Innovative Wind Turbine From Australia

I am so impressed by this simple little idea. In Australia we all have little fans on our roofs to move air around in the hotter climates, this can probably be incorporated into those.

Unfortunately rooftop wind turbines are not much use. The basic problem is that there is very little wind at this level - you need to get at least 20 meters up to get any usefull quantity of wind. Power from wind is a function of the cube of the wind speed. Double the wind speed and you get six times the power. Wind close to the ground is a lot weaker than wind even a short distance up.
Nice idea, shame it won't work...

It might work here in Wellington: wind is not something we're short of!

I am afraid that annonymous is correct. The power produced will be miniscule so the cost per Kwh will be very high. The VAWT (vertical axis wind turbines) with off ground clearance or the highly elevated standard HAWT (horizontal axis wind turbines) that can benefit from better winds are more worthy of consideration for anyone really serious about getting into wind energy production.

Even if you could get good height for a wind turbine and produce power, it is not so easy to grid tie the power.

Our electric utility requires that not only the grid tie inverter but that all parts of the system to be UL certified and subject to utility inspectors. This means that you have to hire a certified electrician to do the installation and purchase equipment within the specifications of the utility company.

I have decided to take the battery route, even though it may not prove to be cost effective, as an intermediary measure to going off grid so that I do not have to be subject to the inspectors. The reason is that I can order my equipment from the company I wish and I can set it up myself. I plan to run some of my refrigeration on it to cut down on the Kw hours. Right now, the cost of electricity on the Big Island is $38/month for the utility company hook-up and then $0.1948/Kwh but this amount varies from month to month due to the cost of oil. Most of our electricity is produced from a thermal plant burning "sour" high sulfur oil from Indonesia.

I wish to become independent of our electric utility company sooner or later for two reasons. First, if the cost of oil should sky-rocket, we the customers in Hawaii will have increased rates. Second, I would feel a sense of security knowing that I am doing my best to provide power for myself and my family.

Some of the new equipment (controllers) can take power from both wind turbines and PV panels. I am starting off with wind generated power because it is less expensive than PV and I have concerns that PV cells might be easily damaged, though my fears may be unfounded. I have also read that there has been stealing of PV panels in California (27 panels worth $30,000 from one site) and criminality in the islands has been notorious for copper theft. Once theives learn the value of PV, they would not hesitate to make efforts in that direction; they have climbed roofs to steal copper tiles and have dug up cables along the highway providing electricity for the light poles. I think that roof mounted PV panels would prove no barrier.

So I have now taken the wind turbine approach and hope to set up a wind turbine with power to batteries in the next few months. Then, should the cost of PV come down, I will also consider adding this power on. I really just want to get some experience working with wind turbines right now.

But, getting back to the Australian design, I would suggest raising it up a bit and making the turbine much longer and wider in diameter. If two 40 foot poles were used with a turbine about three meters in length and 4 meters in diameter, I think that 2-3 Kw of power could be extracted with 15-20mph winds. However, this type of wind turbine must be cost competitive with others. A turbine for the sake of a turbine does not suffice. The real test is in the amount of power it will produce at identical wind speeds as compared to other turbines of equal cost.

adrianakau2aol.com

Give it a chance before u disappove !

Why noy put the turbine in the loft and guide the air into it?
We don't get a lot of wind here in south west France but when I open the small window in the small loo at the back of our house and close the door a howling gale results with only a low wind speed. The airflow is predominately from the west and our house faces south. We could fit several rotable cowls on the roof that would guide and then compress the air into a smaller diameter tube that would increase the wind speed and fit a turbine (or several) inside the roof rather than outside. Would this work?

this artical isnt about electrical power generation, it is about using the power of wind rather than electricity to produce/remove water from the air, this is a brilliant idea considering that 80% of the earths population relies on fossil water for survival. i personaly can live without electricity but unfortunately water no. ihave the feeling that this is the start of something huge! trust a fellow west aussie to think like this. imagine the drought relief with a few of these macines industrial sized turning the most barron of deserts into the most optimal of growing environs.

minerals arent the only thing australia has to offer the world, lucky country? for sure!!

i think this is a wonderful idea ane we should all have this

i think it is a good idea but i half agree with annonymous but it can depend on the height of the building. maybe if it was at-least 2 or 3 meters high it would definently work. but i also agree with the others, GIVE IT A CHANCE annonymous