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What size turbine would I need for my home?
Homes use approximately 9,400 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per
year (about 780 kWh per month). Depending upon the average wind speed
in the area, a wind turbine rated in the range of 5 to 15 kilowatts would
be required to make a significant contribution to meet this demand
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WAsP
software |
WAsP is a PC program for the analysis of wind data as well
as wind atlas generation, wind resource assessment, wind
resource mapping, and the siting of wind turbines and wind
farms. The program, which is continually updated by the
Wind Energy Department, is regarded as the industry standard.
Over the last 20 years, WAsP has been employed in more
than 100 countries and territories. It is used by wind turbine
manufacturers and other companies and consultants in the
wind power industry as well as universities, research institutions,
and meteorological services. The tools and models in the
WAsP package can be employed for:
Wind farm production
Wind farm efficiency
Micro-siting of wind turbines
Power production calculations
Wind resource mapping
Wind climate estimation
Wind atlas generation
Wind data analysis & display
Map digitisation & editing
Power & thrust curve editing
The latest version is WAsP 9. This version contains new
functionality, an improved user interface, an updated help
facility and several new or updated auxiliary software packages.
The most profound changes can be listed under the following
headings:
Nested wind farms
Wind farm power curve
Reference site in wind farm
Spatial image underlays
Resource grid masking
Resource grid performance improvements
Grids of DRIX values
Obstacles in resource grid calculations
Enhanced Map Editor with comprehensive roughness map consistency
checks
New WAsP Climate Analyst tool
The graphical user interface of WAsP 9 is illustrated in
the graphic below.
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Sizing
Small Wind Turbines |
Small wind turbines used in residential applications typically range
in size from 400 watts to 20 kilowatts, depending on the
amount of electricity you want to generate.
A typical home uses approximately 9400 kilowatt-hours of
electricity per year (about 780 kWh per month). Depending
on the average wind speed in the area, a wind turbine rated
in the range of 5–15 kilowatts would be required to
make a significant contribution to this demand. A 1.5-kilowatt
wind turbine will meet the needs of a home requiring 300
kilowatt-hours per month in a location with a 14 mile-per-hour
(6.26 meters-per-second) annual average wind speed.
To help you determine what size turbine you'll need, first
establish an energy budget. Because energy efficiency is
usually less expensive than energy production, reducing
your home's electricity use will probably be more cost effective
and will reduce the size of the wind turbine you need.
Wind turbine manufacturers can help you size your system
based on your electricity needs and the specifics of local
wind patterns. A manufacturer can provide you with the estimated
annual energy output of a turbine as a function of annual
average wind speed. The manufacturer can also provide information
on the maximum wind speed at which the turbine is designed
to operate safely. Most turbines have automatic overspeed-governing
systems to keep the rotor from spinning out of control in
very high winds.
The height of a wind turbine's tower also affects how much
electricity the turbine will generate. A manufacturer should
help you determine the tower height you will need.
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Windsurvey software |
The Windsurvey software is designed to run on a standard
PC under Windows XP or Vista. It runs 24 hours a day, gathering
data in the background. It does not interfere with any other
software you may run (word processors, web browsers etc),
except that it ties up one USB port. If you need to shut
down the Windsurvey software at any time, the data already
gathered is not affected. No data is gathered while the
software is not running, but data gathering restarts as
soon as the software is restarted.
You can select:
The model of wind turbine for which the power output is
to be displayed. An alternative is to display daily average
wind speeds.
The units in which the current wind speed is to be displayed.
The altitude above sea level, which is needed for the power
output calculation.
Whether or not a 'standardised' power curve is to be used.
Details in the user manual.
You can click a button to produce a full report from the
entire recorded database, containing daily average and maximum
wind speeds and predicted output for all supported wind
generators. The full report function also takes copies of
the raw wind speed data files (10-minute average wind speeds,
also wind data in a format suitable for power output calculations).
You can use these files to carry out your own analysis using
a spreadsheet or other software.
If the model of wind turbine you have in mind is not on
the list, please get in touch, as it can probably be added
(some manufacturers are more forthcoming than others as
regards power output data).
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Westwind
Wind Turbines |
Westwind is an internationally renowned manufacturer of high quality and
robust 3kW, 5kW, 10kW and 20kW wind turbines. Westwind have supplied turbines,
towers and turbine controllers for use in many different applications around
the world since 1984
Westwind turbines enjoy the reputation as one of the most heavy duty and
robust turbines available. This makes them the ideal choice for remote area
applications where maintenance is expected to be infrequent and or costly.
The turbines are designed for strength, simplicity, and low maintenance
as the major design criteriaAll Westwind wind turbines consist of three
blades, up wind of the tower on a horizontal axis and attached directly
to a sealed permanent magnet generator.Rotor over speed protection is achieved
via auto furling. The turbine can also be manually furled at the base of
the tower. Furling describes the action of the tailboom pivoting around
to be at right angles to the axis of rotation. This action turns the blades
out of the wind and thereby reduces power output.Previous Westwind designs
in the 2.5 to 10KW range utilised pitch weights as an additional control
measure. The new blade profile used in the mk2 machines as well as being
more efficient is mechanically much stiffer. This means the pitch weights
are no longer necessary. They contributed significantly to the aerodynamic
noise of the blades so now our machines are barely audible |
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AeroGen
Wind Generators |
These well-known wind generators are manufactured here in the UK by LVM,
a company with over 15 years experience making wind turbines. They have
been used all over the world by yachtspersons, research institutes and by
Military Forces.
Features:
Powerful Performance - Designed for all wind speeds.
Compact
Efficient
Robust
Light
Maintenance Free
Quiet
Safe
Efficient Brushless alternators
Easy Installation - Mounting Kits available. |
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Marlec
Wind Generators |
Marlec manufacture small battery charging wind turbine generators
The Rutland 503
Rating: 25 W in a 22 mph (10 m/s) wind
Voltage: 12 Volts DC
Rotor Diameter: 0.51
Cut In Windspeed: 6.6 mph (3.0 m/s)
This compact wind generator, is ideal for use on yachts or touring caravans
etc, where ease of installation, a light weight and size are important
considerations.
With a turning radius of 255mm and a unique outer ring around the blade
tips it can safely be installed on a confined boat deck. The machine is
centrally supported so performance is unaffected by a pitching sea. Stainless
steel fasteners and marine grade materials are used throughout.
It starts charging in 6.6mph (3.0 m/s) winds and will give a maximum
output of over 60 W.
It is designed to mount onto 1.25" (31.7mm) internal diameter aluminium
tube and an adaptor is available for permanent land based installations
using taller towers
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