Wind energy

[MaxR]

Hi,

This is my first real post here, and I am very pleased that it's about a topic that I truly love -- wind energy. I performed a search and couldn't find a similar topic here, but I am sure that many of you have heard about it, at least.

I wrote an article the other day and the pros and cons of wind energy, which you can read here. Let me know what you think.

I really believe in wind energy, although it has some disadvantages. But what doesn't?

What do you think about wind energy? Is that the future? Is that one of the options that will "kill" our dependence on fossil fuels?

[Stealth]

wind turbines

Wind is a viable source of free energy, but wind alone will not supply our energy needs, unless we give up our reliance on such things as hot water heaters, electric stoves, refrigerators, microwaves and electric washers and dryers. Wind can help supplement our other energy supplies, and even with solar and wind combined, we may have to cut back on some luxuries. We need not have to live like a caveman though, as there are other ways to help satisfy our energy cravings. I think a wind turbine is a great first start down the road to energy independence, and with added sources from solar and thermal, we could wean ourselves from coal and oil dependence. The biggest problem with wind is that everyone hasn't the land to install one. Cities where most energy is used is at a dissadvantage in obtaining areas to install these units. As a suburban homeowner, it is pheasible to erect one in the back yard of most residences, if local city ordinances will allow such a structure. Often, a height of 50 feet or more is best for wind production and some localities wont allow this. Good Luck. Stealth

[sebosfato]

The wind energy is a very good source of energy and should be explored as its free.

Wind energy until now was not very efficient as it had only 7% of efficiency caused by the fact that it don't capture the wind from all directions and have the costly design that the generator must sit up close to the helices this make the cost goes really high.

I Know the inventor that invented the wind turbine it have an 56% of efficiency as it use the wind from every direction so this is almost 10x more efficient than the 3 helices classic design. Another thing is that the generator can sit on the ground as the turbine have a vertical configuration. I'm representing this technology if you want contact me I'm negotiating licenses for few countries right now.

[morpher44]

space for wind

The biggest problem with wind is that everyone hasn't the land to install one.

I think what would be interesting is the idea of constructing not a HUGE turbine, but rather a matrix of tiny little pinwheel size turbines.
By going to a smaller scale like this, you could possibly install them around the roof and walls of a structure.
Each one may produce milliamps, but bring them to a circuit to
produce an alternating current tuned to some frequency where all could add their little contribution in a synchronized way, and you might have something.
Also, perhaps this wind energy could be utilized to ionize an antenna so that energy can be pulled from the antenna itself.

Another unexplored area for wind is harnessing it, not via inductive generators (magnets, coils), but rather by pzieoelectric pushing/pulling forces. Walls are just sitting there being pushed by wind, creating pressures. If a wall was able to convey its forces onto a pzieoelectric crystal capture unit, electrical energy could be extracted.

Wind can be utilized to move something massive -- like water --
to a higher elevation -- thus preserving that potential power -- storing it.
Later, you could bleed the energy you need.
On a personal home owner basis, it would make sense to have
a water tank (for emergencies), wind or solar to help in the filling
of such a tank .. which is up-hill or high relative to your ground floor.
As you consume the water, it could pass thru generators that extract
a bit of electricity. So this idea is one of making several systems inte-operate to produce multiple consumables for the home owner -- electricity and water.

Yes dryers use a HUGE amount of power to dry clothes.
A wind generator would not be able to power such a device.
The old-fashion clothes-line, used in ancient times should
be re-investigated? I think the patents for the clothes-line
have long since expired. :-)

[sturgeon]

The trouble with wind is that often there is none - but sometimes there is far too much!

There is always sunlight. If there was a law that forced builders to use solar panels instead of roofing tiles, every building would collect (some) power every day. The price of solar panels would plummet too!

s.

[sebosfato]

Price is not based on reality so until we have to pay for food we cant go green

[morpher44]

small scale wind

'Small wind' turbines blow onto rooftops | News Blog - CNET News

[Stealth]

wind turbines

These small wind turbines could offset the huge electric bills of utilities, I'm sure. Even the average homowner or apartment renter could benefit from such technology, if the price was not prohibitive. After more of these units are sold and used, maybe the costs would come down due to mass production. Any thing that lessens the cost of utilities is a winner, even if it takes some time to recoupe the cost of the units. Good Luck. Stealth

[MaxR]

These small wind turbines could offset the huge electric bills of utilities, I'm sure. Even the average homowner or apartment renter could benefit from such technology, if the price was not prohibitive. After more of these units are sold and used, maybe the costs would come down due to mass production. Any thing that lessens the cost of utilities is a winner, even if it takes some time to recoupe the cost of the units. Good Luck. Stealth

My words exactly. I completely agree.

[morpher44]

photovoltaic response curve?

I had an interesting thought, while watching the reflections of light dance on some water.

Suppose you have a photovoltaic material that had a response curve
that enjoyed a BURST of power only when first exposed to light, but tapered off as the light was left on the material.

With WIND power, you could mechanically create a source of flickering light quite easily to produce essentially an alternating current, with large power bursts from this material.

The search, therefore, would be for a new form of photovoltaic that prefers flickering light rather than steady light.

I don't know if others have thought of this, but certainly NATURE sort of works this way. Resonance is not easily sustained but prefers PULSING intervals to allow for a recovery time.

[gmeast]

my modest fiddling in wind energy

Hi all,

I had a brief fling with wind energy just a couple of years back. I recall I made some videos of my vertical wind turbine but never posted them on-line. Just after I built my turbine, I got distracted by the 'water spark plug' topic and went that way.

So here are some of my videos:
YouTube - gmeast's Channel

YouTube - gmeast's Channel

YouTube - gmeast's Channel

YouTube - gmeast's Channel

Enjoy,

Greg

[ashtweth]

Hi Greg!!! Yep Vertical axis is the way to go Bill Williams has a great open source design

[ashtweth]

Check this out might need some help form the French here, looks like the most efficient wind turbine
EolProcess.com - L'éolien qui produit plus car il capte plus

Here a good one, but there must be a battery bank in the base of the unit. Looks like a good design to based on the review of the video.
YouTube - 5,000 Watt VAWT Low Wind Portable Deployable

[gmeast]

Same thing

Check this out might need some help form the French here, looks like the most efficient wind turbine
EolProcess.com - L'éolien qui produit plus car il capte plus

Here a good one, but there must be a battery bank in the base of the unit. Looks like a good design to based on the review of the video.
YouTube - 5,000 Watt VAWT Low Wind Portable Deployable

Hey Ash,

Did you watch my videos? His has the same articulation as mine. The thing is I found the patent for one almost exactly as I built ... AFTER I built it. The patent is 4609827 and it expired due to non-payment of maintenance fees in 1994, so that makes it public domain now.

Has the French guy even built one yet? I connected by phone with an acquaintance of the inventor of that patent and he said the inventor never built one so I guess that makes me the only one to have ever built this kind of vertical wind turbine ... mmm.

Greg

[minoly]

wind vs bedini fusion

A while back we combined the window motor and the Bedini Monopole, then we had the window motor power the wheel and turned the monopole coil into a magneto generator. we added some blades to the bike wheel and got side tracked w/ other things before we were able to take it out for testing.

one could make a magneto generator powered by wind w/ the magnets on the outside of the wheel just like the monopole generator. there are many reasons for wanting the magnets on the outside of the wheel - added momentum, speed at the circumference....
alas Honeywell and several other large companies could be reading all of these threads and coming up w/ their own modifications :

Introducing the Honeywell Wind Turbine from EarthTronics

minoly