battery-less VAWT [RE-wrenches]

[Joel Davidson]

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One of my customers has had a vertical axis wind generator since the early 
1980s and builds his own alternators. See 
http://www.ecohome.org/archive/OH_fall2005/forbes.html Contact me off-list 
for his contact info.
Joel Davidson

----- Original Message ----- 

To: <RE-wrenches at topica.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2008 2:31 PM
Subject: Re: battery-less VAWT [RE-wrenches]


>
>
> Right you are Dan,
>
> To add a couple of points to your list, virtually every one of the 
> emergent VAWT "companies" that have contacted me over the years seem to 
> have a common problem, be they Darrieus or Savonius - that being that they 
> can't seem to find a "good" commercially available alternator that will 
> work with their equipment. No big surprise, since most of these guys don't 
> understand effective swept area, tip speed ratios or power control! I 
> think they all must have read the same popular mechanics article from 1975 
> (not really) that tells you how to build one in your spare time from used 
> coffee cans and bicycle alternators. ;-)
>
> Beware of any VAWT company that has an "investor's" tab on their website.
>
> Beware of any that claim to be a "breakthrough" in anything.
>
> Beware of any that mange to break Betz' theorem. (And they all seem to!)
>
> Matt
>
> Dan Fink wrote:
>
>>Hi Kelly -- I don't know of very many commercial small VAWT products in
>>the US that have enough tested installations over the years to be
>>confident in, much less on a rooftop where the wind speeds are slow and
>>turbulent. Your best bet most likely is to talk with PacWind or Ropatec
>>about their VAWTs. Both of these companies do at least have actual
>>installations you could visit, and they don't violate the majority of
>>the rules in Paul Gipe's famous "How to detect a wind turbine scam"
>>article.
>>
>>The SMA WindyBoy direct grid tie inverter won't even work until you hit
>>150v, and the Power-One Aurora that can deal with lower voltages is not
>>yet available (it's what we are looking into for our turbine designs
>>here--it might be out this summer). Not sure if either of those above
>>VAWT machines can do direct grid tie with either of those inverters, but
>>it's worth asking them.
>>
>>The difficult part of treading in the VAWT world is differentiating
>>between companies that actually make actual wind turbine products,
>>companies that might be able to make their first actual product ever
>>(after you pay them in advance), and those that just want you to invest
>>in developing a product that has never been built in larger than HO
>>scale and probably will never make a single watt-hour.
>>If you DO finally install some VAWTs for these customers......meter the
>>heck out of them, individually. kwh per day, month and year, in a
>>spreadsheet. That will be a breath of fresh air (pun intended) for us
>>renewable energy journalists who labor under the weight of VAWT scam
>>after scam. I imagine the serious VAWT manufacturers feel the same way,
>>some good kwh numbers at a variety of sites would lend their business
>>some much-needed credibility.
>>
>>DAN FINK
>>Technical Director
>>http://www.otherpower.com/
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>On Tue, 2008-01-08 at 10:46 -0800, Kelly Keilwitz wrote:
>>
>>>Wrenches,
>>>An industrial customer is going for LEED certification on one of their 
>>>many
>>>buildings. As this is a "showcase" project, the 40 KW PV proposal we've 
>>>been
>>>asked to design/install includes bifacial module awnings and Vertical 
>>>Axis
>>>Wind Turbines on the roof.
>>>
>>>We've already pointed out that the VAWT's won't be cost-effective. 
>>>However,
>>>taller towers and HAWT's have been ruled-out because of height 
>>>limitations.
>>>And, our customer wants the wind to be a visible "beacon" of their
>>>green-ness. Also, our company has been singled out because of our 
>>>experience
>>>with wind (so I don't want to push the issue too much).
>>>
>>>Any recommendations of a VAWT mfr & model that can be grid-tied with a
>>>battery-less inverter? We'd rather not mess with batteries on this one.
>>>
>>>Thanks,
>>>-Kelly
>>>


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