| I put up a two blade rotor on the 24v 194rpm motor/generator wind generator that I've been experimenting with the last few months. The two blade rotor is an 8 ft diameter nylon rotor with what looks like a wimpy cast hub. So far it's been holding together nicely and in low winds actually provides enough speed to be able to charge a 24 volt system. This is a great improvement as the 7 1/2 ft 3 blade rotor I was using required a bit more wind to start charging 24 volts. It was fine for 12 volt charging. The TSR difference is very evident and it makes a difference for my system.
With every gain there is a price to pay. This one's no different. The cost is a higher start up wind speed due to fewer, thinner blades. There is enough resistance to movement in the motor/generator that it won't start up in a wind that would produce 50 - 100 watts if it were already running. I understand this is a common problem high TSR blades (like the air series of mini-turbines).
So... the question arrises if anyone has played with the idea of an electronic self starter. Coupled to an analog anemometer that produces a small voltage, it seems that it should be simple to couple that with a relay that bypasses the diode at a given voltage IF there is no voltage sensed on the wind genny side of the diode. Once the generator spins up past a certain speed (producing a certain voltage, say 10 volts ?) the relay opens again and the rotor either spins up with the wind or slows to a stop, waiting for the anemometer to send it another surge when the wind gusts again.
I don't know enough about the electronic components to design this from scratch, but it seems like it should be fairly straight forward. Any hints or further insights on this ?
Chuck |
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