Blowin' in the Wind

I completed my wind site which consists eight Kyocera 51 watt Photovoltaic panels, an energy shed and, a 1996 Whisper 1000 wind alternator.

The area wind data consisted of anemometer readings from the municipal airport across a lake from the wind site. The wind measurement is taken from a ten foot high vain. Not the best wind data but, all that is available.

I plotted out the highest point trying to avoid the many tress that are grown for the purpose of a wind break. As I am contemplating why people plant trees for the attempt to block the wind it comes to me that the trees don't stop the wind but just cause the wind to be turbulent. Kind of ironic.

I owned the piping from one tower I erected several years ago; the wind genny was put up on property not owned by me. The area I constructed my first two towers is three miles west of the Mississippi. The wind currents in that area average out at seven miles per hour.

The first towers where modeled to be tip down towers. Due to the fact that the tower would be experimental and would need to be taken apart, I needed a means to join the pipe without welding them together.

I designed a hollowed half inched steel inside coupler tube fourteen inches long that will be inserted to support seven inches of the two adjoining pipes. These “joiners” are machined from block steel, not from steel pipe. Each joiner needed to be inserted seven inches into each connecting pipe.

To keep the joiners from sliding down the pipe four bolt indentations ( two on each seven inch section) are machined into the joiners. Both connecting ends of the pipe needed to be drilled and tapped for the joiners to be secured to the pipe.

My first tower was only forty two foot high. The amount of wind power was discouraging. I buried overly secured footing for the guyed wires apart far enough to anchor a 63 foot tower. So I machined another coupler then added another pipe length.

Still the amount of wind power was not too consistent, although, the constructing and designing and the overall witnessing of the powers of the wind where encompassing. After a couple of months the property owner found use of the land I am using to experiment with wind turbines and asked me to move on. I took the tower down.

Several years passed and my interest regained. I needed to locate to an area that has better wind flow. I studied the wind survey map the State of Minnesota composed and found Wright County just south of my present location to have much better wind consistency.

I located an interested land owner and I am in business again. On this site I revamped my designed tip-down to be eighty-seven foot tall. From the highest

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point of that location I could not put up a higher tip-down because the property line would not allow guy wire footings any further apart. I settled on the second best.

To this day I would not even attempt to extend the height another twenty-one foot. The weight of the added pipe plus the added guy wires would have been to much for the mast footing and the lower tower poles to handle. (note the 42 foot gin pole is welded not coupled).

Before tipping the turbine into action I purchased an anemometer to measure the wind power at that site. According to the Minnesota wind survey map the wind speeds are a little lower than projected but,; at the time of this writing only seven months of wind speeds have been recorded. The wind speed at eighty seven foot are superior to the ten foot airport readings.

During the much shipping and handling of the energy components the wind turbine acquired a small break of the tip of one of the blades. I've forgotten the power of the wind and its unforgiving destitute to rearrange everything in its path and didn't think that that small break would amount to much.

The first coupled of months had mild wind currents but in the fourth month had a major temperature shift. The winds where strong short blasts of power. It seemed as the winds where purposely hammering the turbine with all its might.

The wind found the weakest point and the damaged blade tore off from the blade plate. It was fortunate for me that I was home looking from my window at the turbine. As the damage blade went torpedoing to the ground while the whole tower began to shake.

I quickly exited the house and ran to the energy shed to shut down the turbine. If I was not home observing the turbine the total damage could have been worse. In the future when weather appears ominous I'll tip the tower down.

Thinking over all the weather observations that that wind turbines was involved with, I think that if there was not a structural problem with the Whisper wind alternator blades the weather would not damage it. This is the first eighty seven foot tower that nested the Whisper 1000.

The first wind generator, a Whisper 600, was put up without a secured inclosure to house the batteries and controllers. At that time I had built a solar dehydrator.

The dehydrator has a four foot by five and half foot solar collector. The collector relies on energy that primarily flows from convection. With the five and half foot height of the solar collector, tilted 45 degrees for winter collection, the top of the collector would be approximately four and one half foot high. The structure the vegetables to be dehydrated in needed to be approximately six foot high.

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The lower chamber of the dehydrator served as a battery/controllers house. It wasn't the best housing but it served its purpose.

I witnessed the problems a low tower has with turbulence from ground obstacles such as trees and corn plants. I planned my next tower.

Someone with interest in wind power bought my Whisper 600 and I began planning a higher tower and a larger wattage wind turbine. I was excited about the possibilities.

I purchased a Whisper 1000 then plotted the land to support a sixty seven foot tower. I needed a building to place the electronics including the batteries.

At that time the State of Minnesota is conducting a new building code that focused on better energy containment. I attended several meeting and comprehended what building techniques and materials are required to contain conditioned inside air.

I built a movable shed. The shed is twelve foot by eight foot with a hipped roof. The walls are 2*6 studs with polystyrene sheathing and three quarter inch four by eight cedar siding. The floor and ceiling is insulated to code.

A few extra insulating methods are added to assure the energy shed could be heated solely via extra electric energy generated via the wind turbine and the Photovoltaic panels. The first winter after completion proved the energy code worked.

The movable shed is now called an “Energy Shed”. Thinking about water sheds I thought that the “Energy Shed” would be appropriate. Another advantage of the “Energy Shed” is that it is movable.

With the shed complete I have room for electronic controls. To is day I believe that a separate building for electronic components and especially the battery banks is essential for two reasons: one the risk of fire from faulty electronics is separate from a living quarter, two the insurance companies will approve.

Now I have room to house an inverter and other electronic controls. As stated above the “Energy Shed” is primarily heated via the excess electric energy produced by the wind and sun.

The first winter proved the Minnesota energy code is valid. That winter was particularly windy. On the coldest winter day when I enter the “Energy Shed” the temperature read 76 degrees.

Of course the solar generators are not constant, therefore, to keep the Energy Shed at seventy degrees Fahrenheit,(the temperature which the storage of electrical energy is conserved within a chemical storage component is the most efficient) a propane heater is added to maintain temperature.

That is one of the problems associated with chemical battery storage.

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Other problems with batteries is corrosion of terminals, constant replenishing water to the cells and the limited number of high and low voltage cycles a battery will endure before needing to be replaced. Battery technology is lagging, therefore, remaining connected to the “Grid” will limit the frustrations with living with appropriate energy*.

One wants to remain hopeful that a simple solution to energy storage will make appropriate energy viable in this world of constant activity but until that happens it is best to change yourself in relation to consumption of energy.

*One note to consider about not storing electric energy is that if the electric distribution system (the Grid) is disconnected from your generating system you will be limited only to use of energy that can be generated at that moment; I.e. If no sun or wind no electric power. @2008 BECO,Inc

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