Wind Generators

[skyharborcowboy]

What would you guys recommend for a small Wind Powered Electric Generator to power my small barn? I just want to power some lights and possibly a few power tools from time to time with an inverter instead of running an electrical service out to it.

I would like to have your opinions on companies, recommendations and anything else you can suggest to help me make a decision.

Thanks,

Joe

 

[Anonymous-0]

What I did.........
I have solar fence chargers and a couple that use car batteries. For lights, I bought an energy saving floodlight (27 watt florescent) to light the paddock and a double 3ft florescent tube light (36watts) that lights the 3 stalls it is attached to (63 watts in the worst case). Got a 300 watt power inverter and hooked it up with alligator clips to a car battery. I've accumulated several batteries and charge them at home and rotate them out.
Now, I've got ahold of some 850w gas powered generators real cheap that I use in a pinch. for power tools, I have a 2kw generator, but got a set of Makita Cordless tools off amazon that I carry everywhere. Always wathching ebay for a solar panel to charge a car battery though.

Just what works for me.

Good Luck,


Dave

 

[T_Bone]

Hi Joe,

Most of the horizontal wind turbines take upwards of 15mph to produce a usable current and expensive to buy.

There's a new company thats making vertical wind turbines that produce at 4mph. The vertical blades are air foil shaped and will with stand 100mph winds at full wattage output, about $3500 for a 1kw turbine.

For what your wanting. I'd look at a Uni-Solar 64w PV, about $350 delivered, charge controller $45 and $75 for a 12v deep cycle battery. Add some 12v/18w flourescent lites, about $40eh for each 10sft of floor for just like in house lighting.

The PV's work great in our area. Inverters

T_Bone

 

[skyharborcowboy]

Do you have website information for the items you mentioned?

Thanks,

Joe

PS. I usually have plenty of breeze out here in AZ where I am but I also have an abundance of sun as well so solar may be the way to go. I will look forward to the web links if you guys have them. Thanks!

 

[jose bagge]

i never thought the inverter would power a flourescent fixture! how long will it last with a fully charged battery? WOW-
What if you drove a one wire gm alternator off a windmill to charge the battery? would it work?

 

[Anonymous-0]

(quoted from post at 05:40:17 02/27/08) i never thought the inverter would power a flourescent fixture! how long will it last with a fully charged battery? WOW-
What if you drove a one wire gm alternator off a windmill to charge the battery? would it work?

They are a little slow starting, but work. Haven't thought about the alternator idea, sure it would work if you gear it right. I think the solar panel is the ticket though.

Dave

 

[Texasmark]

Why wouldn"t it be able to power a fluorescent light?

On lights, my power company suggested them so I tried them. Got them at Wally and Home. Don"t know what gas is in them but they are the little spiral tube dudes. A 13w is said to replace a standard 60w incandescent. But it doesn"t the light output disperses much better and it may put out the same lumens of light intensity, but the distribution of the light makes it seem much brighter.

Cost about a buck 50 and are supposed to last 7 years.

Solar panels are usually low producers so it takes a lot of them to develop any usable POWER.

Was just watching the History Channel couple of days ago on Modern Marvels. Were talking about the wind farm near Palm Springs, CA. Long way to the top of the tower, if you are light stomached on altitudes. Grin. They did mention that the problem with wind was that, even in that canyon where it supposedly blows all the time, it doesn"t and therefore you have to have something else ready to fill in the gaps, cause utility power has to be there ALL the time.

I"d just get a small portable ac generator operated by a gasoline engine and keep it simple. Diesel would be better, but it would take awhile to recoup the cost of the difference and with diesel higer than gas these days.....but you could qualify for non-road diesel which doesn"t have the road tax (40 cents a gallon in Texas).

Mark

 

[Nancy Howell]

I"m real interested in this topic, but don"t know what some of the terminology stands for. What"s a gm alternator and what"s PV?

 

[Anonymous-0]

GM Alternator= General Motors (just an alternator off a car rigged to be driven by a windmill. Too much headscratching for me.

I think the PV is a a blanket term for the power inverters that you plug into your cigatette lighter to run AC current appliances, lights, etc.

A cheap battery charger, a battery (or few) to load and have on site/rotate, and either a 200 watt or so power inverter or 12 volt bulbs should do the trick. The advantage of using normal AC current bulbs and the power inverter is that you can hook up a generator and run the existing system if the batteries are dead or ripped off.

I wired everything as if I would hook up to electric service, put a plug on the end, and plug into an inverter hooked up to a battery. I'm waiting on a steel cage type container (flex pallet) to turn up extra where my wife works so that I can lock up a generator on site for extended use.


Dave

 

[Anonymous-0]

mark the date you put these bulbs in service.I have 6 that didnt last a year.

 

[Anonymous-0]

The system will cost far more than running a service line.

 

[HENRY E NC]

Try ----windmillstuffnow.com. They have an extensive bunch of stuff for windmill generation. Henry

 

[Anonymous-0]

(quoted from post at 06:58:36 02/27/08) The system will cost far more than running a service line.

guess it depends on where you are and what you buy. For me:

Battery charger 20 bucks
inverter 20 bucks
batteries (I buy mine from junked cars for 5 bucks for load testing, or free for the risk)

 

[Anonymous-0]

Sorry, the lights cost about 40 bucks for the tube fixtures and floodlight.
Good time to hit Harbor Freight........

Dave

 

[RodinNS]

PV = Photo Voltaic, otherwise known as a solar panel. Some panels are for heating water and some (the PV variety) generate DC voltage.

Rod

 

[RodinNS]

Seriously... how many feet of line are you talking? Wind is not cheap. PV is really NOT cheap. Inverters are not cheap and deep cycle batteries are not cheap either. You could get by with a small inverter for the lights but I think if you get into power tools you'd need a generator or something much more substantial in the inverter department.... something into the thousands of dollars.... That combined with thousands in batteries. Self contained wind power is not cheap, but if it meant running a mile of line... then it might be cheaper.

IF you're serious about this, then there is a lot of information on the site I'll link. It's all home brew, do it yourself type stuff, but the information is still usefull... even if you want a more commercial solution.

Rod
wind power, do it yourself style....

 

[JDemaris]

The biggest problem and expense is not the generator - it's the battery bank. A wind generator will often make nothing, and at other times make much more than you can use. The only way to save the power - and later get to use it - is a large battery bank - or a grid-tie to the power company.

 

[greygoat]

Get a copy of "HOME POWER" Magazine. It"s got
everything you need to know about wind and solar
power. An index, and back issues are available on
their website, so you can look up previous arcticles. Home Power is full of ad for suppliers,
and catalogs. One firm sells a complete kit to
build a windmill with a vehicle alternator.

 

[flashback]

I agree with that. I have been using them for several years and a lot of them have been changed out already.Fluorescent bulbs dont adjust to varying currents very easily Jack

 

[Anonymous-0]

If you aren't going to put a fridge out there for the brew I'd use a good solar panel and a couple 12 volt batteries. Not very expensive and with a 500 watt inverter you can run small power tools. Better yet use rechargeable tools and the older ones you can charge with the solar panel. And use 12 volt RV light fixtures.

 

[Anonymous-0]

GM General Motors (automobile) alternator (generator that sucks for wind power). PV (photo voltaic)or(solar cell) costs a lot.

 

[T_Bone]

Hi Joe,

Ya I know, I live 10 miles west of you, up on the mountain.

The link I posted has alot of great info but just be cautious when buying from them. On two orders my credit card charge was greater than my invoice amount. It's still hard to beat there info tho.

PV will still be cheaper than wind so really give solar electric some consideration.

T_Bone
Solar Electric

 

[Leland]

Make sure your state allows you to sell unused power back to your local power company ,herein ILL they must pay you what you over produce .

 

[T_Bone]

Hi Leland,

I just read up on this in AZ. What a joke. Here they let you supply the grid, then the utility lets your use there power for the same cost you been paying.

At the end of the month they subtract what you used from what you produced. They still tax you tho on what you used.

Example: My last bill was $80 and out of that, $35 was applied to the electricity cost I used and the rest was tax and delivery charges. So I would now owe $55 for the month.

Now if I produced more than I used then that is carried over to the next month. At the end of the year, if I didn't use that excess then my account is reset to zero.

If you follow that logic, then I just produced FREE electricity to the Utility that year in acess of what I used.

What a rip off!!!

T_Bone

 

[Anonymous-0]

Auto batteries dont stand deep discharge.Unless you find a fairly new battery,most batteries are close to failure.Just replaced 2 batteries in January.A workshop will need a welder and a big air compressor,My wood shop has 2 table saws ,a radial arm saw,a belt sander,a 4x6 hack saw and a 2hp dust collector not to mention the 5hp planer just out side the shop on the barn floor.I use a small electric motor on my boat and keep the oars handy.I use a deep cycle battery on the boat.This battery has a lot more lead in it than an auto battery.There is no way to get cheap electricity with wind power or solar.My friend has 3 wind generators and a solar panel.The are many days when the wind generators stand idle.He just sold a 4th generator and tower.If you cant bring power in because of distance then wind power is useful.Not many people have the knowledge to take care of a battery bank.