To choose the most optimal version of the wind turbine for the house, you need to know some features of the work of wind turbines, their advantages and disadvantages, as well as meteorological features locality. The construction of a wind turbine for a private house is a fairly large-scale undertaking, both in terms of money and labor costs, therefore it requires preliminary calculations and refinement of many factors.
Content
- Vertical wind turbine for home
- SOME FORMALITIES
- Components and calculations
- Optimal modes of use
- Problems during the construction phase
Vertical wind turbine for home
The need to install a wind turbine for a private house can arise in two cases: if a centralized there is no power supply at all or it leaves much to be desired, either because of the decision to significantly save on payment for electricity.
Wind is an ecologically pure endless source of energy that has been used by mankind for thousands of years. They began to use it to generate electricity a century ago, but not everywhere the wind has sufficient indicators that it was profitable to install a wind generator for the house.
Search for specialized sites with weather statistics, a visit to your local weather station, collection and verification of the data on the strength and direction of the wind at the site of the planned installation - all this will be of primary importance task.
If the local wind has an average annual speed less than 4-4.5 m / s (14.4-16.2 km / h), the wind turbine, most likely, seems to be unprofitable. It is best to install wind turbines on heights, coastlines, in the steppe - where there is a strong wind and there are no natural or artificial obstacles.
If there is a wind shadow from a hill, tall trees, you will either have to increase the height of the wind power generator, which significantly increases the cost of construction, or switches to other alternative sources to supply the house with heat and electricity.
SOME FORMALITIES
You should contact the local authorities and refine the list of requirements and permits that you need to receive. The maximum height of the structure, which will not interfere with the flights of small aircraft, the absence of interference for radio communications and television broadcasting, created a wind generator with metal blades, the maximum safe noise level, the consent of the neighbors to install the wind turbine not far from their homes - all this have to find out.
It will be offensive when built with your own hands and already operating the wind generator for the house will have to be dismantled or redo by court order. The more permissions you can collect, the better. Many problems can be avoided if the company, which will establish it, will deal with the issuance of permits for the wind turbine - but this is also additional costs.
Components and calculations
The cost of running varies widely, depending on the selected wind turbine design and the components used. There are two main types of wind generators - with a horizontal axis of rotation (must be located at a height, optimally 25−35 m) and with a vertical axis, which can be placed simply on the level land.
In addition to the generator itself for wind turbines with a horizontal axis of rotation, a rotor with blades, a reducer and a tail tail, as well as a protective cover are needed. All of this is mounted on a high mast. Since the mast is a rather massive and high structure, before it you will have to lay the foundation, and also secure it with additional stretching ropes.
In addition to the total price of the construction, the cost of installation is added with the help of a crane. To avoid the construction of a high and expensive mast, for small wind turbines are increasingly using options Vertical-axis structures that are capable of operating at lower heights with wind speeds from 1 m / s. Such systems are relatively new, therefore, unambiguous statistics of their operation are not yet accumulated. They give less electricity, but they are significantly cheaper and not so noisy, it is easier to make them with your own hands. The accommodation includes:
- an inverter for converting a constant current from a generator into an alternating one;
- a set of accumulators;
- disconnectors and circuit breakers necessary for redistribution of the received electrical energy and disconnection of the device in emergency situations or for repair.
If the mast can be built independently, then the electrical equipment and the wind turbine itself is advisable to buy serial, factory assemblies. However, folk craftsmen have repeatedly demonstrated examples of independent construction of wind generators for the house. The components are easy to find on the Internet or specialized technical magazines, but in this case, all Responsibility for the performance and safety of the built-in wind generator will lie only on host.
Obviously, with an increase in the diameter of the rotor blades, the height of the mast and the greater collected wind energy, the generated power increases, but the overall cost of the construction increases.
According to various estimates, the cost of building a small wind generator for a house is in the range of 2-8 thousand. dollars for 1 kW of electricity. If the house does not have a centralized power supply, a wind turbine will be cheaper than an independent laying of a power line or fuel for a diesel generator.
If, however, he was conceived as a means of economy, one should draw conclusions about his need for the house. By the way, already now the electricity generated by large industrial wind generators for 1 kW is cheaper than the electricity generated at classical thermal power plants. The cost of electricity on small wind generators is slightly higher, but in recent years it has been steadily declining.
If today the wind turbine seems unprofitable, you should not throw away the calculations made by your own hands - through some the time of the appearance of new models of generators and the change in tariffs for electricity can radically change the previous solution.
It is also worth watching the situation with the green tariff, which is applied in many countries. According to this tariff, the electricity generated by the house using alternative sources can be returned to the electricity grid, receiving additional payment for it. The appearance in the country of a green tariff or a change in its rate can significantly affect the time of purchase of the wind turbine and the economy it brings to the house.
Optimal modes of use
The wind blows unequally, and the increased generation of electricity with its help will rarely coincide with the periods of maximum consumption in the house. Therefore, it is desirable that it was possible to provide the necessary load and use all the excess electricity generated by the wind generator for the needs:
- water heating in the boiler;
- electric heaters supplementing the heating system inside the house;
- recharging the batteries of the electric vehicle.
All of them must be switched on automatically: with strong winds and low total energy consumption.
In the conditions of the Russian climate with a long cold winter and low wind speeds, the most energy-efficient and cheap is a scheme from a wind generator with a vertical axis of rotation, installed at the ground level or on a small mast 5-10 m high, raising it over the roof of the house and the edges of the fruit trees. The wind turbine is directly connected to a separate electric heater and a boiler inside the room, without current converters and accumulators.
It is quite possible to implement such a scheme with your own hands, without attracting installers. In this case, the wind generator generates heat for heating the house. Such a system is obtained self-regulating: a strong wind cools the house faster, but at the same time makes it possible for a tandem of a wind generator and an electric heater to heat the room better from the inside.
Problems during the construction phase
The main problem is noise in the range of 40-60 dB, which can interfere not only with the neighbors. If possible, if the configuration of the land plot allows, the wind turbine should be as far away from the house as possible. Optimally 200-300 meters. The main problems:
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Under certain operating conditions of the wind turbine or an unsuccessful construction of the mast, the wind turbine can emit infrasound, causing a feeling of fear and discomfort. - A high mast, which requires mandatory grounding and the presence of lightning power, as well as the presence of a signal lamp at the top for the safety of small aircraft.
- During the operation of the rotor, vibration is generated, therefore the mast of the wind turbine should be located separately, not touching the walls and roofs of the house or with other structures.
- The need for regular maintenance of generator parts, inspections and lubricant changes, which must be carried out at a height. Approximately every 10 years require replacement of blades and bearings, regardless of whether they are self-made or not. Such work is not always possible to perform with your own hands, and there is a need to involve specialists. The mast will also have to be painted and inspected regularly to avoid corrosion.
- Possibility of damage to the mast, blades and generator in case of hurricane wind or icing.
- The accumulators also require regular replacement once every several years, and they must be located inside the house.
- When choosing ready-made serial wind generators, you need to carefully read their technical characteristics - for different the manufacturer's output power, indicated in the product description and in its data sheet, is calculated according to various methods depending on from the strength of the wind.
- Small trees located not far from the installation site of the wind generator will eventually grow and begin to create obstacles for the wind.
Trends in the development of technology unambiguously indicate the prospects for use for full or partial supply of the house with electricity and heat various alternative sources: solar panels, wind generators, heat converters, new efficient materials for thermal insulation.
Inexpensive and efficient system for creating a fully energy-independent home from science fiction is gradually turning into a widespread technical solution, and the wind turbine can turn out to be one of the significant elements.
