New Off-Grid Wind Turbine

[Chris Olson]

For folks who want to build their own off-grid wind turbine in 2013, I have a new direct-drive machine that is designed from the ground up to work with a MidNite Classic 150 MPPT controller. The details of how to build it, and the specs for it, are on the new off-grid projects page that I put on my website

http://dairylandwindpower.us/projects/

This new turbine has been flying on one of my towers since early December. With a 3.2 meter rotor on it it produces 150 watts @ 10 mph, 250 watts @ 12 mph, 480 watts @ 15 mph, 1,080 watts @ 20 mph, and 2,000 watts at 25 mph. It will peak around 2.5 kW on a 24V system and 3 kW on a 48V system.

On my 48V system I have the Classic set to engage the voltage clipper at 145 volts input to the controller and have seen the machine producing 3,100 watts and 52.6 amps to the battery @ 144 volts controller input. It's best daily energy production so far was Dec 20 when it produced 26.4 kWh in a 24 hr period.

It will also work on a 12V system, however, its peak output is de-rated to 1.2 kW to the battery because the Classic 150 can only put out around 90 amps continuous. So the voltage clipper on a 12V system will get a serious workout at wind speeds much over 20 mph.
--
Chris

[Rob Beckers]

Beautiful work Chris!

[John Szegda]

That is a great looking Turbine. You run a pretty good bead. But, the thing I like the most about it is simplicity.

John

[Chris Olson]

Thanks John.

I've had so many emails and phone calls on this machine that I'm going to be providing AutoCAD drawings of some of the parts on the build website. People can download the AutoCAD drawings and put them on a memory stick and take them to a CNC machine shop where they can plug them into their CAD/CAM system and cut the parts.

Most people are worried about the hole placement on the generator rotors and stator support. And while there is a fair amount of leeway there, attention has to be paid to accurate cutting with generator rotors for proper balance and such. When the turbine rotor is on one end of a shaft and the generator on the other you don't want a couple generated due to improper dynamic balance, even though you have perfect static balance on both ends, that will cause a severe "wagging" on the tower.

Providing the drawings so the parts can be CNC cut will help insure that things are accurately made for the homebuilders out there that want to build one.

I've seen this new machine running at 3,100 watts and 52.6 amps to the battery @ 144 volts controller input with a 3.2 meter rotor on it. It's on its second stator revision right now. For a 3.2 meter I could make the stator just a tiny bit more efficient by reducing the turns in it. But the stator that's in it will be a good match for a 3.5 meter rotor. As soon as I get my 3.5 meter rotor that I got in the shop rebuild and repainted it will be going on this machine for testing. I expect to get close to 3.5 kW peak from it with the 3.5 meter rotor on it.

I do all my welding on heavier steel with a Lincoln 225 amp AC/DC welder powered with our inverter. My MIG isn't quite big enough for heavier steel and I really prefer the old Lincoln 225 over the MIG anyway, even for welding lighter stuff. When I build lattice towers I use the MIG because it's faster and don't have to change rods all the time. But for bench welding I'll take the stick welder over the MIG every time.
--
Chris

[Andrew Zetina]

For folks who want to build their own off-grid wind turbine in 2013, I have a new direct-drive machine that is designed from the ground up to work with a MidNite Classic 150 MPPT controller. The details of how to build it, and the specs for it, are on the new off-grid projects page that I put on my website

http://dairylandwindpower.us/projects/

This new turbine has been flying on one of my towers since early December. With a 3.2 meter rotor on it it produces 150 watts @ 10 mph, 250 watts @ 12 mph, 480 watts @ 15 mph, 1,080 watts @ 20 mph, and 2,000 watts at 25 mph. It will peak around 2.5 kW on a 24V system and 3 kW on a 48V system.

On my 48V system I have the Classic set to engage the voltage clipper at 145 volts input to the controller and have seen the machine producing 3,100 watts and 52.6 amps to the battery @ 144 volts controller input. It's best daily energy production so far was Dec 20 when it produced 26.4 kWh in a 24 hr period.

It will also work on a 12V system, however, its peak output is de-rated to 1.2 kW to the battery because the Classic 150 can only put out around 90 amps continuous. So the voltage clipper on a 12V system will get a serious workout at wind speeds much over 20 mph.
--
Chris

Thanks John.

I've had so many emails and phone calls on this machine that I'm going to be providing AutoCAD drawings of some of the parts on the build website. People can download the AutoCAD drawings and put them on a memory stick and take them to a CNC machine shop where they can plug them into their CAD/CAM system and cut the parts.

Most people are worried about the hole placement on the generator rotors and stator support. And while there is a fair amount of leeway there, attention has to be paid to accurate cutting with generator rotors for proper balance and such. When the turbine rotor is on one end of a shaft and the generator on the other you don't want a couple generated due to improper dynamic balance, even though you have perfect static balance on both ends, that will cause a severe "wagging" on the tower.

Providing the drawings so the parts can be CNC cut will help insure that things are accurately made for the homebuilders out there that want to build one.

I've seen this new machine running at 3,100 watts and 52.6 amps to the battery @ 144 volts controller input with a 3.2 meter rotor on it. It's on its second stator revision right now. For a 3.2 meter I could make the stator just a tiny bit more efficient by reducing the turns in it. But the stator that's in it will be a good match for a 3.5 meter rotor. As soon as I get my 3.5 meter rotor that I got in the shop rebuild and repainted it will be going on this machine for testing. I expect to get close to 3.5 kW peak from it with the 3.5 meter rotor on it.

I do all my welding on heavier steel with a Lincoln 225 amp AC/DC welder powered with our inverter. My MIG isn't quite big enough for heavier steel and I really prefer the old Lincoln 225 over the MIG anyway, even for welding lighter stuff. When I build lattice towers I use the MIG because it's faster and don't have to change rods all the time. But for bench welding I'll take the stick welder over the MIG every time.
--
Chris


Hey Chris can you email me the auto cad files
at andrewztn@gmail.com

[Chris Olson]

Hey Chris can you email me the auto cad files
at andrewztn@gmail.com

Hi Andrew,
I got involved in other projects, that old domain expired and somebody hocked it right away. But I do have all the information on the build on that turbine. It is in website format and I have a personal linux server I can run part time (don't run it all the time as it's a power hog and pulls about 500 watts).

I had thought maybe Hugh (Piggot) also had that info on his site but he has gone to a different format as well and I don't know where to find it on scoraigwind anymore.

I'll start that server up this evening, get the link up to it, and get you the link to it so you can download all the stuff for building it.
Regards,
Chris

[Chris Olson]

And BTW - that original 320 turbine is still running today. Never even put bearings in it yet. I lower the tower once a year in September, grease the bearings on it and look it over, and the rest of the year it just runs.

It's primary in the winter. In the summer I put a different power curve in it to slow it down and have the XW system shut it down if it's not needed. So it only runs on cloudy days now and then in the summer. It runs around the clock in winter.

[Andrew Zetina]

Hi Andrew,
I got involved in other projects, that old domain expired and somebody hocked it right away. But I do have all the information on the build on that turbine. It is in website format and I have a personal linux server I can run part time (don't run it all the time as it's a power hog and pulls about 500 watts).

I had thought maybe Hugh (Piggot) also had that info on his site but he has gone to a different format as well and I don't know where to find it on scoraigwind anymore.

I'll start that server up this evening, get the link up to it, and get you the link to it so you can download all the stuff for building it.
Regards,
Chris


Thanks so much Chris. Will look forward to the link this evening

[Chris Olson]

Thanks so much Chris. Will look forward to the link this evening

Hi Andrew,
This link should work, if it doesn't please let me know
http://chriskristin.dlinkddns.com/windpower/

I'll try to leave that server running for the next 24 hours or so. If you have a way to download the pages of the website and maybe save them as PDF. And there is a downloads page with power curves for many different configurations of the turbine. Those are all CSV files to load into the Classic controller. Probably download all those too.

Sorry I don't have a better setup. Like I said, the old domain name expired and some opportunist grabbed onto the domain right away and hocked it. But I have kept this stuff archived in the hopes of eventually coming up with a better place to put it back on the web.

I think Hugh had it on his website at one time, but he has changed formats now and mostly retired from teaching wind turbine schools. He has other people that do that now. Hugh and I talk yet all the time and a good friend of ours in the U.K., Les Vincent, passed away a couple years ago after a long battle with cancer. Les was known as "Flux" on the Otherpower forum for years and was a endless resource of knowledge on axial flux generators and turbine theory. Les' passing was a reminder that life is too short and my wife and I decided to pursue our dream of touring every continent on the planet that we can by motorcycle, while we are able to do it and enjoy it. We are avid motorcyclists, so have sort of moved on to another phase in our lives.
Regards,
Chris

[Ralph Day]

Good to see you back Chris.

Since you were last around my SWWP H80 self destructed for a final time in Dec 2014. I never even found all the bits and pieces. Insurance replaced with a Bergey XL1, Midnite 250...I put in a Clipper. Works great. I was so impressed with the Midnite controller I bought one for my solar setup too (rewired from 2panels x 6 to 4panels x 3).

Ralph