windmills

 

I was looking at this site
http://www.mikeswindmillshop.com/
and wanted your input?
It seems a bit pricy, as I see 1KW generators listed for a lot less
($100).  How hard is it to make such a system from the kits?  I guess
the factor is that the generators are of unknown qualtiy?
Does anyone know about the blades?  Are they easy to obtain?

Has anyone bought from them, and what did they think?
I have 8 6V (wired in 12 V pairs) cells which I charge and use to power
my inverter for an US system 120V 60Hz .
Is it better to buy a 12V DC generator or a 24 V DC generator?
What are the pros/cons of each design?

Is it not better to buy an 140V AC generator which has less loss due to
the batteries (but won't be on when the wind is calm).  Will this wreck
havok on my appliences, e.g. refrigerator or can it withstand such a
variable input?

 



Their 59" turbine in high winds might be expected to produce 200W, not
the 800W they claim. Of course there aren't any specs on the site, so
perhaps they mean 800W at 100mph.  :-)

The AirX is a similar size and price
http://www.windenergy.com/air_x.htm . It's a known quantity, and has
been independently tested http://www.scoraigwind.com/gipe/index.htm .

If you want to build your own, start here
http://www.otherpower.com/otherpower_experiments.html . You'll find
that an 800W homebuilt needs about 10' of rotor diameter.

Wayne

 

Thanks for the great links.
I was looking at the wind speed charts for Miami, where I am located.
BTW, would you recommend solar panels or windmills.
Windmills seem more sturdy, easily fixed and cheaper.
Unfortunally, they seem a bit more likely to suffer failure from
hurricanes or excessive use (bearing / moving parts wearing out).
However, an airborne cocconut would really damage a solar panel much
more than a windmill.

 

Deodiaus wrote:


????  Windmills can hardly be more sturdy - they are, after all, designed to
move.  If you have enough wind to damage PV panels, it's enough to damage a
windmill.  Other than wind, not much _can_ damage a PV panel that's not
mounted where someone can bash it with a ladder or something of similar
length (vandalism excluded).

That said, both my Air-X and all my PV panels have withstood a cat-3
hurricane (I know you get worse...)


I very much doubt I'm ever going to encounter an airborne coconut, but even
if that's likely where you are, a coconut could just as easily damage a
windmill.  Tip-speed on any windmill tends to be faster than you might
think.  I wonder how easy it is to throw a coconut _between_ the blades?
Replacing the blades is admittedly cheaper than replacing a broken PV
panel.
--
derek

 




Probably easier than hitting a blade.

Mary