I was able to tweak the hub so it runs much more true, but still convex. I'll try running it concave forward and see what happens. I painted it and some of the other bare metal parts of the turbine. I put a finl on the tail that should cause it to furl around 27mph. I haven't reassembled or tested anything yet.
I was able to do some Arduinio programming for a simple battery discharge control scenario. I am considering using a battery or batteries in the system, so I can pulse-and-glide the grid tie inverter. Inverters typically run most efficiently when putting out rated power. Then the system can slowly collect low power on typical days that wouldn't normally be enough to turn on the inverter. The Arduino will monitor the battery charge and dump energy into the grid as needed. Another advantage to this system would be the ease of adding other energy sources. I could connect my little 5 watt solar panel (or a pedal generator etc )to the batteries to add more energy to be dumped into the grid.
The barn has a nice new roof now. I have been thinking about tower mounting a little. I know roof mounting is far from ideal and now I don't really want to penetrate the new roofing deck. I have been considering a guyed tower out in the field. I may start with a tower attached to the west gabel end of the barn roof to get some more testing done before going all-out on a guyed tower.
|