale in the UK claimed that it was capable of 1kW a day under optimum conditions. Unfortunately, the three I have actually seen installed never produced more than a couple of hundred watts for a few hours here and there....optimum conditions seemed to imply a south west facing mountainside with a few tens of miles of reach and prevailing 50mph winds!
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I wish I could be what I was when I wanted to be what I am