Skystream wind turbine.

[Kilted]

I caught a bug and decided to look into wind turbines to go with my solar panels. Not that I really need more power since my power bill is already negative. BUT shopping for new toys is fun!! So reading the documentation I find out my house is less than ideal location, like no way. I looked at a few other wind turbines but this one is head and shoulders above all others in system integration, easy of use etc. Besides their web site gives you all the information up front.

It is the only wind turbine I could find that has a built 240vac grid tie inverter; it looks like it is fully ready to go for battery less net metering. Web site says the Skystream 3.7 was specifically developed with suburbanites in mind who had a clear lot size of ½ acre. This wind turbine is already listed with California Energy Commission so it is rebate ready. (broken link removed)

Skystream 3.7
http://www.skystreamenergy.com/skystream/product-info/


-- Brandy

 

[kevinmoelk]

There was an article on wind generation in the last M.E. News magazine... maybe it was 2 issues ago. They covered the skystream and others. Can probably find the article on their website.

Kilted, what's your 20?

-Kevin

 

[Kilted]

There was an article on wind generation in the last M.E. News magazine... maybe it was 2 issues ago. They covered the skystream and others. Can probably find the article on their website.

Kilted, what's your 20?

-Kevin

Kevin,

California, in deep, darkest jungle of silicon valley. I do not know M.E. Magazine and they did not show up on a Google Search.

 

[kevinmoelk]

There was an article on wind generation in the last M.E. News magazine... maybe it was 2 issues ago. They covered the skystream and others. Can probably find the article on their website.

Kilted, what's your 20?

-Kevin

Kevin,

California, in deep, darkest jungle of silicon valley. I do not know M.E. Magazine and they did not show up on a Google Search.

LOL. Mother Earth News. Here's the link to the article: (broken link removed to http://www.motherearthnews.com/Alternative-Energy/2007-06-01/Improved-Wind-Power.aspx)

-Kevin

 

[wg_bent]

check these out also: http://www.pacwind.net/

 

[KeithO]

Brandy

Any form of tower is subject to stringent zoning issues. In many cases, the tower needs to be a certain multiple of its height clear of nearby structures and the property boundaries. On an 1/2 acre lot, the only way this may be possible (in many neighborhoods) is to have the tower in the center of the lot with no structure on the lot whatsoever. There are many places where any tower requires a permit and often requires agreement by all neighbors. All examples I have seen were rural.

To look at the low cost (rural) side of things, this is the best site I know of: http://www.otherpower.com/otherpower_wind.html Quite unique.

 

[Kilted]

check these out also: http://www.pacwind.net/

Yea, Im know about pacwind. That is one of the first I looked at 'cause of "Living with ED". After Digging around the web site my gut reaction was there something worng here as some very fundamental questions are not answered, like how do you connect to the grid. Some questions about towers are answered, but another question was - what about CA rebates? I looked on the CEC rebate site and not a single one of their wind turbines were listed, the company (pacwind) was not even listed!?!?!?!? I dug around the pacwind web site and found ONE manual. The power ouput connection shown was a PV charge controller charging a battery. I say's dispite the megabuck TV Stars on front page, these guys are NOT ready, avoid'em.

So I went looking else where and came up with the Skystream, not only is ALL information you need for inital evaluation available on the web site, ALL of the companies wind turbines are already listed on the CEC web site. The Skystream was only introduced last year and customer test installation went in last year. The point I'm trying to make here this is the only wind turbine "I" know of that is net metering ready out of the box, and was designed for use in suburb's were possible.

Tower issues, yes many. In my area there are very few homes that have the space or zoning that would allow a wind turbine. Us suburban folks will have to make due with roof top solar.

-- Brandy

 

[KeithO]

Open quote "
Breezy 5.5, A Reliable 5500 Watt Homebuilt Wind Turbine Generator.

Breezy 5.5 is our home-built 5.5-kilowatt wind turbine generator. Connected to the home power circuits, it provides power just like the electric company. When the generator is producing more power then we’re using the excess flows through a meter and onto the power grid. Yes, they are required to pay us for it.

An induction-motor generator like this must be connected to the power company to work. A source voltage is required to excite the stator in the motor. If there is a loss of incoming power the generator will stop producing and shut down (lineman love this feature). Unless we provide some other means to emulate incoming power this design will not allow us to operate in a stand-alone situation.

Idle Monsters: We’ve seen them there standing idle on the backside of a property. What happened to these generators? The plain and simple answer, cost and maintenance soon took the advantages away. Most of these generators built in the 70’s and early 80’s had initial costs from $15,000 to $40,000. They were 5- 25-kilowatt systems that were difficult and expensive to keep running. With complicated blade and pitch systems costing $5 to $6 thousand dollars to replace it didn‘t take many failures to sour even the diehards. They were also laden with specialized components that could only be obtained through the original manufacturer at very high prices. Often times these manufactures went out of business within a short time.

Simplify: Spending 200 times more on blades for a 5 to 7 percent performance increase doesn’t make much sense to me and probably not you either. We’ve come back to a more straightforward approach, build a simple efficient blade based on a proven engineered airfoil. Design a system large enough to offset the utility bill, that could be built as a home project made with off-the-shelf components so that it can be maintained without breaking the bank. We realize that we won’t be producing in a 3-4 mph breeze but we will at 8 mph and with the lift/drag characteristics of the blade design we’re still in the game with wind of 50 to 60 mph. In fact in a recent straight-line wind of 70mph, Breezy 5.5 didn’t shut down, didn’t quit, didn’t break, it just kept on generating power.

Maintenance: Keeping a turbine generator running shouldn’t have to be a second job. By the eliminating major sources of failure (blade pitch controls) we’ve made leaps in reliability. Incorporating a gin-pole in the support structure the 6 month check-up is a snap.

"close quote



http://www.prairieturbines.com/gglgatewy.htm

Grid tied 5.5kW wind generator that is based off a 3 phase motor. Several in operation.

http://www.prairieturbines.com/purchase.htm

Scroll down. The kit is about $6k excluding the tower, guy wires and cabling to the house.

This system will not provide power if the utility goes down. The situation with Sky Stream may be the same. Its all about running the meter backwards to build a big fat credit when the wind blows that you can use up when it is calm. It is a good supplement to a PV array.

 

[Kilted]

Keith & Kevin

I have been getting caught up on reading the web sites you referenced. Really interesting stuff, I'm as impressed with the home built low tech as I was with the high tech. Excellent web sites thanks for the reading.

I had no idea the homebuilts were so good, I thought they were stuck in the car alternator era.


-- Brandy