Wind Turbine Taskforce: Update and Lessons Learned from Zambia Test Deployment

Wind Turbine Taskforce: Update and Lessons Learned from Zambia Test Deployment

Engineers without Borders Chapter Meeting21 September 2011

Seattle, WAHenry Louie*, Steve Szablya*, Vincent Van Acker**

*Seattle University, **Alstom Grid

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Dr. Henry Louie

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Chikuni Jesuit Mission

Goal

Determine technical and economic feasibility of using wind power for rural electrification of impoverished communities

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Funding Sources

• SU Global Grant: $9,524• SU Endowed Mission Fund: $6,000• Community Solutions Initiative: $3,000• Professionals without Boundaries: $3,000

Total Funding: $21,524

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Approach• Assemble volunteer team

Industry, academia, students • Start with existing Do-It-Yourself wind turbine

design• Build prototypes in Seattle• Assess feasibility and field test in rural

community• Redesign, refine and retest

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Case Study: Zambia +12 million people

• 25% have electricity• per capital energy use: 3.3% of USA

+8 million live in rural communities 50% of rural population have electronic devices

• 4% have access to electricity

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Case Study: Zambia

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N

N

NN

N

N S

S

S

S

S

S

terminals

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rotors

stator

hub

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Field Testing

• On-site in Chikuni, Zambia• Work with Jesuit Mission• Bring generator parts• Build tower and wind turbine blades

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ZAMBIA

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Wind Speed Measurements• Near continuous

readings from 8am to 6pm for 2 days

• Did not record during evening Safety Generally low wind

speed• July/August: highest

wind speeds

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anemometer

100

inch

es

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X Chikuni

Lusaka

Livingstone

230 miles

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X450 ft

Wind turbine location

Prevailing Wind

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Wind Speed Measurements

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0 5 10 15 20 250

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4

6

8

10

12

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instantaneous wind speed (mph)

occu

rrenc

esInstantaneous Values

Very highwind speeds!

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100 inches

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4 foot blades vs. 5 foot blades

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312

pAP C v

5 ft

4 ft

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Generator

Blades

Hub

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Generator assembly

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cows

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Furled Position Facing into the Wind

Performance Data

• Idle Speed: 11 mph• Cut-in (battery charging): 15 mph• Max RPM tested: 330 • Maximum instantaneous power output: 75 W• Continuous power output: 5 W• Blades were wrong size for generator

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The Market for Electricity• Cell Phone Charging:

With charger: 1000 Kwacha (US$ 0.20) With shop charger: 1500 Kwacha (US$ 0.30)

• Car Battery Charging: 2500 Kwacha (US$ 0.50) Charged overnight

• LI cellular phone battery capacity: 5 Wh Cost per Wh: US$ 0.04

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Back-of-envelope calculation:• Village size: 1000 people• Percent with cellular phones: 15• Charge Frequency: 1/week• Charges per day: 21• Energy required: 105 Wh per day• Wind turbine capacity factor: 15%• Wind turbine size: 30 W• Income: US$4.20/day• Payback time on $500 investment: 120 days

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700W Wind Turbine Costs• Pipe: $78• Wood: $13• Wire: $0.32/m x 250m = $80 • Magnets*: 24 x $15 = $360 • Resin*: $80 • Hardware*: $130• Rectifier*: $7• Battery: $125• Metal Parts*: $450• Electrical*: $20

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* Price in the U.S.

Total: US $1343

Cost Considerations

• Does not include tools, labor• Price of rare earth magnets increasing and

volatile• Resins, magnets not easy to find• Too big, expensive• Micro loans generally are $500 or less

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Lessons Learned• Very location dependent

Best energy source Prices/availability Expertise Economics Tower

• Most components can be found locally, prices are usually more expensive than in U.S.

• Feasibility of blade and tower construction

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Future Plans• Design 100 W wind turbine• Engineer safe, secure tower solution• Work with local community• Promote as a business opportunity

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0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00Time [ms]

-20.00

-15.00

-10.00

-5.00

0.00

5.00

10.00

15.00

20.00

Y1

[V]

0.00

25.00

50.00

75.00

100.00

125.00

Mov

ing1

.Pos

ition

[deg

]

Maxwell3DDesign2XY Plot 1 ANSOFT

Curve Info Y Axis

Moving1.Position Moving1.Position

InducedVoltage(A_Phase) Y1

InducedVoltage(B_Phase) Y1

InducedVoltage(C_Phase) Y1

Acknowledgements• Fr. Bert Otten, S.J.• Steve Szablya, PE• Carmen Cejudo• Dino Go• Ayesha Pirbhai• Josh Peavler• Karim Farraj• Byron Lynch

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Questions?45

Learn More

• Become involved! Email: vincent.van.acker@alstom.com Email: louieh@seattleu.edu Email: szablyst@seattleu.edu

• http://communitysolutionsinitiative.org/

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S C I E N C E A N DE N G I N E E R I N G

Henry Louie, PhDAssistant Professor

Department of Electrical andComputer Engineering901 12th Avenue, Bannan 219P.O. Box 222000Seattle, WA 98122-1090www.seattleu.edu

Tel: (206) 398-4619Fax: (206) 296-5962louieh@seattleu.edu

COLLEGE OF

Videos• Raising The Turbine in Chikuni, Zambia(255.5M)• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qOQk6gl7O8 • Wind Turbine and Electrical Setup in Chikuni, Zambia(27.1M)• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EO38Mo_WJdk • The Wind Turbine Spinning in Chikuni, Zambia(57.87M)• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQ9U7uz8onk • Electric Braking During High Speed Operation in Chikuni, Zambia(59.45M)• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faBwLgE4NE0 • Alternate View of the Turbine Configuration from the bottom of Dam in

Chikuni, Zambia(53.72M)• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qv4B7zy08w

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