Domestic Wind Turbines Blog

Archive for the ‘VERTICAL WIND TURBINES’ Category

Can anybody tell me what the average output (in mW) is for horizontal and vertical axis wind turbines? I mean the large ones you see in the fields. If you could also tell me the wind speed that it usually takes to power either, that would be great too. Thanks!

Found this information from the referenced source:
"Generally speaking, utility-scale wind power projects using large turbines that service the electrical grid require an average wind speed of at least 7 meters per second (15.7 miles per hour) or average power of at least 400 Watts per square meter (NREL class 4). Small-scale turbines such as those used by farmers and homeowners are often used in locations with lower average annual wind speeds"

Typical large scale wind turbines put out 1.5MW at a 27-56mph wind.An interesting point was for the U.S. the actual output for large wind turbines was only 26.9% of what they are capable of producing due to wind availability.

In my country, the climate is very humid and very warm all year long. I haven’t been able to find real solution to Green Homes for this kind of climate and in 5 years time, i’m thinking of building my own house.

Can anyone point out where i can find resources (information and physical material) for Green Home design specifically for tropical climate?

I do have some ideas, but still need some pointers on application:
1. Dessicant dehumidifier.
2. Passive ventilation (i’m thinking of utilizing differential pressure like burrows).
3. Solar Panel (equatorial countries benefit greatly from this)
4. Vertical wind turbine (where can i get it in Malaysia?)
etc…

ok.

Hi
I am a fresh graduate from Bahrain
trying to bring indoor skydiving activity to my country
we don’t have it here AT ALL and I want to be the first
I don’t have enough resources for it I may ask our national bank for loans anyways
I need detailed information about it,
which one is cheaper to start with a vertical wind tunnel or a vertical wind turbine?

what am i gonna need to get all ready?
outfit, helmets, goggles, ear plugs? what else?

I need to know everything about it from A to Z

thanks alot

wow…well most of skydivers use indoor skydive for 2 things:
training themselves to competition like the babyloon…skywalkers…
or they use it in coaching.
The best way to finance you indoor skydive is to ask the dropzone nearest if he could support you in making that.
what you will need?
well usually are the own people who brings helmets and goggles and outfits…you can have a rent zone ..it will be a good investing zone
so
Helmets
Ear plug(opcional)
Outfits
Wind suits
wind tunnel
and a part of that you can have a your own merchandise
like:
cypress
wind measure with your logo on it

I’m using a plastic bottle. However, I need to make the axis horizontal and not vertical. So, the turbine is going to be sideways. Ummmm…..should I make an adjustments to make it spin better?

http://www.instructables.com/id/Wind_Whirler_plastic_bottle_wind_turbine/

Yes you should make adjustments.
To make the axis horizontal you need some kind of a bearing on each end of the bottle.

Start with a wooden base just a little longer than your bottle.
Add a vertical wooden member to each end of the base.
They should be tall enough to hold the bottle several inches up off the base to allow the wind free access.

You can use two small nails as axles.

Drill a hole in each wooden end piece just a little smaller than the nail
outside diameter, at the center line of where you want the bottle to spin.

Drill a hole in each end of the bottle Just a little bigger than the nail,
so that the bottle can spin freely.

You can use some small washers as spacers at each end of the bottle on
the nail axles between the wood and the bottle to keep the bottle from rubbing
on the wooden uprights.

You will need a hammer to pound the axle nails through the hole you drilled
in the wooden uprights.

Wingman

Edit: You can also use a coat hanger bent properly to replace all of the wooden parts I talked about above.
This would allow you to hang it up in a tree, if you so choose.

Wingman

Barack Obama said he wants to focus on fixing the infrastructure of America. He wants to build new roads and bridges. Good for him. Because energy is a hot button, I don’t doubt he’s going to put that on the back burner. Here is what I’m wondering. Do you think they should put helices on the roads? I’m talking about wind turbines over highways that run off the wind gusts from speeding cars. They actually have those now. I’ve seen some that are overhanging from freeways. Each of them has a helix on it. They also have vertical wind turbines inside guardrails that spin from the wind generated from cars. What do you think of that? Do you think they should encompass those into the new infrastructure?
Here is a picture of what I’m talking about.

http://www.instablogsimages.com/images/2007/10/11/two-horizontal-axis-shaped-wind-turbines-on-a-highway-signage-to-produce-wind-energy_179.jpg

I have read about incorporating new technology into the transportation systems of the future and I am in favor of the idea of including wind turbines on highway overpasses. Wind turbines are a great source of alternative energy, that are cost effective and low maintenance. This new technology will generate enough power for several cities across the country.

I am doing a science fair project in which I am going to create a wind turbine and make electrical energy off it. I am planning to create a vertical axis turbine. I have two questions before i started tho…

1. Is there a way to create a horizontal axis wind turbine? (Is there website (like the one shown below) which shows a step by step process to build a horizontal turbine with cheap materail?)

2. Is there a way for me to store the energy created by the turbine? I dont expect to create alot of energy, but is there a way i can store the small amounts of energy created by the turbine? (like many in a rechargebale battery?)

http://www.re-energy.ca/ridethewind/buildamodel-2.shtml

thank you for your help

Try to hook your turbine to an existing product, such as a bicycle generator or a hand-crank charger. You may have to gear it down which will be complex. Or you could turn some kind of paddle wheel that pumps water "up hill" which might qualify for storing energy.

I was thinking if you had a wind turbine on top of a car and have a generator in the back/front. When you would drive it would keep spinning on its own over and over. It also may be easier to use a vertical-axis wind turbine.

no. not possible since the energy needed to move the vehicle will be greater than energy produced due to various losses and there is no away to avoid losses.

Some ideas are "widgets", and some ideas are truly great! As an example – I don’t need a special device to get all of the toothpaste out of the tube (I personally use the edge of the vanity top) – but we all use electricity, and that "need" generates a lot of revenue!

I actually don’t have an idea, it’s more of an engineering solution to some problems, and also several evolutionary advancements in wind power technology that need at least 3 patents (for sure). It could take as much as $20,000 to secure these patents and I just don’t have it!

I’m not a marketing genius or a financial wizard (if I were, I probably wouldn’t be here asking this question!). What I am is an unconventional, independent engineer with a working model of my creation that performs magnificently! . . . and I can’t demonstrate its potential without its protection. What do I do?

Wind Energy, Innovative Engineering Idea, Vertical Axis Wind Turbine, Angel Money, New Patent Investment
I would be grateful for any good counsel on this.

windfarmhorse@yahoo.com

Bringing a new product to market is difficult, and your product is not an easy one. One option is to work for a company that can develop it, and that would be a large enough one with enough capital.

I am a self-employed person 56 years old with my own business, but I chose one that didn’t require much capital to get it started, and I operate it out of my home, so I don’t have virtually any overhead.

You’ve got a huge gap between your idea and production/ marketing that you have to deal with. For me personally, I could not do it, and I do not believe there is any easy solution, except to keep moving forward. Join a local business group in your area.

What you need more than anything else at this point, I believe, is to network with other people. essentially, that is what you have attempted to do here in Yahoo Answers. I just posted you information to my Yahoo Los Angeles business group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LosAngelesBusiness/message/572 to try to get some response there. There are 129 members, but it’s best to try.

Also you maybe already know this but I found it interesting. Mesa Power, controlled by billionaire investor Boone Pickens, ordered 667 wind turbines from General Electric Co. to begin a $10 billion wind-farm project in Texas that will be the nation’s largest.

(CNN) — Billionaire oilman T. Boone Pickens is sinking billions of dollars into a new wind farm in Texas. It is likely to become the biggest in the world, producing enough power for the equivalent of 1.3 million homes.

CNN’s Ali Velshi asked the oil legend why he thinks wind could be the answer to this country’s energy problems: Ali Velshi: Tell me about the wind. Now, you are buying, for a start, more than 600 wind turbines from General Electric. You’re going to put them on this big tract of land in Texas, and you’re going to generate a lot of electricity.

What happens to that electricity? Tell me where you think you’re going to make your money and how this is going to help the situation in America.

T. Boone Pickens: Well, that’s the first step to a 4,000-megawatt wind farm. This is 1,000 megawatts.

We start receiving those turbines in mid 2010. We will have the total 4,000 megawatts finished by the end of 2015. That power will go into a transmission line that will tie into the Electric Reliability Council of Texas system in the state of Texas, and it will be transmitted downstate.

I have been in Yahoo Answers for only about two months, but I like to answer a small number of questions and answer them well. I don’t think I’m doing so well for you, but I’m trying.

I like to go to questions that have been posted several days and have no answers yet. Those are usually tough questions to come up with answers for. They require more research on my part, and I enjoy the challenge and learning experience for myself.

I am a UCLA MBA Finance ‘75. My online business is at http://forklift1.com

That’s the low overhead one I just referred to above. You can email me if you want to keep in touch. Maybe through further discussions, we can develop some more concrete ideas.

Your product requires, it sounds like, some capital investment and some "staying power" to get it going operationally. In order to get investors, you have to prepare some financial statements, a proposal, and, if you want public investment, that’s a whole quantum leap, as maybe you know.

I hope I do not sound negative. I’m not. I’ve been in business 30 years. Researching, and that includes looking at all the scenarios, especially what can go wrong, is necessary to avoid having those things go wrong.

I always look at my own projects very skeptically, because I know I am emotionally attached to them. I would suggest a couple of things you don’t do. Don’t get any money from family or friends.

If you are uniquely gifted as an engineer, you can look at the option of selling the technology to a larger company. Get an attorney first, so you can protect your rights and get residual benefits.

I think you’re in the position of someone who has a gift or talent like singing or comedy, and you’ve gotten to the point of feeling you’re ready to go out on your own. People always say, "Don’t quit your day job"! because you’ve got to make a living.

Before I "quit my day job" and went into business for myself, which meant no paycheck, no health plan, no vacation, no sick leave – I had saved enough money so I could survive.

The question you have posed here is very tough. It requires a very tough answer!

I thought about creating a website as a home base for updates and other information, but I don’t know what lines I may be crossing into – as far as selling stock or the like – or if it’s legal, at all, just to ask for financial help to get a money making project off the ground.

Wind Energy, Innovative Engineering Idea, Vertical Axis Wind Turbine, Angel Money Investment, New Patent Investment

Everyone has a billion dollar idea, very few become billionaires. No matter what, you will need to develop a business plan and then try and solicit the many angel investor sites out there. The easiest way to get that start-up without jumping through SEC hoops and such? Friends and family. Can’t get 20k from a family memeber or friends? Get $500 from 40 of them!

A VAWT is a vertical axis wind turbine and I am wantng to know the efficient way to build one. I want it to produce the most energy but not to high or wide e.g 15m is too high. I want to be able to take it with me if I move house as well. And not too expensive. If there is something like this commercialy available I would also like to know.

If you want to build your own just do a search for Savonius wind turbine. These are very simple and inexpensive to build. I know there are sites on the web where you can get free plans.