My Turbine setup

Brianellul
Brianellul Solar Expert Posts: 95 ✭✭
in Wind Power Generation #1
Hi

I'm posting these jpegs to show how I modified my home-built Air-X tower to reduce vibration.
My house is 3 storeys high ,made up of stone with concrete roof and therefore I didn't really have any weight issues although the tower is not heavy, since 2 persons can easily handle it.
The tower is split into 2, the bottom part (20ft) is a tripod, onto which I can climb, while the top part is another 20ft steel pipe.
The rubber mountings I've used are originally used on big trucks, well they are actually engine mountings.
I'm really satisfied with this setup because I've eliminated vibration by 99%... we don't feel any vibration inside the building.

Brian
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  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #2
    Re: My Turbine setup

    What sort of output do you realize with the air-x ? What is your location ? (what kind of wind is expected there)
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,

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  • Brianellul
    Brianellul Solar Expert Posts: 95 ✭✭
    #3
    Re: My Turbine setup

    I'm located in Malta, a small island in the Mediterranean south of Sicily(Italy), in the southern part of Europe. Coordinates: 35° 52" North, 14° 30" East.

    Currently, the wind is Force 5 approx 29 - 38 km/h and I'm seeing an average 6-10 amps from the AIR-X, Obviously sometime peaking to 15amps.

    My house location is unfortunatly not the ideal since I'm not at the top of the hill, BUT after increasing the height of my turbine, I'm satisfied with the improvment. Turbulence has reduced drastically, and Power output is fairly constant when the wind blows.

    Overall, condsidering the small size of this turbine, I'm satisfied with the modest output.
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  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #4
    Re: My Turbine setup

    Wow ! That's some cranking output , you are lucky you have good wind. Does it blow 24/7, or only a few hours a day ?
    I'm afraid when I get mine up, I'll only have power on occasional gusts, but I'll measure it over a year, and see how it does. ( anyone have a monitoring solution for the air-x series? )
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,

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  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    #5
    Re: My Turbine setup

    i'm impressed brian. did you engineer the mount setup yourself? and please say your typical wind velocity and typical current output for my curiousity as i haven't heard of an airx this consistent on that much current being outputted.
    i also see the guy wires there and does that send wibration down the wires for you and if it does you may need to watch for it loosening or fatigue setting in?
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  • Brianellul
    Brianellul Solar Expert Posts: 95 ✭✭
    #6
    Re: My Turbine setup

    Mike, Unfortunately no, the wind doesn't blow with that force all the time. It was like that for the last 3 days but today it's dead... however it should pick up again this evening. Right now I don't know how much power I generated from my Air-X, however I have plans to purchase a pentametric meter to track how much it's generating.

    Niel, thanks for your compliment. yes I built the tower myself, learnt how to weld first and this was my first project... hope the welds hold there :D
    I have six guy wires, three at the top of the tripod and the other three, 2 meters from the top. They are in stainless steel so I shouldn't have problems of rust or corrosion. I haven't really noticed any vibration from these wires although I'm sure that some is transmitted but since the houses are built of stones and concrete, vibration is further minimised. I do check them every week...
    Wind in my area changes... i'm situated approx 100 meters from the sea. I don't know my typical wind velocity... never measured it, however I do watch the weather channel to predict how much output I'll expect. Output varies greatly, typically it's in the 3-4 amps range for wind Force 3-4 http://www.zetnet.co.uk/sigs/weather/Met_Codes/beaufort.htm which is quite normal here. Yesterday it was Force 5-6, when I was geeting all that charge.

    Having said all this... and being quite satisfied with this turbine, the Air-X is still over-rated at 400w!

    Brian
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  • skflyfish
    skflyfish Registered Users Posts: 20 ✭
    #7
    Re: My Turbine setup

    Nice setup. I would love to hear how the Panametric works out as well.
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  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    #8
    Re: My Turbine setup

    you're very welome brian. yes, the guy wires may be the weakest link in the system, but as long as you keep watch on them it should be fine.
    around 4amps is what i've been told by others is typical of the airx so yours is in line with that.
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  • n3qik
    n3qik Solar Expert Posts: 741 ✭✭
    #9
    Re: My Turbine setup

    I don't see any form of grounding for lighting protection.
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  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #10
    Re: My Turbine setup
    n3qik wrote: »
    I don't see any form of grounding for lighting protection.

    Killjoy ! :)

    When all that metal attracts lighting, the 3" of rubber mounts is not going to slow it down much.

    A direct hit on any wind gennie mast will vaporize the generator, and melt wires all the way to the battery posts and maybe beyond.

    The taller tower that you can't see, is what provides the lighting protection. (there is a taller tower right ?)
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,

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  • nigtomdaw
    nigtomdaw Solar Expert Posts: 705 ✭✭
    #11
    Re: My Turbine setup

    Brian very nice, I apprieciate the pictures, I for one think it makes the forum more interesting ,... I too learnt how to stick weld when making the roof mount for my solar panels cheese wedge shed. Keep em coming... once again well done !
    Nigel
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  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    #12
    Re: My Turbine setup

    i'm afraid i will have to agree with n3qik that some form of ground be present as a hit in the area or even on the taller tower will induce a potential across the wind genny tower and all of the wires via emp. many forget that it is nearly impossible to protect from a direct strike, but the indirect induced currents are possible to protect from.
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  • Brianellul
    Brianellul Solar Expert Posts: 95 ✭✭
    #13
    Re: My Turbine setup

    I did actually ground the tower using an 8mm copper wire, which is slightly visible in the 3rd picture (green/yellow wire attached to the base of the tower), besides the 4mm copper wire which is connected directly to the turbine.

    Brian
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  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    #14
    Re: My Turbine setup

    very good brian and we stand corrected with relief.
    :blush::cool:
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  • n3qik
    n3qik Solar Expert Posts: 741 ✭✭
    #15
    Re: My Turbine setup

    My bad, did not see it at the time.
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