EcoRenovator  

Go Back   EcoRenovator > Improvements > Wind Power
Advanced Search
 


Blog 60+ Home Energy Saving Tips Recent Posts Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 10-04-15, 01:29 PM   #1
meescha
Lurking Renovator
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: USA
Posts: 8
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default hi, im designing a wind turbine

Hi, Im going to be moving to Fairbanks Alaska in about 18 months, going to be buying me a piece of land and build a house on it, but for power i wanted wind turbine, ive been designing a turbine on paper at least that i want to build, never buildt one before but its the kind of stuff i enjoy doing. anyway, for my wind turbine i have a few issues im trying to work out (id like to work out a good theory and design before building, since ill be building it on site when i get there, with no grid. luckily i can live with low power tho id like to eventually get 10 kw - 20kw which should be plenty for my home. can even be achieved with multiple turbines

well heres the issues ive been trying to solve.

1. how much average wind speed is there even in fairbanks alaska
2. im working out a verticle design, tho what would be more efficient and cost effective, verticle or a more normal WT
3. braking system, is there a motor that doesnt need a braking system, is the braking system buildt into the motor or am i going to have to build the braking system myself? and how does the braking system fully work on a WT
4. so the math part, dont know the equations, for either a verticle or normal WT with either a 10 or 20 kw motor or 4 times 5 kw motor wind turbines, how big would the fins need to be to properly produce electricity. (and height, how high would the wind mill need to be)
5. are there any zoning restrictions for the height of a windmill in fairbanks. (ive heard of places that do)

so far those are the things im trying to figure out, thanks in advanced.


Edit. i found a decent comparison of VAWT vs HAWT and it seems a HAWT is a better choice overall, so ill change my original design to a HAWT and will just work from there. the issues still are issues just deciding to go with HAWT

meescha is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-04-15, 02:13 PM   #2
Ormston
Apprentice EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: UK
Posts: 131
Thanks: 13
Thanked 35 Times in 32 Posts
Default

meescha

I looked into turbines a while ago then realised just how big i would need to build to make any useful power and abandoned the idea.

You need to find out the wind speeds then put numbers into this calculator and see the results Turbine Calculator

You will likely be surprised just how big a turbine you will need.

Steve
Ormston is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-04-15, 02:39 PM   #3
meescha
Lurking Renovator
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: USA
Posts: 8
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

hi Ormston,

yea i know itll be big, but my house will be in the middle of nowhere, and insta,lling power lines to tie into the grid is going to be even more tricky. i found a decent link with a kit, (id post it but the site wont let me yet ) its from prairie turbines

the big kit they offer is 10 kw, for 8k, tho i dont know if i like the idea of wood blades, but id love to build my own, plus, once i move there i plan on going to school for engeneering, i may not be very knowlegable now, but i do plan on getting knowlegable.

i technically dont need to build my own i could buy one, but id rather reduce costs, and have fun doing it
meescha is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-06-15, 08:13 AM   #4
MarkM66
Helper EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: st.louis
Posts: 33
Thanks: 0
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
Default

Big as in needing a crane to put it up right?
MarkM66 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-06-15, 08:46 AM   #5
meescha
Lurking Renovator
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: USA
Posts: 8
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

yea tho if you anchor the bottom of the pole properly theres a way to put up the pole without a crane. like using a hinge pivot, but we are also very power conservative and only really need a 5 kw wind turbine. tho im going to put up multiples, rather have more then less.

w w w . prairieturbines.com/otherpix/img_0812.jpg

so far it seems like people think even renting our buying a crane is difficult, im going to alaska and building an entire house, ill need to use heavy equipment either way.
meescha is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-06-15, 09:52 AM   #6
jeff5may
Supreme EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: elizabethtown, ky, USA
Posts: 2,431
Thanks: 431
Thanked 619 Times in 517 Posts
Send a message via Yahoo to jeff5may
Default

Direct pic link:


Here's a graph showing average annual wind speed:


I hate to break this to you, but Fairbanks got its name from its weather conditions. It's well below average for both Alaska and the lower 48 for average and maximum wind speed. The recorded top speed is only 22 mph. Not a great place to build a wind farm.
jeff5may is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-06-15, 11:40 AM   #7
meescha
Lurking Renovator
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: USA
Posts: 8
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

Hi jeff5may,

Thank you that wind speed graph is very usefull, do you have any other suggestions for electricity, i thought about solar but in the winter, well the lowest average daylight it sais is 4 hours, but considering you drive a little bit more north and theres 0 daylight in the winter, how much of that 4 hours can be harvested using solar panels? plus wouldnt solar panels be a bad idea, cause theyd get snow covered?

other then solar and wind are there any other options?
meescha is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-06-15, 12:14 PM   #8
meescha
Lurking Renovator
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: USA
Posts: 8
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

well i was doing a tiny bit of research and using a turbine calculator that ormston posted, with 7 meter rotar diameter, and a 75 percent efficient generator, with a wind of 2 mph id have 12 kw of power, at 4 mph its 101kw, considering annual wind speed of fairbanks is only 4 mph, i could still do wind energy just have to up the diameter of the rotar
meescha is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-04-15, 04:20 PM   #9
Bicycle Bob
Suncatcher
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Spiritwood, Northern Saskatchewan
Posts: 42
Thanks: 0
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by meescha View Post
Hi jeff5may,

Thank you that wind speed graph is very usefull, do you have any other suggestions for electricity, i thought about solar but in the winter, well the lowest average daylight it sais is 4 hours, but considering you drive a little bit more north and theres 0 daylight in the winter, how much of that 4 hours can be harvested using solar panels? plus wouldnt solar panels be a bad idea, cause theyd get snow covered?

other then solar and wind are there any other options?
At those latitudes, you can set your solar panels vertical, but the snow is usually dry enough to blow off anyway. Reflection from the snow will help make up for the angle, but you can't produce any vitamin D when the sun cutting that much air, and panels perform poorly too.
Most of your neighbors will probably be storing summer solar in biomass for winter use.
Historically, heavy equipment has not been necessary to home construction. Even large masses can be moved by hand. I recommend camping on your land for at least a year to study it and other local habitations before building a foundation. By June you have to learn to sleep before it gets dark.
One caveat on wind towers: Don't attach them to your habitation unless you love noise. If I was going with wind, I'd find a hill where I could have a pond both top and bottom. I'd use micro-hydro to produce power on demand from under the ice, and replenish the upper pond with tanks of water drawn up a railway by kite power.
Bicycle Bob is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-06-15, 05:49 PM   #10
meescha
Lurking Renovator
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: USA
Posts: 8
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

well it seems im pretty much going to have to build one of those commercial wind turbines, which have blades big enough to do what i need at low wind speeds or go with a hybrid system that relies on both wind and solar, or go strictly solar.

well according to google fairbanks recieved 4 hours of sunlight in the winter, im not so much concerned about the summers alot of solar energy there, im nore concerned about the winter, how much of that 4 hours can be harvested, and what kind of a solar system would i be looking at, that can be used for those 4 hours? that could supply 10 kw, i will generally only use 5 kw, but id rather have more when needed.
meescha is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:13 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Ad Management by RedTyger
Inactive Reminders By Icora Web Design