admin answers:

I think with any system if energy is removed then the ‘natural’ state of the system must be disrupted somehow. With wind we must consider how much we are taking out of the overall system. The first thing to note is that the winds are largely driven by solar heating – causing high and low pressures to form through air density differences which act to even out by transporting air between them. The sheer scale of the energy and the vertical distribution of the wind means that even with our best efforts we can currently only harvest a small amount of the wind energy at surface level, let alone for the whole 10km of the troposphere. The effect that this will have is for the wind farm to be ‘seen’ by the lower winds as an area of increased surface friction, in a similar way to a large tree might be seen. This might lead to local effects close to the turbines but I don’t think it would be noticeable without high-tech equipment. As for global effects like El Nino then we would have to be seriously affecting the upper controlling winds (like the jet stream) and global circulation cells.
I would say that if the entire globe was covered in wind turbines then I would expect some dampening of the atmospheric circulation system, but since this is unlikely and we currently (key word!) extract a tiny percentage of the available energy then it is not of concern.

According to Greenpeace, we currently extract 6.0xE4 MW per year in the world. The total energy in the global wind is estimated at 3.6xE9 MW. With five orders of magnitude difference we have a long way to go before we impact on the wind in the atmosphere. Also there is a limit of 59% (called Betz limit) on how much we could extract.

To be green I think we should reduce our energy consumption, be efficient, and use the whole set of renewable available to “play with a full set of clubs”. In addition, I think we should return to this issue if wind power begins to extract a more significant amount of energy from the atmosphere.

admin answers:

Tidal power is a means of electricity generation achieved by capturing the energy contained in moving water mass due to tides. Two types of tidal energy can be extracted: kinetic energy of currents due the tides and potential energy from the difference in height (or head) between high and low tides.
The extraction of potential energy involves building a barrage. The barrage traps a water level inside a basin. Head is created when the water level outside of the basin changes relative to the water level inside. The head is used to drive turbines. In any design this leads to a decrease of tidal range inside the basin, implying a reduced transfer of water between the basin and the sea. This reduced transfer of water accounts for the energy produced by the scheme.

Tidal power is classified as a renewable energy source, because tides are caused by the orbital mechanics of the solar system and are considered inexhaustible within a human timeframe. The root source of the energy comes from the slow deceleration orbit of the moon around the Earth, and the deceleration of the Earth’s rotation. Tidal power has great potential for future power and electricity generation because of the total amount of energy contained in this rotation. Tidal power is reliably predictable (unlike wind energy and solar power).

The efficiency of tidal power generation largely depends on the amplitude of the tidal swell, which can be up to 10 m (33 ft) where the periodic tidal waves funnel into rivers and fjords. Amplitudes of up to 17 m (56 ft) occur for example in the Bay of Fundy, where tidal resonance amplifies the tidal waves.

As with wind power, selection of location is critical for a tidal power generator. The potential energy contained in a volume of water is

E = xMg
where x is the height of the tide, M is the mass of water and g is the acceleration due to gravity. Therefore, a tidal energy generator must be placed in a location with very high-amplitude tides. Suitable locations are found in the former USSR, USA, Canada, Australia, Korea, the UK and other countries (see below).
Several smaller tidal power plants have recently started generating electricity in Norway. They all exploit the strong periodic tidal currents in narrow fjords using sub-surface water turbines.____For more information go to the site below.

admin answers:

Homebuilt wind power generators can be built with just a few parts that you probably already have laying around your home.

If you want to power household items like TVs, washing machine etc then you will need an inverter. These are quite cheap though.

I got my instructions on homebuilt wind power generators from http://www.earth4energy.com and it made life HEAPS easier for me.

admin answers:

You are to be commended for pursuing alternative energy sources. Try one or all of the links bellow. I hope this helps.

Http://www.cetsolar.com/windpower.htm

Home

http://www.absak.com

http://www.solardyne.com

http://www.wind-works.org/books/wind_power2004_contents.html

admin answers:

About 6 MW is the largest. That size is many US$M.

Here is one list
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wind_turbine_manufacturers

you can get others by searching for “wind turbine manufacturer”

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Hey Chelsea. Wind turbines produce what is called wild AC initially, and not usable in most homes and buildings. Normally, the wild AC is converted to DC power, like a car battery by the wind tubines own control box so that it can be used to charge a battery bank of some sort. We have a home that is powered by the wind and sun, our wind turbine was built by Southwest Windpower of Flagstaff, AZ. There are other manufacturers around.

There are 2 primary ways to get the wind power into your home. One is a stand alone system like ours. The wind turbine and solar panels feed into a large battery bank whenever the wind or sun is available. Then a device called an inverter converts the battery power to normal household AC power and feeds it into the home. The other type which is fast becoming the desired approach is a grid tied system. You take the windpower and feed it directly into a grid tied inverter that converts it straight to the electrical grid, no battery. If you are producing more than you can use, the excess feeds out into the grid and is used by your neighbors, and your electrical meter spins backwards. If you are using more than you are producing, the shortage is made up from the grid and your meter spins forward. At the end of the month the meter is read, and you are billed for the difference. These are less expensive and simpler, no battery or charge controllers to buy or replace. The only problem is if the grid loses power, your wind turbine has to shut down, you can’t balance your turbiner directly to the needs of one home, the excess has to go someplace all the time. Hope this helps, take care, Rudydoo

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Hey Jesse, you’re timing is perfect. Solar actually might be the best environmental way to produce electricity, but many of your anwers here are correct that it will never produce the power we need, not because solar isn’t powerful enough, but because the way we harness it is quite inefficient. Solar electric, or, “photovoltiac,” panels only convert about 12% of the incoming sun into electricity, the rest just heats up the panel. Arguments such as Erins that they offset agricultural production are baseless since most of these devices are on the roof tops of homes and businesses, or in the desert. Our home has been powered by the wind and sun for 11 years now, my panels sit on the garage roof, I don’t grow tomatoes up there, and they run the entire home. We have a wind turbine in the field behind our home, and in 11 years, I’ve never found a single dead bird under the turbine. The flower bed in front of our homes picture window is another story though. In the first days of the Altamont Pass wind project in California, there was a problem of dead birds, specifically Golden Eagles, which are rare raptors. Turns out the particular type of blade they used there mimmicked the mating call of these birds. Since then turbine blades have been redesigned, and the problem of bird kills has been pretty much eliminated. Solar electric panels are still very useful, but the real answer is actually in the desert.

The Germans are working on a project right now to use the sun and heat in the desert to make electricity which will be more like 60% efficient. How it works is they use large concentrators to focus the hot sun on collectors that heat oil to several hundred degrees. The oil is circulated into a huge insulated tank, then an oil to water heat exchanger is used to take sea water, boil it into steam and run a steam turbine. The turbine turns a generator and makes electricity. As a by product, the recondensed steam becomes fresh water, the salt is naturally extracted in the boiling process and seperated out, and the fresh water is then used to irrigate crops that will grow alongside the solar concentrators. So we can take a patch of desert, devoid of life, make electricity and grow food all at the same time with just the power of the sun. They will produce enough power to run all of Europe with just the northwest corner of the Sahara. No wildlife will be displaced, but the crops, partial shade and water will attract new wildlife to the area. Another benefit of this system is with all the oil heated and stored in an insulated tank, it can continue to boil water even when passing clouds shade the concentrators, or well into the night. So now we have access to solar power at night too. And the oil is continually recirculated, none of it gets burned or used up. Once it’s operating, it can continue to produce electricity and fresh water for decades without any emissions. It is very promising, and if it works as well there as they hope, I’m sure in another 10 years you’ll see them on all continents, including ours.

Stick with your choice for solar Jesse, we did 11 years ago, and our array puts out the same amount of power today as it did then. I’ve never turned a screw on my solar array or had to add a drop of oil, and our home has not been without power for even a minute in all those years. Hard to put a price on that. In your research you will undoubtedly hear the argument that, “Solar panels never produce as much power as was used to produce them.” This is blatently false, tons of research has been done to prove that the, “Embodied Energy,” in a solar panel is earned back in just a few years. But even if it weren’t, it wouldn’t matter. Coal, oil and natural gas electric plants never earn back their embodied energy because no matter how efficient they might be, once you build one, it then has to be fed more fuel to make electricity, so it never does get even environmentally. It always amazes me how we’ve been burning coal and oil for years, but as soon as someone comes up with something as clever as a photovoltiac panel, the world is always trying to discredit it. Keep that in mind when you are doing research and answering questions about this subject.

You can see articles and pictures of the project by clicking on the links below, or try venturing out on your own by googling phrases like, “Desertec Project,” or, “Northwest Sahara Solar Project.” You will probably find some great photos to use too. Take care Jesse, Rudydoo

admin answers:

The only vertical axis wind turbines I’m familiar with are the Maglev generators. You can find them at
www.greenstrides.com/2007/11/27

admin answers:

Here is a web site for you to start with

http://www.shop.solar-wind.co.uk/acatalog/marine_wind_generators_wind_turbines_aerogen.html

they supply small wind generators for boats, in both 12v and 24v application, capable of charging up to 3 banks of batteries. The web site will describe each system.

There is also much more info on line if you do a google search.

Http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&rlz=1T4GGLL_enUS344US344&q=small+boat+marine+wind+turbines+in+europe&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=

hope this helps

admin answers:

The more exact distance is 2,140 miles, still it will take you at least 15 days if weather & winds work in your favor.

You will need at least a 36 footer minimum – 46 footer if you need to be a bit more comfortable.

Your problem will be not enough space for stuff, the kind of food you take, fuel, and fresh water. Not one sailboat I know of in the under 50′ range will carry enough fuel to run your motor continually for more than a few days. So, you won’t be able to carry enouth fuel to continually run your engine or generator – therefore, you will have to get food that does not require refrigeration.

The Pacific crossing in that area is not friendly.

Without all of you having experience on a sailboat on the open seas – you would be much better off buying 24 first class tickets on a cruise ship and taking more friends. It would be much more fun, and much less cheaper.

admin answers:

Forget about grants. If you want it bad enough you will get off your lazy butt and earn the money to build one. Why should someone else pay for you to have a wind turbine?

admin answers:

(I got this from my solar guy)
In New Jersey it’s a pretty good deal. I’m not making a political statement, just a financial one.

For Residential:
30% Federal Tax Credit
SRECs are good until 2026, currently selling at $655/SREC (which means for every 1MW produced). They are mandated by NJ State Law.

For Commercial:
30% Federal Grant
SRECs are good until 2026, currently selling at $655/SREC (which means for every 1MW produced). They are mandated by NJ State Law.
Accelerated Depreciation (allows you to depreciate 85%-100% of the cost of the system the first year)

The IRR is between 20-30%.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Good luck.

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Air conditioners….you can watch a video on www.onlyrenewable.com that shows this.
VERTICAL AXIS WIND TURBINE WINDMILL ALTERNATIVE GREEN POWER

admin answers:

Perhaps the two wind turbines are too close to each other and some sort of resonance is occurring? We don’t understand caye/ can you use a different word and more details? You can check for resonance by preventing one propeller from turning, then the other, but not both at the same time. If this stops the pulsing; resonance is likely.
Another possibility is the battery is supplying electricity to the generator causing it to run as a motor, part of the time.
The battery may be drawing excessive (or not enough) current from the generator so that your charge controllers are producing the 15 second cycle. Do you have separate batteries (and separate charge controllers) for each wind generator? Try supplying the poorest battery with several amps from a battery charger connected to your electric utility. Neil
Does the pulsing stop when you draw several amps from a battery?

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Http://www.mytscstore.com/

i know that tractor supply company carries solar panels but they are not high producing. Each set cost around 300 bucks not including the batteries. I’m going to use complete solar energy for my house. I figured that it would take 3 sets of solar panels from tsc. Each set using 4 marine batteries would cost 2500 to 3000 bucks and it would produce enough power run my most basic energy needs. As far as wind mills i haven’t checked that idea out yet but i will soon enough. I hope that you find what you need. Good luck.

admin answers:

I had the same issue with an air compressor. I built a wooden enclosure with a small fan to bring cool air into the box. It has worked fine for over twenty years! But for your problem:

Find a cardboard box that will fit comfortably, upside down, over the generator. If that is not enough, glue some fiberglass insulation inside the cardboard box. That will decrease the decibels sufficiently. Otherwise, you will need to build a wooden enclosure with fiberglass insulation inside.

Good Luck

admin answers:

I do not think there is that many types of wind turbines because wind turbine’s solo purpose is to make eletricity and they don not really bulid them in the suburbs because it may be noise and it take a lot of space and also ot needs a lot of wind so only a limited area will be able to set up wind turbines.

admin answers:

The turbine has to be 30 feet above surrounding buildings and trees. It has to be two tower heights away from any building. If it falls in any direction, it must not cross a property line. You pretty much need to have an acreage to have a wind turbine.

admin answers:

Eath4Energy is a scam. Please see my review at http://www.nlcpr.com/Deceptions6.php

If your motivation is to reduce your energy bills, then you should first look at conservation projects. These are things like using low flow shower heads, replacing old appliances and adding more insulation.

If your motivation is to generate some energy for learning purposes or as a matter of principle, then consider the following:

Building a wind generator yourself is not a simple project. If you can build an utility trailer for your truck (welding, metal fabrication) then you could certainly tackle the job. There is a great book available from www.otherpower.com called Homebrew Wind Power plus you can order any parts and assemblies that are beyond your abilities to fabricate. Cost of turbine is about $2000 and you need a tower as well. There are cheap units at some hardware stores but they are garbage compared to to the unit designed by www.otherpower.com

A more realistic project would be to get a commercial solar panel (making your own from broken cells on eBay is not worth it), inverter, charge controller and battery and using it to power some things in your house. For about $1000 you could have something to power a small computer. A complete system to power your home is more in the $30,000 range.

There are, unfortunately, no cheap ways to make your own power as Earth4Energy is promoting other than perhaps getting lucky in an eBay auction or purchasing a solar system from a bankruptcy sale.

Do your conservation measures first. Then read Homebrew Wind Power, read the solar links at http://www.nlcpr.com/Links1.php and then decide what type of project you are up for. By then, you will know exactly what you want to do.

admin answers:

Look at the Prairie Turbines site again. The price of the micro-controller including the hall device is $255. The $45 book provides a complete list of material and instructions to build everything else.

The micro-controller monitors the speed sensor and provides control signals to two solid-state relays. One relay connects the motor to the grid when the speed reaches the motor’s 1800 RPM synchronous speed and disconnects the motor if the speed drops below 1800 RPM. The other relay is energized to release the brake when the controller is energized and de-energized by the controller when the motor speed exceeds the maximum safe operating speed. If this occurs, the controller apparently must be manually reset.

I did not find the maximum safe operating speed stated on the web site. If the full load speed of the motor is 1750 RPM, the full load slip is 1800 minus 1750 or 50 RPM. The speed at which the motor would generate full load current and present full load torque to the turbine is 1800 RPM plus the full load slip or 1850 RPM. With the design described, a three-phase motor is connected to a single phase source with capacitors connected between the source and the third motor phase. That is likely to increase the motor slip somewhat.

I am not sure what happens if the motor is driven above the speed at which it generates full load current. A three-phase motor operating as an induction generator connected to a three-phase supply has a torque vs. Speed curve that is something like the mirror image of the motoring torque vs. Speed curve. The curve is likely different with the single-phase connection used in this case. I don’t know what the speed vs. Current curve looks like in either case, but I will see if I can find it. I am also curious to know if the Alan Plunkett listed on the web site as an author is the Alan Plunkett that is well known author of technical papers on inverter and variable frequency drive subjects.

Added information:
I found information indicating that, for a 3-phase motor connected to a 3-phase supply, the speed vs. Current curve for induction generator operation is like a mirror image of the speed vs. Current curve for motor operation. That would mean that the maximum speed would need to be limited to the synchronous speed plus the full-load slip. The web site indicates that the full-load speed for the motor that they used is 1725 RPM for 3-phase operation. That would make the maximum speed 1875 RPM plus the additional slip due to the single phase with capacitor arrangement.

admin answers:

Smoke is a problem because most smoke will also contain carbon monoxide, and that’s not the kind of stuff you want your “exhibit” producing at a science fair.

I have absolutely no idea if it would work…but…Halloween is over and many retailers will prbably be having clearance sales on their Halloween items. I know that those “fog machines” produce their own cloudy “stuff”. I’d suggest you look into a buying a discounted fog machine, now that the sales are on.

You can also make your own fog machine if you want.

admin answers:

Actually, check out some of the links on http://www.builditsolar.com

If you are going to do much of the work yourself, you will be sadly disappointed by what is available in print:

Homepower magazine http://www.homepower.com for example, it most often reads like a sales brochure, because “hands on” to a number of people usually means buying most of the system ready made in a kit. Hands on for me is breaking out the soldering iron and doing point to point wiring on components to construct the regulators (often called charge controlelrs.) Too much chaff for a hands on person to find useful. Some of the ads are useful.

Nuts and Volts http://www.nutsvolts.com/ is a bit better, but their topical coverage is far ranging so you do not always get as much as you would like. Spendy, might be better to sheck it out at the bookstores and buy it off the newstand when a decent article appears.

Mother Earth news http://www.motherearthnews.com is pretty good, but the best bang for the buck there is to buy their archives on CD rom, which is 3 disks, broke down by decade. There is a fair amount of substance, sometimes you encounter an article that sought to convert one item over to another, only it would have been much less work and cost for them to have started out from ground level and construct (with used parts) the same thing, which they sought to construct in the first place, a solar charged electric tractor is one specific item I have come to mind as one the author of the article could have done better. You might find the book they published “The Mother Earth News Handbook of Homemade Power,” which is not real good for specifics in some areas, but is good for some ideas if you are good at working from thumbnail sketches, you can fill in the blanks where there are gaps in detail. The book was written more as a “primer” than a complete compillation.

For your wind systems, there is a lot to be found at http://www.lindsaybks.com Hugh Piggott has written a few good books on the home construction of windmills. The LeJay Manual is a good reprint that has a lot of good info for home constructing- down to the wooden propeller profiles. As well as the book “Generator Secrets.”

One of the good sources for materials and tools supplies and systems is Northern Tool http://www.northerntool.com

One thing on propeller materials- never us ABS and never use PVC. As tempting as those can be they break. When they break, the blades will go for a great distance in modest winds. They can kill too.

admin answers:

The current establishment cost of a coal fired power station is about $2000 per kilowatt of power produced. Over a 50 year life; this is quite low compared with establishment costs for wind and solar power generation, and a lot (hundreds) of wind generators are needed to produce the same power output of a large coal powered generator. This is why it is proving difficult to replace coal for large scale power generation.

Here’s a wiki ref:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_fuel_power_station

admin answers:

Energy conservation can show how efficient/cost effective a wind power generator can be.

admin answers:

As can be seen from the power curves in the first link, there is nothing till about 12km/h wind, then only a small fraction of the maximum power which is reached at around 28km/h. It is important to undertake a proper survey, as wind shear can have a large influence. The Vestas site has advice about planning, but not much detail. Send them an email.

In this kind of situation, with no grid to fall back on, it is usual to have diesel generators running to smooth the load. These are special “low load” types (see the 6th link below). They run on no load when the wind is there, synchronised with the wind generators.

I should warn you that it is easy to convince yourself that a wind system is ok when it isn’t, because you want it to be true. There are all sorts of considerations. It may make sense to have oversized turbines so you still get enough power despite bad wind. What happens when no-one is using power? One or two big ones or lots of smaller ones? You need the turbine manufacturer and/or experienced consultants to help make these decisions with a proper site appraisal. If the trees are all horizontal that is a good start. It should definitely be what most people would think is a windy place, and with steady winds. Solar panels are easier to engineer, perhaps lower risk, but it does depend on where you are too. No clouds in that case. It is not uncommon to have them together, with the low load diesels.

You probably already know the peak power demands from existing power supplies. You should try to factor in for 25 years growth of island power usage too. The figure varies, especially because or airconditioning/heating situation. One could say a typical is 4kWh per house per day. You have to consider community buildings too. This figure takes no account of peak demand anyway. It tells you how much fuel you need for diesel generators.

Vestas is a Danish pioneer in larger wind systems, with some innovative features.
The first link shows power versus wind speed.
The second link also has these for the latest models, look for the brochures. It also gives advice about
The third link has a list of other manufacturers.
The 4th and 5th links have pictures of wind farms with some details that could be helpful for contacts.
The sixth link is about low load diesels.

admin answers:

Climbing 200 feet is important. Once a year someone has to climb down and hand inspect each blade. Being comfortable working on machinery at 200 feet is required. You don’t climb much in nasty weather, but you will climb to the nacelles in winter.

Most windmills use a induction generator with a back to back inverter. The generator generates power at whatever frequency, and the inverter converts it to 60hz. Being able to trouble shoot this type of equipment is a plus.

admin answers:

The smallest I would recommend is 5000 watts. This should be enough to operate the well pump, small cooking appliances, lights, television, fridge, etc. Power will be limited and you will have to be careful not to overload the generator. I power my house with a 5500 watt generator. You should also consider installation of a proper transfer switch and be aware of the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Read through my generator page listed below for more information.

If your main goal is to power the well pump solar or wind are not feasible. The power requirements are simply too high. It may be an option to supplement your electrical consumption for other smaller loads however.

admin answers:

I’m not sure from your question what you want to make, the generator itself or a system that generates power?

The generator itself would be very difficult for home production. Take apart a car alternator or starter motor (which would work as a generator) and see whats involved. Using these same items to generate power from another source such as wind is perfectly reasonable to do with directions how available on the Internet.

Having said that, if you just wanted to make something that worked but wasn’t actually practical, take a look at the link http://www.howard.k12.md.us/res/MakingStuff/motor.html
This would work as an ac generator if the ends of the wire wound on the cork were connected to some type of collector ring and brushes and the needle turned by something

admin answers:

While I’ll admit that coal fire power is a pollutant, at this present time we could use it to boost the grid and lower costs of power. The problem is, it takes longer to build a nuke plant and more safeties must be in place. I believe in using what we must as a stop gap until the Green Industry catches up and this could take several years to do.
True Solar power would be best as far as emissions are concerned, but this is also more expensive to set up and when there is no sun shine for several days this could be a problem.
When Con-Edison first started up, each neighborhood had their own generators, which covered a certain area. This agenda could be used again with the solar idea and by doing so, could reduce costs to those in their areas if they would also set up solar panels to help in producing their own power and if any was not used it could be diverted into the grid and help the other areas.
I believe through a system of wind, coal, nuclear, solar and even water powered generators we could produce much more than we need, by combining the grids of each.

Edit: If I could find a way to run my house without the need of any outside influence I would build a high fence around it of stone and secede from the union. Welcome to the free nation of Liberty!

admin answers:

I am so outraged that I spent the morning emailing the governator and our representatives in Sacto. I have been plaguing them with emails since this budget debaucle began, but this is the worst possible outcome! It really irritates me that they reached into the pockets of those of us who are still hanging on to our jobs and homes, but can barely keep ourselves from falling off the proverbial financial cliff. We have seen increases in food, electric, water, trash collection to the tune of 30-35% in the last year, losses of 35-40% in our home values, IRAs, 401ks and investment accounts and our wages have been stagnant or barely able to keep up with the increases in health care premiums or co-pays. In order to pay the increased personal income tax, we will have to save every dime of the $13 in federal stimulus and will still owe about $1300 to the state. In addition, the increase in vehicle license fees, sales taxes and other provisions will only serve to slow down purchases because consumers will tighten the purse strings even more. What burns me most is that they never even discusses suspending free services for the education, health care, social services or welfare to anchor babies of illegals. There is a huge sigh of relief in the illegal alien community that at least they will not be affected by the income tax increases while they still retain their free benefits while all of us taxpaying suckers get less government services and huge tax increases. Even my avatar is red faced with the passage of this budget! Did you notice, they basically snagged everything we could have gotten that might have benefitted us from the fed? We won’t be able to take advantage of purchasing energy efficient appliances, solar panels, wind generators, new cars and can’t even spend our stimulus because we will owe it to the state.

admin answers:

Not only cost effective, but profitable to the participants.
I am currently (no pun) building a wind turbine generator, for under $500. I had to buy a welder (got a deal) and if it works out, I’ll be building more of them, for sale.
If you have the proper type of electric meter outside your home, it will run backwards as you generate your own electricity, if you generate more than you use. Thus, you can actually make money doing this. If you end up with an electric vehicle and charge it at home…
You get the picture.
Here’s a search results page for this, called “Distributed Generation”——-
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=distributed+generation&fr=ush-ans&ygmasrchbtn=Web+Search
The wind turbine generator:
http://www.otherpower.com/trips3.html
Check it out. They also have a 20 foot diameter version for greater output (more involved, more costly initially) that I may build later on.
I also have plans for a personal solar-trough type generator
that involves a closed-circuit water/steam system.

admin answers:

Hello,our company shenzhen bazhentu are selling that,you may contact our sales manager directly by msn ebwone@hotmail.com.
Her phone:0086-15574832263

1000w wind turbine

Application range:Small water pump system, power supply for home daily use on island, in rural area, remote area, wind-solar hybrid system on farmland, grassland; for navigation tower and frontier sentry..

Other opponents:tower, battery set, solar panel, controller for solar panel, cable wires, storage cabinet (optional), inverter (for AC load), ect…

Description:
Color: White
Net Weight: 45 KG
Gross Weight: 64 KG
Blades Material: Reinforced Nylon
Starting Wind Speed(m/s)：3.0m/s
Cut-in Wind Speed(m/s)：3.0m/s
Rated Wind Speed(m/s)：11.5m/s
Safe Wind Speed(m/s)：50m/s

Characteristics:
1. High efficiency which eauals the trditonal 800W wind generator.
2. Renewable energy could get government budget subsidies.
3. Energy Saving & Pollution Reduction
4. Cost cutting compared with traditional power generating set
5. Around 15 years of life span
6. Complementarily use with solar energy

admin answers:

Hey Taylor, yes, I agree with the other respondents here, there are great breakthroughs to come in the renewable energy business. Let me outline some specifics: Solar panels today, or photovoltiacs to be exact, are only about 12 to 15 % efficient. Over 80% of the suns energy that hit them is only turned into heat, same as if it just hit the ground. They used to be 7%, but we have almost doubled that. The Germans are working on a project right now to harness the suns light and heat to convert to electricity, it is called Desertec. Their plan is to heat oil to over 600 degrees F, then store it in a huge building sized insulated tank. Then using water to oil heat exchangers, they can send water in which will boil in seconds and run a steam turbine. There are several advantages to this plan, not the least of which is the solar array is now 50 to 60 % efficient. A solar factory in the northwest corner of the Sahara Desert can power all of Europe, all day, and all night since the stored hot oil stays above 212 degrees well into the night. Now we have solar electricity even while it’s dark. This is experimental, but if it works that well, you’ll soon see these plants in desert environments all over the globe. Some items further out on the experimental table are liquid salt as a heat medium, and items like liquid nitrogen, and so on. There is plenty of solar energy in the world, we just need to get better at using it, and people like you can make that happen.

Looking at wind, Albert Betz was the scientist who penned what is now called the, “Betz Limit,” a theoretical limit on how much wind energy can be converted to usable torque by a turbine. You can check it out on google or wiki if you like, but in a nutshell, 59% is the maximum theoretical limit of any wind turbine. Well our best units today work in the 30 to 35 % range, well below the Betz Limit. Again, people like you can help us push that envelope out further, so now we can run all the homes in the Pacific Northwest on half the wind farm we would need using todays technology. The same can be said for biomass, landfill conversions, methane use, hydro power, and so on. The area of direct thermal conversion is really old school, even as cool as it is now. There is a woodstove you can buy today that when you feed wood into it and heat it up, it also makes electricity using a Peltier Heat Junction. They work, but are expensive and highly inefficient, again, a work in progress and probably years behind. Global warming is no wimp, just ask anyone on the East Coast USA what they think about it today after the last two “weather patterns,” they have been through. Or check out Sir David Attenborough’s comments on Yahoo’s front page today. K’s comment on fossil technology should be “fracking,” not “fracting,” but he’s correct, we seem to be finding more oil when we should be burning less of it. My feeling on that is if it’s unhealthy to pipe the exhaust from your car to the inside of the vehicle, it’s just as unhealthy to vent it to the outside too.

If you really have an interest in all of this, I highly recommend getting an education in the field and doing whatever you can, we still need more help working all this stuff out. Our home generates about 90% of its own electricity now, with the help of a solar array and small wind turbine. We heat with passive solar and wood, and collect rainwater as well as heat water with the sun, but life would be even better if all this could be done with less resources, less money, and more reliability, that’s where people like you could come in. Good luck Taylor, and take care, Rudydoo

admin answers:

No live voltage – until blades allowed to rotate.

admin answers:

24 volts single phase is not very useful, specially as the frequency is probably varying all over the lot. Why not rectify the 3 phase to DC, which is quite efficient, then use an inverter to convert that to 120 or 240 VAC 50 or 60 Hz, as you prefer.

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admin answers:

The Nuclear plants that are proposed for construction in the US in the next 1-10 years will cost between 5-7 billion dollars per reactor, depending on which design. In the past, they were built for as little as 300 million dollars.

* Provisional contracts for two 1,117 MWe AP1000 reactors at the Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Generating Station have estimated final costs of approximately $4.9 billion per reactor. [1]

* On April 9, 2008, Georgia Power Company reached a contract agreement for two AP1000 reactors to be built at Vogtle, at an estimated final cost of $14 billion. [2]

The profit on a running reactor is about $1 million dollars a day, the cost is 5.93 cents per kWh, and includes Uranium for fuel, insurance, waste disposal, and employees like security.
The lifetime cost of new generating capacity in the United States was estimated in 2006 by the U.S. Government: wind cost was estimated at $55.80 per MWh, coal (cheap in the U.S.) at $53.10, natural gas at $52.50 and nuclear at $59.30.
“Future costs” include the cost to decommission a reactor, which is currently around $300 million dollars.
If we expand the topic from electricity to energy in general, Nuclear Power really starts to get cheap. According to Dr. Arthur Robinson of the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine: “The construction of just one nuclear power station like Palo Verde (CA) in each of the 50 states, with a full complement of 10 reactors, would supply all of the energy that the United States currently imports—with, in addition and at current prices, $300 billion per year worth of excess energy to export.”

Nuclear fission is the splitting of the nucleus of an atom into parts (lighter nuclei) often producing free neutrons and other smaller nuclei, which may eventually produce photons (in the form of gamma rays). Fission of heavy elements is an exothermic reaction which can release large amounts of energy both as electromagnetic radiation and as kinetic energy of the fragments (heating the bulk material where fission takes place). Fission is a form of elemental transmutation because the resulting fragments are not the same element as the original atom.

Nuclear energy is a way of creating heat through the fission process of atoms. All power plants convert heat into electricity using steam. At nuclear power plants, the heat to make the steam is created when atoms split apart — called fission. (Other types of power plants burn coal or oil for heat to make steam.)

The fission process take place when the nucleus of a heavy atom, like uranium or plutonium, is split in two when struck by a neutron. The “fissioning” of the nucleus releases two or three new neutrons.

It also releases energy in the form of heat. The released neutrons can then repeat the process. This releases even more neutrons and more nuclear energy. The repeating of the process is called a chain reaction. In a nuclear power plant, uranium is the material used in the fission process.

The heat from fission boils water and creates steam to turn a turbine. As the turbine spins, the generator turns and its magnetic field produces electricity. The electricity can then be carried to your home, so you can work on the computer, watch television, play video games, or make toast!

MW = Mega Watt (1 million watts)
kW= Kilo Watt (1 thousand watts)

admin answers:

An automobile alternator will generate about 700 watts if spinning at the proper speed. You may need a belt drive to get to that speed.

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admin answers:

A traditional windmill is the easiest to build – that is pretty flat blades mounted in a vertical circle with a tail piece to aim it into the wind. The shaped blades of a propellor type wind generator are much harder to make as are the mixer shaped blades of a vertical windmill.
The big problem of making a model of a standard windwill is getting the power out. The shaft the blade turns on must have a crank or gears that line up with the center of rotation of the head, so the blade axle must have a bearing on either side of the crank or gear head – in a small model, getting these bearings mounted, etc., gets more tricky than in a bigger device.
If pumping is done with a crank, there must be counterweights so the windmill is only lifting water and not the weight of the shaft. If gearing is used, the tail must be bigger to offset the torque from the load (otherwise the spinning of the blades will rotate the head around the gears.
The second reference in particular will give you good data.

admin answers:

I think you are looking for deep cycle batteries, the same kind that are used with solar collectors.

Try some of these sites…

Edit – to answer the question “Why not car batteries?” … The difference between a deep-cycle and car battery is that deep-cycle batteries contain solid lead and withstand “deep-cycling” (losing up to 80% charge) better than automotive batteries, which have a different construction. Car batteries are designed to give you more “starting” power and stay up above 50% charge. Deep-cycling a car battery can result in a quicker breakdown of the core, thus increasing cost in the long-run.

admin answers:

Call your electric company; the folk you would have had to call anyway to get connected & let them know that you would like a reverse meter so that they can measure how much energy that you are back feeding. There is specific wiring for this that has to be approved through your county anyway & it is a safety feature for people working on the lines after a storm so you don’t inadvertantly electrocute a lineman who is trying to restore power around you. They will no doubt have the answers that you need or can advise you on where to look for the insurance. The way that you do a million dollar insurance policy is called an UMBRELLA POLICY on the homeowner’s. That isn’t hard. It is a property insurance that goes above what the homeowner’s insurance carries. The UMBRELLA coverage is a catastrophic event coverage that is called secondary insurance. It isn’t even very expensive as it covers after everything else has been exhausted first. Go to yahoo & google Umbrella insurance & then if that doesn’t work, look at commercial insurance companies in your area. I know that CNA which is a HUGE insurance company, they write in Texas & may be able to write your friend the policy that he needs. I hope this helps. I used to do underwriting assistance for them & I helped insure folk in Texas in particular.