The Future of Wind Turbines? No Blades

Liz Stinson
It’s no longer surprising to encounter 100-foot pinwheels spinning in the breeze as you drive down the highway. But don’t get too comfortable with that view. A Spanish company called Vortex Bladeless is proposing a radical new way to generate wind energy that will once again upend what you see outside your car window.
Their idea is the Vortex, a bladeless wind turbine that looks like a giant rolled joint shooting into the sky. The Vortex has the same goals as conventional wind turbines: To turn breezes into kinetic energy that can be used as electricity. But it goes about it in an entirely different way.
Instead of capturing energy via the circular motion of a propeller, the Vortex takes advantage of what’s known as vorticity, an aerodynamic effect that produces a pattern of spinning vortices. Vorticity has long been considered the enemy of architects and engineers, who actively try to design their way around these whirlpools of wind. And for good reason: With enough wind, vorticity can lead to an oscillating motion in structures, which, in some cases, like the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, can cause their eventual collapse.
Where designers see danger, Vortex Bladeless’s founders—David Suriol, David Yáñez, and Raul Martín—sees opportunity. “We said, ‘Why don’t we try to use this energy, not avoid it,’” Suriol says. The team started Vortex Bladeless in 2010 as a way to turn this vibrating energy into something productive. They just launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise awareness of the technology.

A prototype of the Vortex. Vortex Bladeless

The Vortex’s shape was developed computationally to ensure the spinning wind (vortices) occurs synchronously along the entirety of the mast. “The swirls have to work together to achieve good performance,” Villarreal explains. In its current prototype, the elongated cone is made from a composite of fiberglass and carbon fiber, which allows the mast to vibrate as much as possible (an increase in mass reduces natural frequency). At the base of the cone are two rings of repelling magnets, which act as a sort of nonelectrical motor. When the cone oscillates one way, the repelling magnets pull it in the other direction, like a slight nudge to boost the mast’s movement regardless of wind speed. This kinetic energy is then converted into electricity via an alternator that multiplies the frequency of the mast’s oscillation to improve the energy-gathering efficiency.
Its makers boast the fact that there are no gears, bolts, or mechanically moving parts, which they say makes the Vortex cheaper to manufacture and maintain. The founders claim their Vortex Mini, which stands at around 41 feet tall, can capture up to 40 percent of the wind’s power during ideal conditions (this is when the wind is blowing at around 26 miles per hour). Based on field testing, the Mini ultimately captures 30 percent less than conventional wind turbines, but that shortcoming is compensated by the fact that you can put double the Vortex turbines into the same space as a propeller turbine.
The Vortex team says there are some clear advantages to their model: It’s less expensive to manufacture, totally silent, and safer for birds since there are no blades to fly into. Vortex Bladeless says its turbine would cost around 51 percent less than a traditional turbine whose major costs come from the blades and support system. Plus, Suriol says, it’s pretty cool-looking. “It looks like asparagus,” he says. “It’s much more natural.”
The company has already raised $1 million from private capital and government funding in Spain, and they have plans to close a round in the United States soon. There’s enough interest, Suriol says, that he fields upward of 200 emails a day from people inquiring about the turbine. Of course, the technology still has a ways to go. They’re hoping to have their first product, a 9-foot, 100-watt turbine that will be used in developing countries, ready before the end of the year. The Mini, it’s 41-foot counterpart, will be ready in a year.
For the time being, you’ll continue seeing pinwheels dotting the landscape, which Suriol is actually happy about. “We can’t say anything bad about conventional wind turbines; they’re great machines,” he says. “We’re just proposing a new way, a different way.”


source :  https://www.wired.com/2015/05/future-wind-turbines-no-blades/

Wind Generator & Solal Panel Wiring Diagram

Saved From : DIY Wind Turbine

Small Wind Energy Goes Urban In Italy, Korea, Brazil And Texas

by Jennifer Hicks
Tech 5/17/2012 @ 5:48PM

Streetlights usually operate at electricity rates like the ones we pay in our private homes. About one-third of a municipality’s electrical costs are for street lighting. So having that energy provided by some form of renewable energy, means that every cent is saved. For municipalities, whose budgets are being squeezed, that’s something serious to consider.
Take Trondheim, Norway for example. The city has 21,500 street lights (1,100 on highways, 2,800 on county roads, 16,600 urban roads, 300 in parks, 700 on private roads). Their 2006 lighting budget to run and maintain, including the cost of the energy for those 21,500 lights was €1,881.250 m euros a year.
It’s possible to reduce today’s energy consumption for street and road lighting by as much as 60% with new technologies – LED, smart lighting, distributed wind energy and even lights out programs. By example, the city of San Jose, California was able to trim down their $4 million annual electric bill for streetlights just by converting their street lights to LEDs. The city of Calgary replaced all of their street lighting with efficient lights which ended up saving the city about $2 million a year. The City of Oslo in Norway, installed intelligent street lighting which led to an energy savings of 70%.

Hybrid wind turbine from UGE powering street lights in Busan, Korea

And if you could power a street light with a renewable energy like wind, why wouldn’t you? That is exactly what some cities around the world are doing, going beyond replacement of street lights with LED but using small wind – through distributed energy – to power their city street lights and other small-scale energy needs.
Energy politics aside, the buzz around wind energy is mostly around reducing dependency on fossil fuels or getting off the grid. But sometimes those big leaps don’t start that big, they start at a local level  – either from a personal desire to make a change in your own electric bill or a city choosing to take a stand and install a hybrid city lighting system.
(The video below shows a row of wind turbine’s powering street lights in Spain.)
The distributed energy market refers to small-scale energy produced primarily for on-site energy consumption meaning street lights, roof tops and ledges anything that requires a direct power source. In 2011, the size of the distributed renewable energy market was estimated around $70 billion dollars globally. It’s expected to top $150 billion by 2015. Because distributed energy is generated at the source of where energy is needed, the inefficient transmission lines are eliminated, creating a more direct source of  renewable energy, with the traditional grid being used as a supplemental energy source.
Urban wind solutions from newcomers are also on the rise.  Italy’s Enatek is building micro wind turbine’s for urban roof tops (Forbes, August 2011) and Southwest Windpower in Arizona (the founders modified a Ford alternator to create their first wind generator) put a roof top wind turbine on house in San Francisco’s Mission district. [video courtesy GigaOm]
All around the world, you see cities (and homeowners) turning to small wind energy solutions to power city lights or control commercial electricity costs.  In fact, the installed capacity for small wind by country at the end of 2012, and this might surprise you, goes like this: US, China, UK, Germany, Canada, Spain, Poland, Japan, Italy, Sweden and South Korea.
Urban Green Energy (UGE) is a relatively new player to the wind business entering the market in 2008, but the company is almost fanatically committed to putting customers in control of their energy source. To them those installations can be residential or commercial from suburban US homeowners to off-grid telecoms towers in rural Africa.

With the right wind resource, hotels, the military, businesses, homeowners and off-grid telecoms sites can generate the energy they need onsite and save on their electric bills, or operate off of the utility grid  –  Mateo Chaskel, AVP Operations, UGE.

UGE has created and installed some unique urban wind turbines in more than 60 countries since 2008. Their emphasis is on small wind system and renewable energy systems. Their vertical axis, versatile hybrid wind systems are not out in the ocean, an open field or windy plateau, but in urban areas right in front of you. Hide in plain site the spy code says, and that’s what UGE has been doing with its customers around the world.
These urban wind installations or renewable energy systems by UGE might not look like what you expect, in fact Don Quixote might not even notice them. But they are making a difference to city budgets globally and setting the pace and perhaps the expectation from consumers that wind energy doesn’t look so bad.

Hyrbrid street lights with custom sails and 150W solar panels and 84W LEDs were used for extra illumination. Busan, Korea

Korea – Hybrid Street Lights
In 2011, Korea’s second largest city, Busan which also happens to be the country’s largest port city, installed Sanya hybrid street lamps. To test their performance before they went live, the hybrid street lamps were placed around the city in a number of varying topographies – the seaside and high and low lying areas including the Amisan Observatory, Hwamyung Arboretum, Busan Central Park, Taejongdae, and the Bn factory.
Typical LED output is around 70W, however the sites in Busan had access to strong renewable energy (wind and sun) so were able to use a stronger wattage which increased the light on the ground.

Italy  – Historic Bell Tower, Italian Flag powered by Renewable Energy

600 w wind turbine on top of Imperia Bell Tower. The Italian flag represented in LED lights is powered by the wind turbine.

In March 2011, a 600W vertical axis wind turbine was installed on top of the historic Bell Tower in Imperia, Italy. The tower was built in 1923 and so it was vital the architectural and design integrity of the Bell Tower was not obstructed by the wind turbine. This wind turbine will offset a percentage of the City Hall’s electricity.
The wind turbine was part of the Mayor’s plans to green the city but also to meet an European Union objective to reduce CO2 emissions by 20% by 2020.
The installation coincided with the 150th anniversary of the unification of the Italian Republic and to commemorate this event, an Italian flag was to be implied with green, white and red LED flood lights which illuminated the facade of Imperia’s City Hall that were powered by the wind turbine –Italy’s first Italian flag powered by renewable energy!
This eddy will offset a percentage of the City Hall’s electricity.
This installation shows everyone that making energy is a fun process that can enrich our city experience. It should become a new way of furnishing the living space we all enjoy outside our home. Wind…is a rich resource…, most importantly it’s free! And [with the wind urbine]…we can [capture] it in style.” –  Dr. Michele Benvenuti of greenwire

Texas – Commercial Building Powers Up with Wind Turbine

A four kilowatt vertical axis wind turbine to power the commercial building

It’s hot in Texas. And energy bills run on the high side all the time. In July 2011, an air conditioner wholesaler, Johnstone Supply in Corpus Christi, Texas decided to take a new approach to his businesses energy bills and installed a 4 kilowatt vertical axis wind turbine on the roof of his commercial property to power his commercial building.
The wind turbine was installed 30 feet off the ground on a fiberglass tower behind the building. Mr. Stephens started a trend and shortly after his installation, several large companies in the Corpus Christi area installed wind turbines on their property to take advantage of the area’s strong winds.

As the owner of an air conditioning business, you use a lot of energy. We’re in a windy area, so I thought I’d give it a shot. The idea fit our business model and we can achieve energy efficiency this way — Tim Stephens, Johnstone Supply

This installation didn’t take long, you might wait longer for your cable guy to show up — drilling and setting the foundation took three hours and setting the turbine on top of the pole took about half a day. This particular turbine can withstand 150 mph wind speeds and can easily be taken down during hurricanes which is a requirement for all wind turbines installed in Corpus Christi.

Wind turbine for eco Hotel, Vale des Nuven, Brazil

Brazil – Hotel Vale des Nuvens

In Guaramiranga, Brazil, Hotel Vale des Nuvens decided to push the eco-hotel concept to the limit and installed in July 2011, a wind turbine was installed at the hotel.

Guaramiranga is 100km away from Fortaleza, the capital of Ceará, a state located in northeastern Brazil. Remote and isolated. The wind turbine, known as the eddyGT, was installed on the property of the hotel and they use the turbine to power the rooms and the hotels ground lighting – actually it powers anything that needs power.
Electric Cars – The Skypump

The Skypump by UGE and GE. Wind turbine + solar panel to charge your electric car.

And now back to you, the consumer.  Wind is everywhere so why not use it to power your electric car. UGE and GE have created what they call the Skypump. One wind turbine, the Eddy4K, and a solar panel connects to a and EV panel (charging station) for electric cars. Back it up, plug it in and charge your car, with wind.  When it’s not charging, the companies say it will send electricity back to the grid. This solution further supports the greening of electric cars because wind is truly green and renewable power source unlike electricity produced from the grid which could be from coal or natural gas. The Skypump is expected to debut in New York or Barcelona early next year.

 

Elecric Generator

The reverse conversion of electrical energy into mechanical energy is done by an electric motor, and motors and generators have many similarities. In fact many motors can be mechanically driven to generate electricity, and very frequently make acceptable generators.

In electricity generation, an electric generator is a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. A generator forces electric charge(usually carried by electrons) to flow through an external electrical circuit. It is analogous to a water pump, which causes water to flow (but does not create water). The source of mechanical energy may be a reciprocating or turbine steam engine, water falling through a turbine or waterwheel, an internal combustion engine, a wind turbine, a hand crank, compressed air or any other source of mechanical energy.

Before the connection between and was discovered, electrostatic generatorselectrostatic principles. These generated very high voltages and low currents. They operated by using moving electrically charged belts, plates and disks to carry charge to a high potential electrode. The charge was generated using either of two mechanisms:

• The triboelectric effect, where the contact between two insulators leaves them charged.

Because of their inefficiency and the difficulty of insulating machines producing very high voltages, electrostatic generators had low power ratings and were never used for generation of commercially significant quantities of electric power. The Wimshurst machine and Van de Graaff generator are examples of these machines that have survived.

How to Build Homemade Wind Generator

Phil Martinson

Building a homemade wind generator is a new trend in normal households, although some people hesitate to use it. Well they should not, because this is the only way to reduce your power bills.

Construction is not as hard as it sound, because homemade wind generator consists of few parts which are easy to acquire and assemble.

1. Hub and Blades
2. Body
3. Tail
4. Tower

Yes, that's true, only four part and there is not much more to do also. Although I could tell you exactly how to make the wiering, but its against laws to talk about electrical connections online. Therefore you can read about it from one of the guides we have reviewed.

Building the Hub and Blades - This is somehow the easiest part, because you wont have to build anything yourself here. Whenever you buy a guide you will receive a list of sites from where you can buy hub and blades for very cheap price.

Body - This is usually made from Ventilation pipe, which is really cheap and easy to obtain. Although building homemade wind generator body is somewhat tricky, since you have to seal it properly

Tail - Building the tail part is relatively artistic, because there are hundreds of different designs to choose from. I usually cut my tail out from wood or PVC plastic which is really cheap. There are also other materials you can use for building the tail part.

Tower - seams like a enormous thing to build, but it is easy, because you only have to get a hold on a flagpole or smth. These items are usually really cheap and give good results.

I really recommend you to buy a correct guide like we offer here, because electricity is the hardest part to set up and a good in-depth manual will guide you through nicely.

I hope this helped you,
Phil Martinson

Home Wind Generator - Prerequisites You Need to Check Out Before Installing One

By Chas James

When it comes to building or installing a home wind generator, there are four things that you need to check out in advance so that you can have a successful money saving project. Specifically, they include reliable wind, clear space, legitimacy and your current utility bills. I am going to explain each of these items so that you can make an informed decision after reading this article.

A reliable wind source is very important for a wind generator which is supposed to be propelled by wind. Wind of minimal force and speed, over 9.8 mph, should be available all year long. Otherwise, you will not be able to benefit from the generator. So you should check out or recall from experience what the wind is like in the place where you live. Or you can consult with meteorological bureau.

After checking the wind out, the next step you need to look at is the clear space. Are there many obstructions around where you live? This is because there will be many turbulence around high building or trees which will effect the power sufficiency provided by the wind generator. It is advised to install the wind generator over 30 feet higher than the obstruction in order to keep the utility of the generator high enough. Many experts even recommend that there should be an acre of empty land in order to benefit sufficiently from the wind generation system.

Another external item that you need to check on before setting off in building the wind generator is the legitimacy. The local regulations should be check out. Only when it is locally allowed can you do that. You can also make a call to your lawyer. It is as simple as that.

After you have checked all of these items, you can get started. However, to benefit completely from the project, there is another thing you need to check on, i.e. your monthly utility bills. If you are paying less than $150, then you might hold on and give it a second thought. This is because you will have to invest some money at the beginning, even if you build it yourself. The more you are paying for your utilities, the more you will benefit from the home wind generator.

Now that you have checked out the items that you need to and have made up your mind, thengrab a guide now and get started right away.

Residential Wind Generator Power Ratings Missing the Point

With the push to go green much has been made of wind power. Media outlets attentive to the wind energy development have focused attention on the industry and many home owners have followed suit. The emergence of many upstart wind companies have advertisers scrambling to gain the attention of would be consumers in a relatively new market. To this point advertising has focused mostly on a maximum "output figure." This to a certain extent has confused consumers, many of which being new to wind energy. To further confuse matters most companies are purposefully inflating these figures in an apparent deliberate attempt to mislead consumers.

In our opinion the maximum output figures of a wind generator most people are focusing on does very little to describe the efficiency of a particular unit. That figure does little to relay a conceptual idea to the customer that is useful in making a decision on purchasing a wind generator. Maximum output figures of wind generators in many cases give a snapshot of an expected output at a give moment at the peak of a power curve. In reality a residential wind turbine in a particular area may not ever reach that output figure given or if it does it may do so rarely. If a wind generator reaches two thousand watts in 40 mph winds for instance that's is wonderful, however if it only started charging a system when the wind reached in excess of 20 mph that would make the unit useless in most area of the world for the majority of the time. Many wind generators do no reach desired "cut in points" until wind speeds reach 10-12 mph. Therefore, much of the time the turbines are producing no energy.

Consider the example of contrasting solar energy with wind power. With solar energy one of the downfalls is that the panels can only provide energy for about 4-8 hours per day depending on the location. It logically follows that the ability to produce power in a larger window of time makes wind power seem appealing. Wind maps show that a majority of the wind zones in the USA and the world for that matter fall within an area where wind is less than 10-12 mph on average. Considering the majority of wind turbine kits on the market do not produce any power to speak of in wind lower than 10 mph it logically follows that concentrating on producing power in lower wind zones has much merit and a product that produces power in winds of 5 mph is more useful in more areas.

In conclusion under the current advertising practices as described above if one consumer bought a wind turbine that was rated at one thousand watts and another buyer purchased a turbine that was advertised at 250 watts it is quite possible that the lower wattage turbine would output more power in a given period of time. Advertising the maximum charge that a wind generator can create is more deceptive and unrealistic than anything else. Many products advertised with high power output have very little power output in normal and light winds. Something needs to be done to regulate power ratings to place wind generator rating at an equal footing and stop rewarding deceptive advertisers. Depending on your area the novice wind generator consumer can benefit greatly by focusing on efficient wind generator designs that can deliver a steady charge over long periods of time in low winds. Anthony Wayne Jones

Magnalight.com Upgrades Solar Power Generator to support More LED Lights

Tue Jan 5, 12:35 pm ET

Larson Electronics’ magnalight.com announced that it now offers the SPG366A-400 solar powered generator with two 400 watt milspec solar panels to feed the 366 amp hour capacity gel pack batteries. Equipped with a pneumatic telescoping mast and stabilizing lift jacks, the trailer style 760 pound solar powered generator replenishes the batteries at a rate of 24 amps per hour. Proven in 137 mile winds during Hurricane Ike and built to withstand armor piercing rounds, the SPG366A-400 can meet the needs of military, commercial and industrial users worldwide.

(Vocus) January 5, 2010 -- Larson Electronics’ magnalight.com announced that by adding two milspec solar panels to its SPG366A-400 solar powered generator, they could now offer lighting configurations of more than 50,000 lumens. Equipped with 8 of the Magnalight LED10W-9S 90 watt LED lights, the solar powered generator could, for example, effectively deliver 57,600 lumens of light for 12 hours and fully recharge the batteries with 16 hours of sunlight. The mobile solar powered generator can be connected to a vehicle via atrailer hitch and towed to remote locations. By calculating the number of hours of sunlight and accounting forcloud cover, dirt and other factors, operators can effectively assess the amount of lighting that makes the unit self-sustaining in remote areas.

“With LED lights like the LED10W-9S, operators can easily cover an area equivalent to several football fields with bright white light that delivers illumination exceeding that of high wattage metal halide light towers,” said Rob Bresnahan with magnalight.com. “We offer a wide range of low amp draw, high powered LED lights that can easily replicate traditional diesel generator driven light tower configurations when supported by our solar powered generator. Diesel generators need to be fueled and generate fumes and noise, which isn’t always useful for event oriented applications. Also, diesel generators usually produce high voltage, which presents some risks to inexperienced operators. Finally, diesel generators need to be refueled, which can present logistics issues. Solar power generators, like our SPG366A-400, are quiet, and when properly configured, can be completely self-sufficient. Obviously, the number of hours of sunlight is the critical factor. We can and do equip the unit with a hookup for conventional charging via wall outlets to augment the solar capabilities. This is effective for event lighting and other applications where diesel generators are not appropriate. But for remote area installations, operators need to size the lighting configuration to match the daylight replenishment. So there are some challenges there. “

Rob continued, “The area where we see a lot of opportunity is when the solar powered generator is used in combination with our explosion proof LED lights. There is a growing number of remote installations involving natural gas and other hazardous location storage areas that are looking for low voltage, self sufficient lighting. Our Class 1 Division 1 LED lights, combined with the solar powered generator, are a low maintenance, effective solution to this requirement.”

Larson Electronics’ magnalight.com offers a wide array of LED lights, explosion proof LED lights and other low amp draw lighting alternatives that are ideal for solar power generator configurations. High powered LED lights with low amp draws, operating on 9-32 volts DC can be ideal partners for solar powered, wind powered and other alternative energy generation. Please visit magnalight.com or contact 1-800-369-6671 (1-214-616-6180 international) to learn more.

The Latest on Solar Energy

Updated: Feb. 19, 2009

By KATE GALBRAITH

From magnifying glasses to steam engines, scientists through the centuries have found innovative ways to harness the power of the sun. Converting more solar power into electricity is high on the political agenda in many countries, amid the push to find domestic energy sources that are less polluting than fossil fuels.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Distribution
• How it Works
• Drawbacks and Incentives

Distribution

Despite rapid growth in recent years, solar power accounts for less than 1 percent of United States electricity use. Solar power is more entrenched in European countries such as Spain and Germany, which have promoted its development with strong incentives called feed-in tariffs,which require electric utilities to buy solar power at a high, fixed price. In the United States, California is by far the leading solar state.

How it Works

There are several ways to use the sun’s power to generate electricity. One of the most promising is called concentrating solar power. This involves using mirrors to reflect and focus the sun’s rays, providing heat, which in turn helps power a generator. Another is photovoltaic panels, such as the displays on the rooftops of homes and office buildings (some of these displays, especially in California, have recently experienced problems with theft).

Drawbacks and Incentives

The drawback to solar power is that it is expensive to produce: generating power from photovoltaic panels costs more than four times as much as coal, and more than twice what wind power costs. In the United States, the federal government and states have offered a variety of incentives to encourage homeowners and businesses to put panels on their roofs, and for utilities to buy power from large displays. Solar panels produce no energy at night, but that is not a significant problem because the electricity is often most needed in the daytime, when consumers turn on lights and televisions and air-conditioning.

Solar energy is also used to heat water and pools — and of course a properly designed house will optimize the light and heat qualities of as it floods through the windows.

How Do Air Vent Wind Turbines Work ?

Air Vent Wind Turbine Basics
1. These devices rotate to pull out hot air in warm months and moist air in cold months. They are commonly located in an attic, using only wind and pressure differences as their power source. Air vent wind turbines range in price from $25 to $55. They are advertised to offer energy savings and comfort with low up-front cost. They can be purchased at most hardware stores and online vendors and are commonly either 12 or 14 inches in diameter. The blades or vanes are shaped to allow for maximum wind catching ability, resulting in rotation at minimal winds speeds of 5mph or lower. Installation is generally done at high points on the roof of a building and is relatively simple with each device normally coming with instructions. They can be braced internally or externally depending on the kit purchased. Air Vent Inc. recommends two turbines for up to 1300 attic square feet, three for 1800 and four up to 2400 square feet. The effectiveness of these and other types of attic vents varies based on climate and specific roof/attic dimensions.

How Do They Work?
2. The concept behind wind turbine vents is that the turning blades will help force air out of the attic. Hot air naturally rises, so if attic air is heated above the ambient air temperature a vent will allow the less dense hot air to escape. Commercial uses of wind vent turbines often connect very large fans to the underside and are used to draw things such as smoke out of a building. A domestic venting turbine does not have this fan. A problem often cited with typical ridge vents is that they stop the rise of this hot air with the inverted V that sits on top of the vent.

Do They Work?
3. The effectiveness of wind turbine vents compared to other venting techniques is debatable. A 2002 study from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (ASHRAE ) found that "enhanced ventilation (i.e., ridge vents,turbines or a power fan) in addition to soffit vents produced less than 3% reduction in daily cooling loads for test houses." The same study, referring to the effectiveness of venting in reducing cooling loads and moister states, "other strategies have been shown to have a stronger and more direct influence." While they do not discourage the use of venting in all situations, it should be used as part of an overall air flow strategy.

Massive Generator To Wind Through Greenville

Deputies: Slow-Moving Motorcade Will Cause Traffic Delays
POSTED: 4:02 pm EST November 19, 2009
UPDATED: 12:01 pm EST November 20, 2009
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Greenville County deputies said that a massive power generator will slowly meander its way through Greenville County beginning Friday.
Also: View Map Of Route | Vote Now
The 880,000-pound generator is on its way to Duke Energy's Cliffside Steam Station in Boiling Springs, N.C.
Deputies said that the 1.5 million pound transporter that is carrying the power plant part travels at about 5 mph because of its size. They said that authorities will be escorting the transporter as it snakes its way through the county.
Officials said that the generator will enter the county at about noon on Friday near Princeton along Highway 25. It will travel up the highway and park near the intersection with Interstate 85 on Friday night. From there the transporter will wind its way through the west side of Greenville before parking just south of Highway 11 on Sunday night. The motorcade will continue to near the North Carolina state line on Tuesday morning.
Deputies said that motorists should try to avoid the rote that the massive piece of equipment will take as it will cause traffic delays where it travels.

Santee Cooper to look at use of wind turbine

BY TONY BARTELME
The Post and Courier
Saturday, November 14, 2009


As Santee Cooper explores the feasibility of building a wind farm off the Carolina coast, it's also looking at the viability of generating power from small wind turbines in Georgetown County, officials said Friday.

Crews plan to install an anemometer at the end of Georgetown Fishing Pier next week. Engineers will monitor winds for three to six months.

If the wind is sufficient, Santee Cooper could install a 2-kilowatt wind turbine there.

"We think these projects offer a great learning opportunity for students, and they will help us all learn about this important potential renewable energy resource," said Marc Tye, Santee Cooper's vice president of conservation and renewable energy.

Santee Cooper already has gathered data on wind speeds on land and found the wind isn't strong enough to generate enough power on a large scale.

Winds blow much harder off the coast, however, and earlier this year Santee Cooper and Coastal Carolina University stationed buoys at the south and north ends of the Grand Strand to measure wind speeds for a possible large-scale wind farm.

Turbines in offshore wind farms are capable of generating 1.5 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 750 homes. A 2-kilowatt generator, however, would be more suitable for a single home.

Santee Cooper also plans to test winds at Morgan Park.

Kline hires attorney for wind generator hearing

BY TOM RAGAN (STAFF WRITER)
Published: November 10, 2009


Kline Township hired an attorney to represent the township for a zoning hearing that will determine if the township will allow a proposed $1 million wind generator for the Van Hoekelen Greenhouses Inc. property.

Attorney Peter Fagan was hired on a 3-0 vote by township supervisors Monday to avoid a conflict of interest by zoning board solicitor Joseph Baranko, who also represents Van Hoekelen.

A&A Real Estate Associates and Van Hoekelen are co-named on the notice of application for the installation of a wind generator and equipment.

The next step in the process is getting the zoning board's approval for the plan. The Kline Township Planning Board and the board of supervisors have recommended each of its respective approvals for a special exception.

Van Hoekelen is looking at the wind generator as an alternative energy source, according to supervisors. The company pays an average of $22,000 for heating in colder months. Van Hoekelen began operating its business in 1988 in the McAdoo-Kline Township area. Van Hoekelen grows and distributes many types of plants and flowers to 48 states.

The zoning hearing board will determine a time and date on the matter.

Cogeneration project

Kline Township officials recently met with officials from SUEZ Energy North American Affiliate of Houston, Texas, to discuss energy alternatives for the cogeneration plant in the township.

"This was just a preliminary meeting," supervisor Carmen Cara explained.

The company is looking into solar heating panels that could cost an estimated $15 to $25 million. Supervisors stressed the project is in the discussion stage and any plan would have to go through a planning and zoning hearing before any permits or construction can be approved.

House leveled

Kline Township supervisors were pleased with a demolition job by resident Russell Postupack on a home at 34 Snyder Ave. in the McAdoo section of Kline Township.

The home has been a recent topic of discussion regarding complaints from neighbors about cats going in an out of the home and the associated stench from animal feces inside the home. Kline Township made several unsuccessful attempts to contact the homeowner before targeting it for demolition.

"Russell Postupack did a good job demolishing that house. He used three Dumpsters and the property looks good," Cara said.

Township solicitor Mark Semanchik asked the board of supervisors about placing a lien on the property for money owed to the township for inspection and maintenance of the property and associated demolition costs.

The township will try to re-coup some its money through a lien process.

The owner of the property, Aileen Kulpon, has moved out of the area and has been difficult to contact. A local bank, First Columbia, holds the mortgage on the property.

tragan@standardspeaker.com

Wind Turbines

The rise in oil prices and a growing demand for energy from non-polluting sources has led to a global boom in construction of tall wind turbines that convert the power of moving air into electricity. The technology of these devices has improved dramatically in recent years, making wind energy more attractive. For example, Denmark is able to produce about 20 percent of its electric energy through wind turbines. But important questions remain: Could large wind farms, whipping up the air with massive whirling blades, alter local weather conditions? Could changing the arrangement of these turbines lead to even more efficient power production? The researchers from Johns Hopkins and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute hope their work will help answer such questions.
"With diameters spanning up to 100 meters across, these wind turbines are the largest rotating machines ever built," said research team leader Charles Meneveau, a turbulence expert in Johns Hopkins' Whiting School of Engineering. "There's been a lot of research done on wind turbine blade aerodynamics, but few people have looked at the way these machines interact with the turbulent wind conditions around them. By studying the airflow around small, scale-model windmills in the lab, we can develop computer models that tell us more about what's happening in the atmosphere at full-size wind farms."
To collect data for such models, Meneveau's team is conducting experiments in a campus wind tunnel. The tunnel uses a large fan to generate a stream of air moving at about 40 mph. Before it enters the testing area, the air passes through an "active grid," a curtain of perforated plates that rotate randomly and create turbulence so that air currents in the tunnel more closely resemble real-life wind conditions. The air currents then pass through a series of small model airplane propellers mounted atop posts, mimicking an array of full-size wind turbines.

Wind Generator

Wind generator for sale.

Wind energy is both green and fun, so the idea of building one's own wind generator is a good one. The following will give you an idea of what is involved and point you toward sources of information on the subject.

Wind energy on a large scale is now competitive with other sources of electricity on the national grid. However, small domestic-sized wind generators have not yet reached this point. The wind is free, but small wind turbines are expensive in relation to what they produce, and cannot realistically compete with mains electricity. Building your own machine saves some of the cost, but please do not underestimate the difficulty of the task. If it were easy to save money by using small wind turbines, then they would be a major feature of the landscape by now.

Wind generators work with thin air, so they need to be large in relation to the power they produce. To power a modern home on a good site, the blades would need to span about 5 metres from tip to tip. This is known as the rotor diameter. With careful conservation of energy a smaller machine may suffice. A rotor diameter of 2 metres might yield about 500 kWh of electricity per year, compared with an average annual household consumption of roughly 4,500 kWh.

Most small wind generators are used for charging batteries, to provide a reliable stand-alone power source where grid power is not available. The obvious choice of generator for self-build is the car alternator. However this has major drawbacks. It must be driven at a high shaft speed (over 2000 rpm) to give full output, so you will need to gear it up or modify it in some way to drive it with rotor blades, which typically only manage a few hundred rpm. This reduces the efficiency. In low windspeeds there is very little power available in the wind, and you need a highly efficient generator to capture it. Most, if not all of the power in light winds will be used up energising the magnetic field in the alternator, so the results are disappointing. Nearly all small commercial wind turbines use purpose-built permanent magnet generators for this reason. The DIY enthusiast can make one too, but this is not simple to do. Or you can reuse a permanent magnet motor as a generator. The generator is the key to success or failure of the project, and by far the hardest part to get right.