Pmg Generator flying in Spain
We are living in Spain (refugees from the Austrian weather) far from "Civilisation" i.e. grid and public water supply, so we have to do with "homebrewed" energy. Being a complete greenhorn, I thought some solar cells plus load control and a car battery would mend these things, but with experience I found out I had to learn a lot about renewable power concepts before all was said and done.
In the course of things I bought a windmill from a non professional builder. But I was not satisfied with the performance, windmill and solar cells never brought what I had expected, either too much energy or batteries where empty....
I roamed the net and eventually found the "Otherpower Discussion Board"; it has become my most important website since.
My thanks and due respect too all who keep it going!
As a result, I bought a plan of the pmg generator from Hugh Piggott and built my first one.
The components: coils, magnets, pouring the resin, mounting the furling unit
The blades looked too complicated, especially because my English did not keep up ( this text here has been translated for me by my wife...). So I built blades from a 250mm diameter plastic tube. First tests gave excellent results (measured with a bicycle speedometer), tip speed ratio 1:6.
At the Test site: Day Night
Producing energy
So I put the windmill on a mast, it produced energy and we would have been happy together, but with the first storm the blades went, because I made a mistake when mounting them. The screws of the stator where a bit too long so the blades, bending from the wind, touched the screws and where torn to pieces, I only found some small parts of them, I have never seen any of the rest.
After that, I decided to give the wooden blades a try and (after a lot of swearing which are not to be translated) I managed to get a hang how the things where to be made (:"Do this again on the trailing edge.") And in the end I managed to finish the first blades.
The new blades mounted the builders(Jupp left) furling in heavy storm
Since they have been mounted, the windmill runs perfectly, 10m/sec= 10 amp, 15m/sec= 25 amp. These readings are not very exact, because ampere meter and aerometer are about 120m apart, the windmill being on a nearby hill. The cable from the hill to the house is an aluminium insulated power line diameter 25mm². My friend Jupp who is an electrician (I am a mechanic) helped me with the construction of the first windmill. After the first tests had performed so well we immediately built another one for him. Both of them work without problems. They are a superb complement to the solar cells. Today there is a storm raging, 36m/sec (~72mph), the windmills are running. The furling system is absolutely reliant.
Looking back, I have learned a lot about electricity, magnets, coils, batteries, electric controls, volts and watts, wood carving - in short: a lot of what you need to know to understand your homebrewed energy...
Please excuse if in our enthusiasm we have sent too many pictures. And many thanks to all of you of the "Otherpower Discussion Board" and Hugh Piggott. We appreciate your work very much!.
