Case Studies in Small Wind. By John Root President The RootCellar

Transcription

1 Case Studies in Small Wind By John Root President The RootCellar

2 First Turbine Installed in 1981

3 What s Wrong With this picture

4 The RootCellar - Bankston, IA Read all the wind books Flagging in the trees -- Windy all the time Elevation 1092 Didn t know that then. Bankston Iowa 2 miles West elevation 1192 OOPS Go To Google Earth Loamy soil Installed a 10 KW Jacobs on a 100 tower in 1981 Bankston IA. Limestone bluff three feet down Cost of foundation doubled Had a poor ground Blew inverter off the wall during first Thunder storm OOPS

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6 The RootCellar - Bankston, IA Turbine Required servicing once a year Imagine changing oil 100 in the air Thumped windows in high winds Rotor would feather Inverter Made lots of noise Could be herd upstairs in high winds Produced all kinds of heat Kept dropping out Jacobs provided testing equipment We were taking spikes from REC at 6 am and 6 PM Improved grounding of tower Utility Got in big disagreement over buy back rate

7 The RootCellar - Bankston, IA The Good News Utility bill dropped from $350 a month to $50 Taught us how to become more frugal with our energy use. Learned to use electricity when the wind was blowing Run dryer when windy Converted water heater to electric and reduced size of elements Turned on electric heat when windy Provided great entertainment during thunderstorms Drew lots of attention to our Organic Farm Got lots of free publicity for business On TV every night for six months Sold farm and turbine Turbine moved over one ridge and ran for years Eventually sold and sent to Ireland

8 Glen Stoddard Kinross IA Started out with a 110 volt DC Jacobs

9 Glen Stoddard Kinross IA Up graded to a 10 KW Jacobs on a 60 Tower Trees to the North and to the East Battery system 56, 2 volt, 1,500 Amp Hr. Batteries Dead cats on the batteries Hydrogen an issue System voltage 120 Volts DC All appliances had to be modified including freezer Excess energy stored in commercial 300 gal. water heater Used commercial electric heater as well Energy Efficient three wheel motor bike Got 100 MPG in 1982 Composting Toilet Fruit Flies

10 Wilber and Judy Johnson Galena Illinois Met and sold turbine at first county fair Had very high electric bills Site Analysis Big hill to South West? Install Discovered short to ground during install Reason for high electric bills Wire had been damaged when house was built. Ground was hot. Lead Mines in the area Operation Hill shaded turbine and production was affected Electric bill decreased Fixing short to ground helped Low Maintenance Up graded inverter to 12.5 KW in attempt to increase production After 15 years sold home and donated turbine to I-Renew I-Renew sold tower to MREA and is still being used to day.

11 Traveled the Mid West Servicing Jacobs Wind Turbines Harley Davison of wind turbines Made some noise but worked well as long as kept serviced Maintenance issues with Jakes Change oil once a year Switched to synthetic oil Messy Rotor made of wood Governor Needed to be greased once a year Dissimilar metal corrosion Front bearing Disk break Bridge rectifier Tail bearings

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13 Bergey Wind Turbines Direct Drive Machine Low Maintenance Replace leading edge every 5 years Minimal electrical repair If grounded properly

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15 Bergey Wind Turbine Paul Rekow Spencer IA. Bergey Excel with a 120 ft tower in NW Iowa First Year Statistics: 16,605 Kwh produced 45.5 Kwh/day Best day: kwh (Apr. 15, 08) Best month: 2,215.8 kwh (April 08) Worst day:.6 kwh (Jan. 26, 09) Worst month: kwh (Aug. 08) 4 inverter shutdowns that required manual reset (including 1 while we were gone on vacation for a week in August) 5 days with 63 inverter shutdowns for protection from overspeed (automatic reset) 8 days with reduced production due to ice on turbine and blades 2 days with grid down, 7 hours total

16 Micro Wind Turbines How to Buy a Wind Generator By Mick Sagrillo, Ian Woofenden Jun/Jul 2009 (#131HP) pp Introductory Level Two veterans in the small wind industry give the straight scoop on selecting the right wind turbine for your site. Includes full specs on 22 turbines available in North America.

17 Bergey Xl 1 Whisper 200 Raum 1.3 Kestrel e300i Proven 2.5 kw ARE110 Skystream 3.7 Endurance Scirocco

18 Long Bow Ventera VT The furling design is different from other currently produced units that are sold in the U.S. Instead of furling to the side, it furls upward.

19 Mico Wind Turbines Did you notice that were no Vertical Axis machines Roof Mounted Machines

20 Micro Wind Turbines Vertical Axis Wind Turbines Pro s Generator is located on the ground Look Good No Tower Lower Cost Con s There has not been a commercially successful vertical axis turbine in 2000 years Half the rotor is always hidden from the wind. Friction losses because of additional bearings Production is low

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22 Roof Mount Wind Turbines Pro s Short Tower Lower Cost Looks good Easier to Maintain Con s Lots of turbulence on Roofs If you loose a rotor where is it going to go? Wind Turbines produce harmonic vibration Will vibrate nails and screws out of building Can turn you home into a drum

23 Roof Mount Wind Turbines

24 My Experiences with the Skystream 3.7 MP&W Elevation 700 Tower height 65 Experimental Tower Maquoketa Valley REC Elevation 828 Tower height 40 Free Standing Monopole Lendt Farm Elevation 714 Tower Height 70 Guyed Mono Pole William Penn University Elevation 812 Tower height 100 Experimental Tower

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27 Google Earth

28 MP&W Turbine Positives Installation was easy Looks great No Maintenance after software up grade Production improved after software up grade Step in the right direction MP&W is now looking into investing in a large wind farm Con s Short Tower Ended up in zone between turbulent and laminar air flow Located inside a valley Ridge 2 miles to the West and North Ridge 150 higher than turbine base Had some software issue first year Were corrected by Southwest Wind Power after a fashion

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31 Maquoketa Valley REC Issues Installation was dangerous Installer s s winch and truck were just barely big enough to handle raising tower Short 40 tower Trees taller than the tower Block the wind Low production

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33 Lendt Wind Turbine Pro s Excellent site Installation went well Good production from machine after up grade Customer is very happy Thinking of adding solar array. Con s Would have like to seen guy wires tensioned with a tension meter. Would like to see ground checked

34 Production from a Skystream Wind Turbine on the Lent Farm kwh Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

35 William Penn University Pro s Excellent Site Installation took about 8 hrs. Wonderful Learning opportunity Turbine and Tower donated to college by Musco Lighting Monitoring Equipment donated by Anemometry Specialists Planning on having a kiosk that will display wind speeds at various hights and production data Con s Production seems to be low Waiting for software upgrade from Southwest wind power. 100 Mono Pole requires bucket truck for servicing Tower is experimental and seems to be experiencing some flexing in high winds. Monitoring equipment has not been installed so we do not have data at this time.