History of Small Wind In Rural America: pre R. Nolan Clark Small Wind Conference 2018

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Melina Harrington
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1 History of Small Wind In Rural America: pre-1960 R. Nolan Clark Small Wind Conference 2018

9 DUTCH WINDMILL HIGH VOLUME, LOW LIFT DIAMETER 25 M ARCHIMEDAN PUMP

12 Flowerdew Hundred Post Mill Virginia, 1621 Reconstructed 1978

13 Danish Design Elk Horn, Nebraska 1848

14 Lessons Learned European designs did not work well because of varying wind directions and varying wind speed characteristics

15 Early Uses of Windmills in America Grinding grain in locations where water power was not feasible Pumping water from wells which were deeper than ft

16 Steam engines begin to appear in the early 1800s

17 Drawing water from a well

18 Hand Pump

19 Piston Pumps

20 Design Requirements for a Self-Controlled Windmill John Burnham The concept was a mill which without human attention would automatically turn to face the wind and which would govern its own speed to prevent its destruction by centrifugal force.

21 Halladay Standard Windmill of 1854 Designed by Daniel Halladay Connecticut

22 California Windmill Design 1850 s Johnson

23 Halladay Standard Manufactured by US Wind Engine & Pump Company Batavia, Illinois 1863 Until 1940s

24 The action of sectional-wheel windmill folding as it governs.

25 Sectional-wheel mills evolved into Vaneless mills (the vane was removed). They operated down wind. Manufactured until the 1930s.

26 Boss Dempster Duplex Raymond

27 Most vaneless mills were made of wood 1900s

28 Eclipse Solid-wheel design 1873

30 24 foot Railroad mill

31 Mast, Foos, and Co. Springfield, Ohio Early 1870s Early all-metal windmill

32 Thomas O. Perry, engineer with the U.S. Wind Engine and Pump Company, conducted over 5000 measurements and tested sixty-one forms of wind wheels. The company decided to stay with wooden blades and Perry resigned. Perry teamed with La Verne W. Noyes to form the Aermotor Co in 1888.

33 Perry s new design consisted of concave sheet steel blades set at a specific angle to the wind

36 Back-gearing was introduced because the rotor turned too fast for pump strokes. 1915

37 Enclosed gearcase for continuous oiling 1925

39 Dempster Windmill

40 FARM WINDMILL Mechanical System Positive Displacement Pump High Starting Torque Located Over Well Small Water Volume, 1 to 5 gal/min Low Annual Efficiency, 5 to 6 %

41 Mechanical Flow Rates Water Flow -- Gallons/min Wind Speed -- mph

42 Furling adjustment on Aermotor Maximum at 30 spm

43 Aermotor quickly became the most popular brand of water-pumping windmill. The model 702 was sold from 1935 to 1981 when the company was sold and a new model number was used. Aermotor is now the only US Company still producing new all-steel water pumping windmills.

44 This Aermotor poster hung in my office for about 30 years. It is now at the American Windmill Museum, Lubbock, Texas

46 Electricity Thomas Edision established the first central electrical power station in New York in 1882

47 Brush Wind Dynamo Cleveland Ohio

48 Brush Wind Dynamo Tower height 60ft Rotor diameter 56 ft Wooden blades 144 Rotor area 1,800 ft 2 Gear ratio 50:1 Output 12,000 Watt DC Voltage 75 to 90 V

49 Most engineers understood that city electricity would be provided through centralized systems Scientist and inventors viewed wind machines as a possible solution to individual energy needs, but not those of society Little effort was made to develop an electrical wind machine in this period

51 Delco Light Company

52 Rural Homes in 1925 Electricity for? 1. Radio 2. Lights Bathroom 3. Lights Kitchen 4. Lights Family room 5. Washing machine 6. Ironing

54 War is One of Those Profound Paradoxes Amid the chaos and bloodshed emerge the technologies and inventions that become items of progress in the peace that follows.

55 Army Engineers Fales & Stuart World War I Design a small wind power electric generator to operate a radio and fuel pump for aircraft Discarded the traditional multibladed rotor because of torque problems Designed a new propeller using 2 to 4 blades with an air foil Eliminated elaborate and expensive gearing systems

The American Wind Charger Industry 1916-1960 WIND CHARGER - a machine that converts the kinetic energy in the wind with

charging a battery. A wind charger and battery is a wind electric plant. Thank you for visiting windchargers.

magnificent farm and wind electric power plants.

56 The American Wind Charger Industry WIND CHARGER - a machine that converts the kinetic energy in the wind with an aerodynamic propellor to turn a generator and produce electric power for direct use or storage for future use by charging a battery. A wind charger and battery is a wind electric plant. Thank you for visiting windchargers.org and taking the time to learn more about how Americans once successfully produced their own electricity with the magnificent farm and wind electric power plants. We hope our website will inspire a new generation of people, machines, and companies that can help and encourage individuals, like yourself, and businesses to produce their own electricity in the new clean energy economy.

57 Wind Power Lite Co and 110 volt units

58 HEBCO Herbert E. Bucklin Company 1928 Bought by Universal Battery Mid 1930s

59 Jacobs Wind Electric Company volt Model 45 Model 60

60 Jacobs operating on a farm near Vega, Texas 1980s

63 Wind Plant Included: Wind generator Master Mind control Large 440 Ah battery 50 foot tower Price $830

64 Paris-Dunn Corporation , 12, 32, and 110 Volt 135 to 1250 Watts

66 Windcharger Corporation Started by Albers Brothers, then sold To Zenith

68 6 ft Douglas fir board shape to an air foil Air brake governor

69 Radio charger production 2,000 units per day

71 Batteries sold in 6 sizes

72 Welcome to Wincharger.com (since Dec. 2000) About... This website provides a virtual meeting place for those interested in the history and preservation of the wind powered battery generators (aka "wind chargers"). Specifically, but not limited to the brand name "Wincharger," originally manufactured in Sioux City, Iowa. A Few Wincharger Facts... During the 1930's and 40's, hundreds of thousands of wind generators were in use in rural America 20+ companies manufactured wind generators during the era John and Gerhard Albers developed a 6V wind charger in 1927 under the name Alber's Propeller Co. In 1934, they formed the Wincharger Corporation. Wincharger: produced nearly 75% of the estimated 1 million wind generators made before 1950 holds record for production volume and longest continuously produced wind generator, (55 years) made dozens of models including 2, 6, 12, 24, 32 and 110V, 100W to 2500W used wooden propeller blades made from Douglas Fir. Aluminum was used later on the four blade, 1500W model manufactured its own towers, batteries and some appliances

73 Frepower Model 11 ft rotor 1,200 Watts

74 Air Electric Machine Co volt 1,250 Watts 12 ft rotor

75 This ornamental windmill is manufactured by the family of Air-Electric founders.

76 1949 Import

Rurallite Engineering Company 1937-1942 Whole

77 Rurallite Engineering Company Whole home units Jacobs acquired them for Copper quotas

78 Rural Electrification As early as 1920, Samuel Insull had expanded the centralized electric grid of Chicago to include some rural counties close by. This project was considered as successful, both in terms of profit for the utility company and service to rural consumers.

79 Centralized Power Companies Recognized the need for rural electrification Desire for profit stopped rural expansion Afraid of connecting or including independent generating systems Power companies had a monopoly on electric generation

80 Rural Electrification Administration 1935 President Roosevelt signed an executive order creating the REA 1936 Congress passed the Rural Electrification Act transforming the REA to a permanent agency Administrator Cooke established a policy of using cooperatives and government loans

81 Wind Electric 1936 Nearly 800,000 rural homes powered by farm and/or wind plants, about 15 % A Jacobs Model 45 cost $830 with tower Only 300,000 rural homes connected to centralized power out of 6,371,000 New power lines cost between $800 and $2,400 per mile in rural areas

82 Wind Electric 1945 Expansion of REA was slow during the period because of the war Wind machines manufacturers consolidated during the war years because of limited materials Demand for greater electricity after the war spurred REA expansion

83 Impact of Electricity on Rural America In 1935 the U.S. population was 128 million with 43 percent or about 55.5 million living in rural areas and 54 percent actually engaged in farming In 2000 the U.S. population was 282 million with less than 21 percent or 59 million living in rural areas and only 10 percent actually engaged in farming

84 Lessons Learned The type of load dictates the design of wind machine Multiblades give higher torque and are better adapted to water pumping Fewer blades yield higher rotor speeds and are better adapted to electric generation Adequate lubrication is mandatory Furling offers a means of speed control and reduced loading

85 Grandparents household water system

86 Grandparents house before REA

87 My Experience Grandparents received REA in 1947 or 48 resulted in lighting and radio. In 1950, a new house. Family farm purchased in 1956 received REA in House remodeled in 1962.

Rural Electrification. A Brief History GEORGIA S ELECTRIC MEMBERSHIP CORPORATION

Rural Electrification. A Brief History GEORGIA S ELECTRIC MEMBERSHIP CORPORATION Rural Electrification A Brief History GEORGIA S ELECTRIC MEMBERSHIP CORPORATION Rural Electrification A BRIEF HISTORY OF RURAL ELECTRIFICATION IN AMERICA Most folks think the history of rural electrification