where to get wind turbines and other questions

[akane]

I've decided it's well beyond my capacity to build a wind turbine and I doubt the local hardware or feedstores have such things. So where do you get one and does it cost a fortune to have one shipped to you?

Also I have no idea what I need. All I want is to produce enough power for a few light bulbs and heated bowls or rabbit waterers for my chicken coops which are about to turn in to rabbit pens. My chickens just got wiped out for the 3rd time this year. I'm tired of starting over and killing off or relocating one predator after another. Until I can build fort knox I'm sticking with things that stay in the building.

 

[mamagoose]

Well I found this. I don't know how affordable you would consider it but it sounds like it could fit your needs.

http://envirosponsible.com/Wind_Generators.html

 

[patandchickens]

It would almost certainly be cheaper, simpler and more workable simply to reduce your rabbitry power needs as much as possible and then run things off deep-cycle batteries that you recharge off household current (in the house). (You would need the batteries and charge-controller equipment *anyhow* if you did the wind turbine thing).

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[xpc]

It would almost certainly be cheaper, simpler and more workable simply to reduce your rabbitry power needs as much as possible and then run things off deep-cycle batteries that you recharge off household current (in the house). (You would need the batteries and charge-controller equipment *anyhow* if you did the wind turbine thing).

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

You sure can take the wind out of a mans sail - but then again you are 100% right.

 

[Icu4dzs]

Wind turbine project now in full swing. Haven't figured out how to upload pictures onto this site, but when I do it will be fun.

Tower is now constructed and almost ready to mount the turbine (Whisper 500) which is capable of producing 500 KwH/month. Sure hope it stays true to that figure since we have so much wind here.

Had a small set back after putting that alignment pin in the mast. The 5 inch pipe required to mount the turbine became "out of round" after welding a short piece of it onto the 4 x 6 inch schedule 80 mast (23.49 lbs./foot) (Not a light piece of steel to be sure to compare with 14.28 for schedule 20 pipe (5 inch). So I have to re-build the last two feet of the mast so the turbine thimble will fit into the pipe. Got that going on now.

N.B. Moving a 956 lb mast of steel 14 feet in the air is a LOT easier than moving it 2 inches. Go Figure!

Got the batteries out of the boxes (24 of them) 300 AMP/hr each. AGM batteries. Started connecting them in series, and then have 3 groups of 48 volt batteries to pump into the power distribution boxes and from there to the inverter on the way to the light bulbs.

The solar panel supports started going up yesterday. I'm attaching them to the quonset hut style building I use for a tractor shed/machine shop and since it is assembled with large bolts, I am just adding my support brackets to those buildings as a way of getting them on what amounts to a roof...since the whole building is one half of a cylinder. The solar panels should produce about 375 Kwh/month so between the two systems, I should be able to keep the batteries charged both day and night. We'll see.

Big enough system to match my entire usage I hope.

 

[merlinraj]

Wind systems also consume fossil fuels when the wind is above the safe operation limit by placing power on the generators to prevent the blades from turning. They also consume power for a few minutes while starting to get the blades to the correct speed and sync with the grid. Additionally, fossil fuel is consumed by those generating stations operating at idle to compensate for wind variations. Despite these consumptions, wind is still a net provider of energy and they will generate more than they consume.

 

[chrissum]

Have never used this company thou a neighbor has but enjoy looking at the their gear:
http://store.mwands.com/