admin answers:

What you see outside is essentially a wind powered battery charger. The batteries inside power an inverter which will supply 120VAC to selected circuits in the house.
I’m putting together something similar which may help you understand what is being done. Read through my web page for wiring diagrams, charge controller, tower drawings, pictures, etc.
Http://members.rennlist.org/warren/wind.html

admin answers:

Hi Nour K.
The easiest way to find the information is to go to the links below.
The Build It Solar website has listing and multiple links on wind power home projects.
When you get there, there is a directory at the left side of the page.
Wind power Basics
Four others,
And Sampling of wind power turbine suppliers.

Scroll down the page, there is a link to www.eere.energy.gov ,,,

And a hole lot more there.
Http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Wind/wind.htm#DIYWind

The Eco-Friendly Power website has five products from 2 kilowatt to 20 kilowatt.
Just click on any one of the pictures for more information.
Http://www.redriven.net/products.html

For example, this the 5Kw package
http://www.redriven.net/products_5kw.html

Edit , I came back and added more.
It comes with:

•FD6.4-5000 including generator, blades, flange
•5 Kw ReDriven On-Grid Controller
•1 PVI-6000 Inverter
MSRP: $14,825.40* USD

These are the specifications for the 5Kw

Rated Power: 5000W

Rated Voltage: 240v 60hz

Start up wind speed: 2 m/s (4.4mph)

Rated Wind speed: 10m/s (22.35)

Blade material: Fiber Glass

5,000 watts at 240 Vac is 20 amps
or 40 amps at 120 volts

Here are videos of the 10Kw unit:
http://www.redriven.net/media.html

Here is a search for [home wind turbine cost]
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=home+wind+turbine+cost&rlz=1R2GGLP_enUS353&aq=4&oq=home+wind+turbine&aqi=g10

From there to here:
What do I need to know to purchase a residential wind turbine? Jump to How much does a wind system cost?‎: A small turbine can cost anywhere from $6000 to $22000 installed, depending upon size, …
Http://www.awea.org/faq/rsdntqa.html

This a demonstration video describing how a wing generator works:
http://www.skystreamenergy.com/how-it-works/skystreaminmotion.php

Sorry I can not find how much a professional installation costs, you could contact several manufactures to find out.

Wingman

admin answers:

Let me start off by saying we (my family and I) live completely, 100% “off of the grid and are completely self sufficient” using alternative fuels / energy. I was in a similar situation as you few years ago.

Www agua-lun com

We do not leave our ranch except about once or twice a year, mainly for travel and vacations.

We raise meat and milk goats, chickens for meat and eggs, ducks for meat and eggs, trap havilina (wild boar pig), rabbit, quail. Brew our own beer from home grown products, preserve our fruits, vegetables, etc. Smoke and jerky the meat, make our own soap, cheese.

There are no utility lines, no water lines, no roads, tv, cell service, etc. On our ranch. EVERYTHING needed is produced here. All electricity comes from 27 solar panels, 2 main wind gens and a back hydrogen generator if needed (typically we can last 9 days with all luxuries of sunless windless weather, hasn’t happened yet). Water is caught and storage from the rain. Hot water is made with solar batch water heaters with an on-demand hydrogen hot water heater as backup. Even our vehicles use alternative energy (2 hydrogen trucks, 1 EV electric vehicle converted).

We’ve lived self sufficiently off the grid for over 5 years now. In 2003 I left an Engineering position with Boeing, sold 2 houses and most of our positions, purchased a small ranch in West Texas near the Mexican border, built a completely green home using 100% recycled and local (rocks, lumber, sand from the ranch) materials, built a wind generator and some solar panels, built a hydrogen generator and converted the vehicles to run on alternative energy, purchased some goats, chickens, ducks, lamas, etc, a composting toilet, water storage tanks, planted crops and fruit trees and settled down for the long run. We typically don’t leave the ranch for 6-8 months at a time, and only then to visit family.

The house is built utilizing natures natural materials, Woodburning stoves, solar chimney, solar AC, solar heating, solar water heating (pool and home), solar stove, solar power, wind power, hydrogen powered back up generator, hydrogen back up water heater, hydrogen stove, 2 hydrogen powered trucks, 1 EV (electric vehicle) and satellite internet.

To see some pics of the ranch
www agua-lun com

We also built many small cabins on the ranch that we offer to family, friends and our on-site off-grid workshop guests, including one straw bale, one papercrete, earth bag and adobe, one cob and cordwood, one underground and rammed earth, one log and post and beam and one rock.

I later wrote a several guides on how to build with alternative materials, alternative energy / fuels using alternative methods for next to nothing. Anyone interested can check it out at..

Www agua-lun com

As we have no bills, no mortgage and no taxes ..we have little use for money (any extra money saved up usually goes towards vacations as we enjoy traveling to Mexico).

If you’d like more info on how you can make the transition easily, let me know.

admin answers:

I’m going to give you my standard blurb on dealing with depression. I have bipolar disorder, and have not found meds that will help me after going thru like 30 different drugs and even trying electroshock. The tips I’m going to give you are practical, nuts & bolts type things you can do to feel better. I’ve got some stuff in there that doesn’t apply to you, so just ignore that. But there should be a few helpful tips in there that will help. I learned them in classes in the mental hospital, and figured out a few, too. I hope they help! Print them out!

If your depression seems to be more of a problem in the winter, try to get more sun. You could have seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, or your depression could have a seasonal component, meaning you tend to have more trouble in the winter. A light box is really good if you can afford one (about $300 online, don’t get it at a local store, they will charge more for a light less than 1/2 as bright). Since I will always have a mood disorder, I have put in extra windows, keep the drapes mounted so they don’t cover them, make sure I spend a lot of time in southern exposure rooms, painted the walls peach and yellow. I even have a skylight (and I LOVE it, it helps a lot!!!!!)

Try meditation tapes like progressive muscle relaxation or guided imagery. They may seem silly at first, but they work!! They help reduce stress, which makes depression worse.
***** #1 MOST HELPFUL TIP Go out with friends, and if you don’t have any, find a club to join and MAKE yourself go until you actually look forward to it. Isolation makes depression worse. I’m an introvert, extremely so, and I still need to get out with others.

Exercise at least 1/2 hour a day, and anytime you feel really hyper or depressed. Exercise is a great mood stabilizer and cuts down on anxiety a lot.

If your depression makes it hard for you to sleep, here are some good “sleep hygiene” tips so you can sleep better. Like go to bed and get up about the same time each day, even weekends. Don’t use your bedroom to watch TV and read and use the computer and all that-just use the room as a bedroom normally would be used. Don’t do stuff that pumps you up right before bed, like exercising and using the computer. You want to use that last hour to wind down-Take a bath? Make the bedroom really dark, cover up the clock radio, even, so the light doesn’t shine at you. If you live in the city, use a noise generator (makes wave sounds and the like) to cover up the city sounds. Avoid caffeine in the afternoon and evening.Try soundsleeping.com for free relaxing sounds downloads.

Put a lot of colorful things around the house, happy type things, and keep the blinds open and let the sun in. Get yourself some flowers. Put on some nice clothes. OK that was for the ladies, mostly. Make a list of things that make you happy. Here’s some things on my list: A basket full of fluffy kittens, bread fresh from the oven, Fireworks popping on a warm summer evening, The first fireflies of the season, the scent of Jergen’s cherry almond lotion, The crisp sound of a saltine cracker breaking, fresh sheets on the bed, standing in the boat flicking topwater lures out onto the water, etc. Use all your senses and read that list when you are breaking down
Work on time management if being overwhelmed and late for things and too much to do is getting to you. Cut back on other responsibilities temporarily so you can spend more restorative time with friends and family.

You got a significant other? Extra physical touch is very helpful. Most people in the US or UK are touch deprived, so hold hands more, hug more, give shoulder rubs, etc. Etc. Is a euphemism for you folks in an adult relationship. A pet is good to cuddle with, too, if your home situation allows you to get one. (I’m an animal lover, don’t get one if you can’t commit to it for 15 years) Take the dog out for a game of fetch, brush Fluffy, etc.
Make sure you are NOT listening to sad music! It is so easy to fall into doing that, but it makes things a lot worse! Listen to happy, upbeat stuff. Do the same with movies you watch.
Distract yourself when the hurting is at its worst. Read a novel, watch a comedy, go out with friends, play cards, play a videogame, whatever is mentally all-consuming. This is a VERY helpful tip that works!!
I have severe psychiatric symptoms from bipolar disorder and post traumatic stress disorder. And I am able to control my behavior almost 100% even when I am suffering, and able to feel quite a bit better using some of these tricks, because the meds have not been effective for me. If I didn’t do stuff like the above, I would be dead or in a group home. So please try some of these things and they may provide some relief for you. Pills alone or counseling alone are not as effective as pills plus counseling, and you have to follow some of these type of suggestions the counselors give you. Cognitive Behavioral therapy is the gold st

admin answers:

Hi.. I am an electrical engineer!!!

Yeah its is possible till u meet some requirements

1. From the UPS.. The output is AC.. And the input of the DCPM Motor is DC.. So u need to convert this into DC with a converter called Rectifier.. I would recommend a ful wave recitifier..
AC converted should be of the frequency of 50Hz!!… This is very important!!

2. The current and voltage rating of the wind turbine should meet the rating of the UPS..
The rating of a standard household domestic purpose UPS would be 240V, 5A.
(Voltage is constant and the maximum current is 5A)

3. If the rating of the turbine is more than 240V.. Please do not connect to the turbine.. It causes overload on UPS!!

Hope this might help

admin answers:

Wind is free so it does not make sense to talk about efficiency.

Robert h mentioned NOISE, that should be your primary concern.

Remember wind does not blow all the time, so, you will need a battery bank, and an inverter, to turn it into AC power. This is all rather complicated to run, if you do not have a technical bend.

Lookup some suppliers and ask them to explain it to you.

admin answers:

Don,

The noise made by a wind turbine has two sources. First is the actual rotation of the blades cutting through the air and the second is the mechanical noise of the gearing mechanism and generator housed within the nacelle (the white box on the top that houses the mechanics).

Nacelles are well insulated and you would have to be very close in order to hear the sound, so close in fact that even stood at the foot of the turbine you probably wouldn’t hear it.

Most of the noise comes from the turbine blades themselves, these are manufactured in such a way as to minimise noise impact. However, no matter how good the design there is always going to be some noise.

You didn’t say how far away the turbines are going to be from your vacation home, this makes a big difference. I’m assuming there will be several hundred metres, particularly as the windfarm will be offshore (in most countries there has to be a minimum distance between the turbines and any buildings).

The amount of noise that a modern turbine makes at a distance of 400 metres is about 35 dB(A)*, at 1000 metres it’s about 15 dB(A).

For comparison purposes 35 dB(A) is about the same noise that a quiet office air-conditioning system will make or the background noise inside a typical house (humming electrical items, heating system etc).

Given that the windfarm in question is going to be an offshore one, then I very much doubt you’ll hear anything. Partly because it will be some distance away and partly because any noise it makes will be masked by the sound of the sea itself.

I think I’d be more inclined to be concerned about the visual impact the turbines may have, and again, it depends very much on the distance. Some people find them to be aesthetically pleasing, personally I don’t.

One of the main factors that influenced our decision to move to where we now live was the view. We’re fortunate that the house overlooks rolling hills and green valleys with very little in the way of visual intrusion, if a windfarm were visible, even several miles away, I personally think it would have a significant impact. That however, is just my opinion, yours may be different.

* dB is short for decibel, it’s the measure of magnitude of pressure variation within the air. Environmental noise impacts are normally corrected to reflect the sensitivity of the human ear, this is what the (A) refers to.

admin answers:

Vertical wind generators are poor performers no matter how they are made.

There is a very recently published book that you should read called “Home brew Wind Power, and you can get it here http://www.otherpower.com .

You can also find a good review at http://www.rebelwolf.com/images/review.pdf

I was just about to write up a review on my web site – but found this question and thought I would save you a lot of grief.

The book title is perhaps a little misleading because it goes beyond what you’d consider “home brew”. These people have excellent engineering skills and their work is the state of the art.

These guys are serious — they work through the technical and physical design considerations (including discussions of vertical axis units) leading up to designs that actually work and even get into the detailed designs of creating the alternator from scratch. It also has links to an enormous amount of reference material.

You mention on buildings or around campus. Please be aware that the generator needs to be 30 feet above the buildings and the tallest trees to get decent power. Start by erecting an recording wind instrument on one of your existing communications towers (don’t get zapped) and find out how much wind you really have. Then calculate the maximum theoretical capacity using the equations in the book and you will find your answers.

admin answers:

Not charged by the method you describe. There would not be enough trickle charge to provide the charge in any meaningful time period.

But battery narrow boats do exist, its nothing new. There are a few on the Basingstoke and Montomery canals

You need a land line to charge up. Most have a diesel generator as well

Power is not a problem, the battery boats easily match the diesel powered boats for torque and control.

Its charging up every 2 days that will stop any chance of cruising around the system.

You get significant licence reductions for a battery boat.

admin answers:

Living on a boat is not for everyone. It is a lifestyle that can be great fun and very relaxed, but you have to work a little harder to be comfortable. Can you try it for a little while without having to make a committment?

You have to make arrangements for water and to have your holding tank pumped out. Most people go ashore for water – sometimes to a marina dock. In a very few places there is water delivery to boats, but in my experience that is not the norm. I have never seen that happen. When we anchored for longer periods my husband and I often dinghied 5 gallon jugs of water back to our boat on a regular basis – every time we went ashore.

What about power? Do you want to have electricity? If so, you need to think about wind generators or solar panels, depending on where you live. How about refrigeration? That is the biggest consumer of energy on a boat. There are options that use less power, but they tend to be more expensive. Do you want to be able to have a hot water shower on the boat? Is it hot enough where you live to use a solar bag/sun shower to heat your shower water each day or will you need a water heater?

How about cooking? If you have a propane stove, especially a Force 10, two burner with oven, that will be great, and many people also have a BBQ in the cockpit. With propane you should have a propane detector in your cabin and bilge as propane sinks if it is leaking, and could collect in the bottom of your boat and cause an explosion.

If you anchor, you have to dinghy ashore everyday. You may need to lock your dinghy when you go ashore, depending on where you are anchored. Will you have a vehicle on shore? If so, that will make life easier, as you will not have to backpack laundry, groceries, etc. If you are depending on getting ashore by dinghy to get to a job, what about the days when it might be too rough to get the dinghy ashore?

Do you want to have TV and Internet on your boat? We used a cell phone to have Internet access when we were anchored. Sometimes we were fortunate enough to be able to receive an unsecured wireless signal. For TV, you might be able to receive the free channels from you boat if you put an antenna high enough. The reception will of course vary with the movement of the boat.

Depending on your location, you may need to protect all you clothing from humidity and mildew. We rolled all of ours and packaged everything in airtight ziploc bags to keep the moisture out.

Some people who live on boats choose to rent a slip at a marina and then they can have most of the conveniences of a land based home while living on a boat. Not all marinas allow live aboards.

I would live on a boat again in a flash if the opportunity presented itself with the right person. My husband and I enjoyed it immensely and had wonderful adventures. We were happy vagabonds. We were both retired though, so we did not have to worry about getting ashore for work, etc.

So I hope I have given you some food for thought. Most people I know who live on boats and work ashore actually live in a slip at a marina, but I also know a few who anchor and dinghy ashore everyday to a job. Best of luck with you plans. I would do it. Feel free to ask about anything else you think I could help with.