Generator tower - Page 3

 

Eric wrote:


It's an Air-X - how much information did you need?  It's 400W, just as he
said.

I think the "cheap" comment referred to the fact that if you're putting up a
tower, you really need to go higher than 33 feet.  Should be 30' over _any_
surrounding obstructions.


Pay attention.
--
derek

 

Not much information... like where you live, etc.

If you want to look at all the variables, check the typical winds for your
area.  Know anyone that builds communication towers and they will tell you
what the typical wind and ice loads are.  Also do some research about
various metals and wall thicknesses.  For instance, consider schedule 80
instead of 40, or different metal alloys.

What you are describing can be built... and is used commecially. Consider 4
guys and make one of them winchable so that you can hinge the tower down for
maintenance.  This gets around the labor and safety laws for tower climbing.

I would say that 150' at low votages (you don't mention a voltage) would
require thick wire.  Another simple calculation.

Good Luck.  Come back with more specifics to bounce off the group and we
will help you out.

RF Dude.

 

400 Watts at 12 volts is 33 amps.
400 Watts at 24 Volts is 16.5 amps
these are aviation voltages. The FAA is quite helpful in this case.
At 150 feet 12V 33A  bundled stranded 8 Gauge. if I read the chart
correctly.
At 150 Feet 24V 16.5A bundled stranded 12 Gauge if I read the chart
correctly.
Michelle

Jack Russell wrote:

 

Sir,
        I would recommend you to use an old TV antenna tower where you can
install 6ft of pipe at the top. As allmost everybody are on cable or
sattelite for TV reception it will be easy to find an old tower at a cheap
price or even sometimes for free.You have to install your wind generator at
15 ft over any obstacle in a rayon of  400 ft to prevent turbulence from
trees or buildings. It is not allways possible but try to come as close as
this as possible. You will see it easily if the machine is not high enough
because the wind generator will allways shift in the wind if it is not high
enough. In a properly made installation the wind generator will stay most of
the time oriented in the prevailing wind. Now for your wire size: As it is
impossible theorically to obtain 400 watts of electrical charging energy
from a 45 inches propeller diameter but feasible to pick up 400 watts of
mechanical energy in the wind you will not need to  install a very big wire.
To be true, the real energy available is less than half of 400 watts because
of the loss in the modification of energy. Each time that you modify the
energy you will have a loss between 10 to 20%. You take a certain amount of
energy in the wind, you modify it into mechanical energy (rotation) that is
modified an other time in electrical energy that is modify again from AC to
DC and you use it to charge a battery that offer a resistance on charging.
So with all these modifications you finish with a great loss. If you use an
inverter you loose again energy. To be sure you will not have too much loss
in the wiring use # 4 or #6 multistrand welding cable with at least 200
strands in the wire. The more strands you have the better it is to prevent
surface resistance. For the guys you can use your 3/16 in. stainless steel
wires and they do not need to be too tight because the tower should have a
bit of flexibility. Just tighten the guys as much as you can with your hands
and it will be OK and check for good anchoring of the guys in the earth. For
more security 3 or even better 5 guys are recommended. So if one breaks in a
Katrina or Rita you will still have a good coefficient of security. To save
money on the wiring also you can use the tower for the ground wire. You can
put a ground rod at the bottom of the tower to prevent lightnings. Make sure
that the connections on the tower is clean and put dielectric grease on all
connections. So if you have a 40ft tower you will save 40 ft of wire. The
success in any wind generator installation comes from having very good
contacts from the wind generator wiring to the batteries. For batteries do
not take car batteries. Good deep cycle batteries are the best. Check the
state of the batteries with a voltmeter on the battery poles and not with an
ammeter. If you go on my website www.electrovent.com at the FAQ section you
will find many answers to the questions we had from our customers since many
years.
Good windmilling.
Bernard Belisle


----- Original Message -----
Newsgroups: alt.energy.homepower
Sent: Friday, September 23, 2005 2:17 PM
Subject: Generator tower

 



     I suggest that you google on "Rohn 25 tower".  That is a type of tower that
is very commonly used for TV and 2-way radio.  You can buy it new in 10-foot
sections, or find it used.  They make special top sections that end in a socket
for a pipe, and special bottom mounting sections as well as brackets and other
accessories.

     I don't have any right now (so don't ask) but I have had trouble selling
the used stuff for $10.00 a section.  I don't have any idea what the wind load
of your generator is, but the engineering data for Rohn towers is readily
available and quite readable.  Rohn also makes similar tower sections in larger
sizes.

Vaughn