If this was me I would be bleak.

 

FYI, ROI is NVA!

Obviously the problem is the initial cost. i've got an old book describing how to build an axial flux turbine on the cheap and i've started procuring some of the stuff. So far im in 2K and will probably need another 2k perha ps 3. if your talking those kinds of figures then it would make sense. But the biggest problem i have is there's no wind in GP

I want to modify Hugh Piggott's design to make it a VAWT - simpler and probably better suited to our narrow valley with all its turbulence.

For kinetic energy, e = 0.5 * m * v^2, that is the energy is proportional to the square of the speed. Half the speed is a quarter of the power. Of course matters probably aren't this simple when dealing with fluid flow (which wind kind-of is), but knowing a bit of phigh-school physics really does help give you at least a gut feeling about these things.

 

4 hours ago, plonkster said:

but knowing a bit of phigh-school physics really does help give you at least a gut feeling about these things.

My gut is telling me I'll be better off building a treadmill, everyone should take a turn even the dogs. Living under my roof? You better make some power. 

On 2018/06/13 at 11:01 PM, Weasel said:

Obviously the problem is the initial cost. i've got an old book describing how to build an axial flux turbine on the cheap and i've started procuring some of the stuff. So far im in 2K and will probably need another 2k perha ps 3. if your talking those kinds of figures then it would make sense. But the biggest problem i have is there's no wind in GP

how many kwh will it produce, once built?

My wind turbine made a few W today as the wind was blasting, but generally is does nothing. Rather buy 10kW of solar panels for the price of an entry level wind turbine.

This is battery based off grid solution.  The Turbine is mostly on brake during the day. It is allowed to take action at night. Also the Internet is up and down there. Im not sure how this affects the logs.

The client is from the Karoo and seldom has Internet access. This is his Data with the Internet connection:

http://profiles.pika-energy.com/users/144/dashboard

I see a R250K wind Turbine as a charging battery to prevent your Large battery bank from Large Discharges. As the Turbine has a life of 22years +. I feel it could be of some use here :>  Costs on Battery systems are pricey.

Not at all trying to sell turbines. I just have an irrational love for them. haha!

Video " 

:>

 

Sincerely Jay

1 hour ago, DeepBass9 said:

My wind turbine made a few W today as the wind was blasting, but generally is does nothing. Rather buy 10kW of solar panels for the price of an entry level wind turbine.

As Jay has mentioned I don't think one should try equate solar and wind the sums do not add up. I see wind's value in its ability to keep your battery bank out of the red zone.

In the WC I would think a small turbine that could do 800-1000W would be useful when you get that driving rain that makes me glad I live elsewhere.

14 hours ago, Chris Hobson said:

In the WC I would think a small turbine that could do 800-1000W would be useful when you get that driving rain that makes me glad I live elsewhere.

It would be, yes, if only the total cost wasn't on the other side of 20k, and if we had actual proper wind. At times we have lots of wind, yes... and the joke goes that the big Wind Factory is in the industrial area of Gordon's Bay... but in reality that factory only operates for a small portion of the year.

44 minutes ago, plonkster said:

It would be, yes, if only the total cost wasn't on the other side of 20k......

Have a look around - there are cheaper options and Hugh Piggott's design is not an expensive design and it would be easy to change it to a VAWT which is imminently suitable to urban environments (and my narrow valley).

You could just buy the disc generator online, eg this one. I'd love to play with one but really don't have the time or tools to build one.

6 hours ago, plonkster said:

You could just buy the disc generator online, eg this one. I'd love to play with one but really don't have the time or tools to build one.

I got all excited but I see it is homemade and they don't ship to South Africa.

 

When I started my system I had a long look a wind turbines as to supplement my solar system. At onstage , here on the forum , some one even sold one at a discounted price. Looking at all the stats and speck sheets I decided to first buy a weather station/anemometer and see how much wind we really have. Short side I might have a months proper wind available in a year so it was a no go for me . But at least I have a running weather station.  

2 hours ago, PaulF007 said:

... first buy a weather station/anemometer and see how much wind we really have ...

Ditto x 2.

On good advices, I checked local DIY and other weather stations to see what is blowing in our area. 

For on solar, we first spec the load, then the battery bank.
On wind, we first spec the wind, then the load.

There was no chance on a ROI, where we live, on a wind generator.

We've had two wind turbines, and the first lasted about 8 years before being worn out. The purchase price was $AU500 for 300W. It was our first experiment in power generation. When it didn't work any more we realised that the wind input into the batteries was often a help in winter. Living on a very flat part of planet earth we have wind every day, but not every night. So I got a new Chinese 500W wind turbine off the popular auction site, cost about $AU450. It was so poorly built that the shaft was offcentre and after a while the bearings jammed shut. The seller's English became very poor at this point, and we had to go for the site's refund offer. The seller did not want the faulty item back so it headed off to a friend's lathe and was reconstructed. Total cost for this wind turbine was then one carton of beer. At this price the return on investment is excellent!

If I buy another one it will be a vertical axis one, considering the noise effects and the low wind speed we usually have. None were economical buys at the time I was buying wind turbines.

Edited September 1, 20187 yr by drlizau
add data

Being in the Western-Cape, I was also thinking about a wind turbine to help charge the solar batteries at night and on cold rainy days when the wind will be blowing...

Thanks to your comments, I have put the wind turbine toy on the back burner. I must admit that I am also wondering about that vertical axis turbines. They look cool and are very quiet. There are two big ones at the Verde Hotel near the Cape Town airport and you can hardly hear them.

I have a 48 V solar system with two 3000W inverters that power most of the house. Unfortunately on cloudy days I might wake up the next morning and both invereters just shut themselves down. I am not sure why (maybe the batteries dropped too low). So far they just reset fine and carried on working normally. This brings me back to supplementing the charge to the batteries.

I do have ESKOM power available (some times) and was wondering about what kind of battery charger I should look at.

1. Any suggestions about the type of charger that I should consider?

2. Would you connect that directly onto the batteries or route it through the charge controller?

3. Is anybody else doing something like this and do you perhaps supply the 220 V for the charger via a timer in the DB. That way it can charge at night for a few hours and I don't have to worry about running out of juice on cloudy days?

Returning to wind, if you are running a 12v or 24v system, you would get more out of a wind turbine as the the cut in speed will be much lower. A turbine needs to spin really fast before you get up to 48v or higher to start charging, but 12V you will get more easily.

Also on the subject of the weather, I spend most of yesterday cutting hay. The weather forecast said a small chance of isolated thunderstorms. There is now an isolated thunderstorm that has been soaking my hay for the past two hours, probably has about 30mm so far. Now if the sunny weather promised for the rest of the week comes to pass I might have a chance of drying it out, otherwise it's compost.

 

Edited March 11, 20197 yr by DeepBass9

This guy is pretty open about wind turbines!

Wind turbine must have a variable pitch turbine. Otherwise it will be a simple toy.
  Here's the video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fOnCKLQhfs