Latest Cockamamie Wind Turbine Design
Apr. 23rd, 2008 10:39 amIt's not like the native folks haven't suffered enough. Now this. (Even if well meaning.)
Just say no to concentrators or, in this case, diffusers on wind turbines. Dr. Heiner Dörner hits the nail on the head with this presentation, "HAWT contra VAWT". Check out the two images [1] [2] in particular for comparisons between various wind turbine concepts. The weight usually translates directly into costs and there's a very large difference on that level alone for equivalent outputs.
Fellow wind energy graybeard, Paul Gipe, had some choice things to note about an earlier (but larger) diffusion augmentation turbine called the Vortec. At least it looked kind of cool. :)
Frankly, correctly mounting some marine batteries and inverter in the back of the old pickup truck, charging them as one drives around doing errands and then running a proper line into the house might be a better approach in terms of economics, if not environment. Otherwise, building copies of Hugh Piggott's proven homebuilt design would make more sense from a wind system standpoint.
Device Turns Wind Into Home Energy - New Mexico Business Weekly - 11 Apr 08
"The generator is a tube-shaped device that sits on a tripod. It's just 22 inches long and 7.5 inches in diameter." " ""Baca's unit produces about 300 miliwatts of power now, which is pretty small,' Blose said. 'We need to scale it up enough to produce one to two kilowatts.' Ktech will analyze design changes, scale up the prototype, and then assess durability in severe weather. All that could take 18-20 months and up to $1.5 million, Blose said. "
Just say no to concentrators or, in this case, diffusers on wind turbines. Dr. Heiner Dörner hits the nail on the head with this presentation, "HAWT contra VAWT". Check out the two images [1] [2] in particular for comparisons between various wind turbine concepts. The weight usually translates directly into costs and there's a very large difference on that level alone for equivalent outputs.
Fellow wind energy graybeard, Paul Gipe, had some choice things to note about an earlier (but larger) diffusion augmentation turbine called the Vortec. At least it looked kind of cool. :)
Frankly, correctly mounting some marine batteries and inverter in the back of the old pickup truck, charging them as one drives around doing errands and then running a proper line into the house might be a better approach in terms of economics, if not environment. Otherwise, building copies of Hugh Piggott's proven homebuilt design would make more sense from a wind system standpoint.
Device Turns Wind Into Home Energy - New Mexico Business Weekly - 11 Apr 08
"The generator is a tube-shaped device that sits on a tripod. It's just 22 inches long and 7.5 inches in diameter." " ""Baca's unit produces about 300 miliwatts of power now, which is pretty small,' Blose said. 'We need to scale it up enough to produce one to two kilowatts.' Ktech will analyze design changes, scale up the prototype, and then assess durability in severe weather. All that could take 18-20 months and up to $1.5 million, Blose said. "