Turbines and Towers

7/29/2019 Turbines and Towers

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Futurenergy Upwind Turbines

Build and operate your own small scale Wind Turbine

Incorporates New, unique Permanent Magnet Generator


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Maximum power on a minimum budget

Futurenergy Ltd 2005 www.futurenergy.co.uk2


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Introduction

With the rapid increase in interest surrounding renewable energy overrecent years, we have put together a straight forward set of plans on howto build a small scale wind turbine for home/work purposes using off-the-

shelf easy to find parts. It struck us that most DIY wind turbine plans relyon the user carving their own blades, or winding their own generators, andthis simply puts most people off. We realise that not every DIY enthusiasthas access to welding equipment or other specialized gear required tofabricate the parts normally associated with making a successful andreliable wind turbine. It is for these reasons that we have developed theseplans.

This manual covers all aspects of installing a Futurenergy small-scaleturbine, capable of producing up to 1000W in 12.5m/s wind speeds, andassumes a reasonable level of DIY competency in its instructions. Wehave provided details of how to manufacture all the parts necessary to

build your turbine tower, and have assumed that the DIY builder will haveaccess to a range of standard power and hand tools, including a powerdrill, hacksaw, spanners and screwdrivers.

Several of the parts described in this manual can be constructed indifferent ways, and using different materials to those suggested. We havedone this to allow the constructor to utilise parts that they have availableto them already, and this is what makes our designs so versatile, yetsimple.

By following these instructions, you should be able to commission yourFuturenergy turbine in less than two days. All Futurenergy turbines arebased on a completely new and unique range of Permanent MagnetGenerators, developed in the UK, and set to become a new standard insmall scale wind power generation for the years ahead.

We recommend that you read these plans in their entirety prior toembarking on any construction. You should familiarise yourself with eachstage of construction, and be fully aware of any warnings or risks that maybe involved throughout.

Should you have suggestions on how we could improve these plans forfuture builders, please contact us at [email protected] where we will

be happy to receive them.

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Warnings and Safety Notices

Wind turbines should be considered as a serious piece of engineeringmachinery, and as such, should be treated with extreme care and respectwhen constructing, maintaining and operating them. The turbine blades

themselves are sharp, flexible and generally unbreakable, and can causeserious personal injury. The power generated from these wind turbinescan inflict electric shock, burning and serious personal injury, and as suchyou should treat all electrical parts as potentially lethal, as you would withmains electricity found in your house/work.

Children should not be allowed to play with these turbines, since seriouspersonal injury and even death could occur. Some parts are heavy, andare mounted high in the air where they pose the potential of becoming afalling hazard in fault conditions or in high winds, and as such, everyeffort should be made to keep a safe area free from people, animals,buildings and vehicles around your turbine at all times.

You will be required to maintain your turbine, and will have to carry outperiodic repairs on it. As a result, this will mean tilting your tower down toground level on occasions, which should be carried out with the assistanceof at least two other fit and able people. Your turbine should NEVER berun without a load connected to it. This could result in the blades breaking,your tower collapsing, bearings being destroyed prematurely,electrocution, personal injury and even death. Turbines require a load tobe present to operate within their safe limitations, and the importance ofthis cannot be overstressed.

Futurenergy Ltd accepts no responsibility or liability in any formwhatsoever, either directly or indirectly, as a result of your use of theseplans. Since we have no control over what you the constructor doeswhen carrying out the instructions described in these plans, we cannot,and will not, be held responsible of any losses, damage to persons orproperty, injury to persons or animals, or any consequential lossesoccurring from your use of these instructions.

All material, graphics and text are the copyright of Futurenergy Ltd, andthe use of these plans is based solely on the understanding that you willnot attempt to sell in part or in whole any aspect of them to any thirdparties or businesses, and that you agree to use them for your own

personal use only. It should be understood that any breach of ourcopyright will result in action intended to recover any lost costs, businessand reputation, as a result of these terms and conditions being breachedin part or whole.

On a lighter note, we do hope that our turbine, and these plans, will helpyou to begin to enjoy the benefits of joining all those who have embarkedon their renewable energy journey, and that you find them both useful andinformative.



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Index

Page 5-8 Tower Base Covers all aspects of making a tilt-uptower

Page 9-10 Guy Anchors Creating secure guy wire anchorpoints

Page 11-13Guy Wires Securing your turbine to the ground

Page 14-15The Turbine Choosing the correct one for yourapplication

Page 16 The Blades Assembling the blades to the hub

Page 17-18 Turbine Assembly Bolting it all together

Page 19-22 Battery ChargingWhen to use a charge controller

Page 23-24 Performance What to expect from your turbine

Page 25-28 Data Collection Collecting data from your turbine

Page 29 Completed Turbine



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The Tower Base (preparation)

Your turbine will produce more power the higher it is mounted in the air.In practical terms, this means positioning your tower in an elevated site,clear of obstacles and buildings, to a height which is most practical in your

circumstances. When choosing a site, you should be conscious that yourturbine will produce noise, which will increase in level with wind speed,which may be audible by either yourself or your neighbours. We suggestthat your tower should be constructed using a standard galvanized steelscaffolding pole, available from your local scaffolding supplier. These comein lengths up to 6.2m and should cost you no more than 20 - 30including delivery. This length of pole is an ideal size to mount a smallturbine on, since it is short enough to work with manually, while being longenough to position your turbine in relatively clear air.

To find the site that best suits your turbine, you must consider the spacearound your tower. The scaffolding pole will have to tilt up into position,

and will therefore have to tilt down to allow you to carry out maintenanceof the turbine itself. In practical terms, you should leave a space aroundyour tower base equal or greater than 1.5 times the tower height. For a6.2m tower, this would represent a space of 6.2 x 1.5 = 9.3m around itsbase. Clearly not everyone has this area of spare space to utilise in thisway, so it is important to create enough space to allow the tower to tiltdown without any risk to other buildings or people.

The ideal site for your tower will be on an elevated piece of land, free fromtrees and buildings, and in an area which satisfies the safe zonementioned above. Dont position your tower next to a building, or where itwill be shielded in any way from the prevailing wind. If in any doubt thatyour site doesnt have enough wind for a turbine, consider buying ananemometer before building.

Once you have located the ideal position for your tower, you must preparethe ground for mounting the base, and guy anchor points. Level theground where possible to make positioning and measurements simpler.Place markers in the positions described overleaf in Figure 1 to determinewhere the tower centre and 4 guy anchors will be. Starting in the centre,position a marker to indicate the centre of the tower. Bear in mind thedirection that the tower will tilt in order to correctly position the anchorpoints. Measure 3.5m from the tower centre point to anchor point 1 and

place a marker. Measure 3.5m from the tower centre and position themarkers for anchor points 2,3 & 4. In order to ensure that the anchorpoints form a square, measure from anchor point 1 to 2, and compare thismeasurement to the distance between points 1 & 3, as shown in Figure 1.

These distances should be equal, at 4.95m. Repeat this process withmeasurements from points 2 & 4, and 3 & 4, which should also measure4.95m. This process may take you some time, and can often getfrustrating, but is worth while spending the time on, which will makefuture aspects of the construction simpler.



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Positioning the Tower & Guy Anchors



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The Tower Base (construction)

This base uses parts available from your local Steel Stockholder, and forthose who dont have one, an alternative build using parts from your B&Qstore, or DIY supplier. The main elements of this base involve the use of

600mm concrete slabs (50mm thick), 2 pieces of 60mm x 60mm angleiron, 150mm long (from steel stockholder) OR 2 heavy duty butt hinges150mm x 100mm (B&Q or DIY store). You will also be required to drill 4holes in each concrete slab, and will therefore need a 10mm masonry drillbit and a hammer action electric drill. The angle iron, or hinges, should bepositioned 50mm apart as shown in Figure 2 below, and should be boltedthrough 4 slabs using 4 lengths of 10mm threaded rod, available fromB&Q, with 10mm Nyloc nuts and washers to secure, both top and bottom.By making a base in this manner, the user can decide how many concreteslabs are required to give a secure and sound footing for the turbinetower. In practice, at least 4 slabs should be used for this purpose. Foradded stability you may wish to offset each slab by rotating every second

one through 45 degrees to form a stepped concrete block. This will gripthe surrounding soil more securely as the slabs settle into position throughtime. Drill two 10mm holes in the vertical parts of the hinges or angle ironin the position shown, which will form the bottom pivot point of the tower.



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Positioning the Tower Base

Once youve constructed your tower base, the mounting and positioning ofit is very important, as this is what will give the tower its main stability.

Your concrete base should be mounted in the following way. Dig a squarehole, (70cm on each of its sides), with the centre of it at the tower centreposition marked out earlier. This hole should be deep enough to take yourconcrete slab block, and so should be at least the depth of 4 slabs asmentioned earlier. You will need some assistance to manoeuvre theturbine tower mount into position within the hole you have just prepared.Concrete slabs are very heavy, so should not be lifted unaided. The use ofa good spade or a pick axe will make this job simpler. Once the slabs havebeen positioned into the hole, ensure that the butt hinges (or angle irons)align with the Anchor 1 position marked out earlier. This is to ensure thatthe scaffold tower will tilt down in the correct direction. Fill thesurrounding ground around the slabs with hard packed earth and clean off

the top surface of the top slab and check it for level using a spirit level.(adjust as necessary)

Your base is now ready to mount the scaffold tower to it. To prepare thescaffold tube for mounting, drill a 10mm hole through the tube, 20mmfrom what will be the lower end of the tower. This will be the main pivotpoint for the tower and it is important to make a reasonably good job ofdrilling this hole through the centre line of the tube. With the hole drilled,lift the scaffold tube into position and lay it flat on the ground in thedirection that you wish it to lay when in the down position. The end ofthe tube with the 10mm hole in it should be positioned at the centre pointof the turbine tower base, between the two 10mm holes in the butt hinges(or the angle irons). Push a 10mm bolt through the turbine tower base,through the scaffold tube, and secure it into position using a 10mm flatwasher and a 10mm Nyloc nut. Tighten the 10mm nut and bolt assemblyuntil it is reasonably tight. The tower must be able to tilt up and downwith relative ease, so dont over tighten this nut/bolt.

At this stage you should consider resting the top end of the tower pole ona workbench or other suitable stand since this will make it easier to fitand maintain your turbine, and will protect the blades and tailfin fromtouching the ground or being damaged when your tower has beenlowered.



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The Guy Anchors

In order to keep your tower upright in all wind conditions, it is vitallyimportant to provide very secure anchor points for the guy wires to attachto. These instructions show a simple way of creating the four anchor

points for your guys, and they use materials which are readily availablefrom your local B&Q or DIY store.

You will need twenty four concrete slabs (600mm x 600mm x 50mm asbefore), four 10mm threaded rods (1m long), eight 12mm repair washers(these are large diameter washers with a 12mm hole in the centre), eight10mm Nyloc nuts, four 10mm standard nuts, eight 10mm washers andfour short lengths of heavy galvanized chain. The heavy chain shouldhave links which are large enough to pass a 10mm bolt through them,with little room for manoeuvre. See Figure 3 for example.

Mark the centre of each concrete slab and drill a 10mm hole in them using

a hammer drill. Using a hacksaw, cut 4 pieces of your 10mm threadedrods into lengths which are long enough to pass through 6 concrete slabs,leaving 100mm of the rod showing. Thread a 10mm Nyloc nut on to oneend of the threaded rod until around 10mm of thread is protruding fromthe end of the nut. Drop a large diameter repair washer (or alternativeheavy washer of your choosing) down the threaded rod until it butts upagainst the Nyloc nut.

The threaded rod will pass up through the centre of each of the 6 concreteslabs, to form a very heavy concrete anchor block. Pass the open end ofthe threaded rod up through 6 concrete slabs and place a 12mm repairwasher and 10mm nut over the top of the rod and tighten down. Place a10mm washer over the threaded rod and take a short length of the heavygalvanized chain (around 30cm in length is ideal) and place the end linkover the threaded rod protruding from the concrete anchor block. Place a10mm washer above this chain link and finally tighten the remaining Nylocnut on to the threaded rod. This will trap the heavy chain in position atthe centre of the bock of concrete slabs. Repeat this process for theremaining 3 anchor blocks. These heavy concrete blocks will form thebasis of the guy wire anchors, and you must now position them inaccordance with the markers you measured out during your sitepreparation stage.

Dig out the earth around the centre points of each anchor point location,to a depth of 40cm. Ensure that the holes are square, and are larger thana 600mm slab. With assistance, place your concrete anchor blocks intothe holes youve dug, and level them to just under the surface of thesurrounding ground. Fill the free space around the outer edges of theconcrete anchors with some of the soil removed during the holepreparation. You might like to use a garden hose to wet the soil that youare placing around the slab anchors. By wetting the soil youll be able tocompact it to form a much harder material than you would be able to ifyour soil is dry.

Position the concrete anchors with a flat side facing the centre point of the

tower itself. Since the concrete slab anchors are extremely heavy, youmay find it easier to construct the anchor blocks in the holes youve dug,



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by laying one slab with its threaded rod in place within the hole, andplacing each of the other 5 slabs on top of it until youve laid all 6. Thiswill avoid having to manoeuvre the very heavy concrete anchor block of 6slabs, even if you do have assistance. It is also suggested that youdeliberately rotate every second slab around 45 degrees such that astepped block of slabs is created. This will grip the surrounding soilbetter than a cuboidal block would, and is therefore more secure.



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The 30cm lengths of chain should be laid out on the top slab surface,pointing towards the centre of the turbine tower. These chains will beused to allow for adjustment and alterations to the guy wires themselves,so should point in the direction of the tower base. If youve alreadytightened the anchor point nuts too much, then youll have to slacken thetop nut and swivel the chain links round to point in the correct direction.Figure 3 below shows a single anchor point and how it is fastened to theconcrete slabs. This image shows a smaller slab type, which weighs muchless than a 600mm concrete slab, so would have to use 15 of them to formeach anchor point. It is this flexibility that you should keep in mind whenusing the materials available to you. Dont underestimate the weight ofthe anchor blocks that are required, and where possible always err on theside of safety by adding as many blocks to these anchors as is practical.

Figure 3



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The Guy Wires

Your tower will only stand upright if it is guy wired to the anchor pointswhich youve now put into position around the tower base. Again we havechosen materials for the guy wires that are available from your local B&Q

or DIY store.

You will require four 8m lengths of plastic coated 4mm wire cable (orheavier cable if you can source it), sixteen wire cable clamps (these areU shaped), four cable tensioning devices (heavy duty ones), 30cm ofheavy galvanized chain (with a link gap of just over 10mm), a 10mm bolt(75mm long), two 10mm washers and a 10mm Nyloc nut. These items areshown in the pictures of the tower guys shown below.

Using a tape measure, measure down 1.5m from the top end of your

scaffold tilt-up tower. Using a 10mm steel drill, drill a hole through thecentre line of the scaffold pole. Wrap the 30cm heavy chain around thescaffold pole in the area of the hole that youve just drilled. Pass the10mm bolt with one washer in place through the chain links and thescaffold pole and place the remaining washer and Nyloc nut on to the endof the bolt. This will trap the chain around the scaffold pole on both sides,and with the nut and bolt tightened, will form a very secure series ofpoints where your guy wires will be secured to. Cut off any unused linksfrom the open end of the chain with a hacksaw.

Take the end of one of the four lengths of plastic coated wire rope and

pass it through one of the chain links now attached to the scaffold pole.Form a double loop arrangement as shown in the diagram above and affix2 of the cable clamps to the steel wire as shown (U part of the U clampshould be on the tail, with the clamp on the live part of the guy). Thecable clamps should be affixed to the steel wire with a spacing of around10cm, as shown, which will prevent the wire from becoming slack in thefuture due to the clamps sliding along the wire. When selecting whichchain link to pass the steel wire though, bear in mind which guy wire willattach to which ground anchor point. Choose the chain link that will beclosest to the ground anchor point for that particular guy wire. This willavoid unnecessary twisting of the guy wires around the scaffold tower,when upright. Repeat this process for the other three guy wires. You will

now have secured the top ends of your guys to the tower, and will now beready to tilt your tower up for the first time.



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The Guy Wires : Final Fixing

Now that your tower is ready to be tilted up into position, you will need toadopt the services of four other individuals. Before tilting your tower upfor the first time, make sure that everyone giving you a helping hand

understands their role in this process. Assign one guy wire to each of 4people and explain to them that their role is to ensure that they keep avery secure and tight grip on their particular guy, and that their mainobjective, collectively, is to keep the tower vertical once it is fully upright.

Starting from the end of the scaffolding pole furthest from the centreanchor, lift the tower and walk it up till it is fully upright. You should findthis fairly straightforward, since theres no heavy weight (no turbinegenerator) in position at the top of the tower. Once upright, and with eachhelper now holding the 4 guys securely, you can begin to create the 4adjustable anchor points for your tower.

In no particular order, take a guy wire and pass it though the eye of oneof your adjustable tensioners. Form a loop in the wire as shown in thepicture below and affix two cable clamps as you did with the tower guywires. Allow enough length in your guy assembly to hook the open hookend of the tensioner on to one of the chain links which form the groundanchors. Try to give yourself enough adjustment in your tensioners andanchor chains to make sizeable adjustments to the tower position.



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Repeat this process for each of the other three guy wires until all fourhave been hooked on to their respective ground anchors. Your tower willnow be relatively vertical, but will require fine adjustment to make it standtrue. Using a spirit level positioned against the scaffold tower tube, adjusteach of the four tensioners until your tower stands vertical. It is well worthstanding back from your tower at this stage, not just to admire your work,but to gauge whether it appears vertical or not, compared to thesurrounding land/buildings etc. A small spirit level is not really veryaccurate when it comes to plumbing a 6.2m scaffold pole, and your eyewill tell you what final adjustments to make.

Once youre happy with the position of your tower you should tape orcable tie the three guy tensioners at anchor positions 2,3 & 4 to theirrespective chain links at the ground anchor points. The three guys whichshould be secured in this manner are the ones which will slacken when thetower is lowered. By securing the hooks of these tensioners in this way,you minimize the risk of one or more of them slipping off their respective

anchor chains when the tower is raised and lowered. Only one guy wirewill be the main controlling guy (anchor 1), and this should be left alone atthis stage.

To lower your tower, simply slacken the main guy wire (anchor 1 positionin your original measurements) by untwisting the cable tensioner andunhook it from its ground anchor chain and walk the tower down till itson the ground. This process is really easy if you have someone elsekeeping the main guy wire tight as you walk the tower down, and takesmost of the weight and effort off you. You may have access to a strongwinch which could be used to raise and lower your tower, and if adoptingthis method, you should provide a very secure anchor point for your winch

to attach to. As your tower lowers to the ground, the strain on your winchwill become very great indeed, and you will require a winch which is ableto lift and lower up to 1.5tonnes. Do not use a boat winch, since these aredesigned for pulling only, and cannot be used safely for lowering a turbineto the ground.

Should your tower fall, it is vital that nobody is standing under where it willland, as it will probably be travelling at 30+ mph by the time it hits theground. This would cause serious injury and could result in death. Dontunderestimate the energy stored in a turbine tower, and never takeunnecessary risks when working with them.

Its a good idea to drop your tower down on to a workbench or a trestle orsomething similar (2m or so from the end), which keeps the tower at anangle to the horizontal, and makes it easier to work on the generator andblades as a result.

You have now successfully made your first tilt-up tower, without usingspecialized tools, welding gear or grinding equipment.



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The Turbine

The main decisions at this stage will be based on what you intend to useyour free power for. If you wish to charge 12V battery banks then youwould ideally like a turbine that produces a good output at 12V, and

similarly youd want to do the same for 24V, 36V or 48V battery banks. Atpresent, there are 3 different turbine generators available in the rangethat make ideal power houses for small scale applications. These turbinesare of a new and unique design, and do not incorporate the alternatorstyle of generators normally associated with small DIY turbines. As aresult, our turbines dont require to rotate at very high speeds in order togenerate power. We see this as an advantage, both in noise reduction,and general bearing wear.

The Wind Turbines in the range are:-

FE1012U. Available from Futurenergy Ltd, and capable of producing600W in 12.5m/s winds into 12V battery banks.




All 4 turbines include low RPM 3-Phase Brushless Permanent MagnetGenerators and produce their rated output at a much lower rotationalspeed than alternator style generators. These PMGs have been designedspecifically for the turbines described in these plans, and have beenextensively tested by us, in order that we can produce realistic operationaldata for them. The range of PMGs currently available is set to increase, toinclude larger power output versions at a later date, and we will beworking closely with the manufacturer to bring you the best performancePMGs for future designs, still on a limited budget.

In order to mount your chosen turbine on to your new tower, you will needa turbine generator mount. All turbines are supplied part-built from thesuppliers, and so, you will only have minor assembling to do. The FE

Turbine ranges are supplied with an integrated downwind tail fin as part oftheir generator mount. The entire turbine mount is powder coated, andcomes pre-assembled in the model of your choice, complete with 3-PhaseBridge Rectifier installed and wired. The FE Turbines are being constantlyimproved, and the accessories available for them are being extended astime progresses. Please visit www.futurenergy.co.uk to keep abreast ofthe latest developments.

http://www.futurenergy.co.uk/http://www.futurenergy.co.uk/


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FE10xxU Wind Turbine Assembly

All Turbines will come partly assembled, leaving you to simply assembleand attach the hub and blades. All other parts will be pre-assembled,minimizing the construction youll have to carry out. No painting of anypart is required with these turbines.



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The Blades

We have carried out extensive testing of the set of blades supplied withyour Turbine. These blade sets come in multiples of 5 and aremanufactured from Glass Filled Polyamide (PAG), and have been designed

specifically for small scale turbines. These are available separately,should you wish to use them for your own turbine design. The blades aresupplied with a 5-blade hub which is anodized in black, and is verydurable. Assembly of the hub and blades requires the user to insert asmall pitch pin into the root of each blade, then positioning all 5 bladesinto one half of the hub, and finally placing the other half of the hub tomate with the assembly. All 6mm nuts and bolts are supplied to finalisethis assembly, and care should be taken to tighten all bolts fully, and inthe sequence described in the assembly instructions provided.

The completed rotor should be balanced by means of a static balance bythe user. Weights (washers) can be added to the securing bolts to achieve

a good balance. Ensure that the complete rotor is fully balanced beforeattaching it to the turbine generator.



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Turbine Assembly

All FE10xxU turbines can be purchased from www.futurenergy.co.uk(01789-451236) and come complete with anodized adapter plate, PMG,motor mount, tail fin and 3-Phase Bridge Rectifier, all pre manufactured

and assembled. When you receive your Turbine, it will include instructionsshowing you how to assemble and attach the blades and hub to theanodized PMG adapter. Take care to ensure that each blade is mountedas shown in the included instructions.

The Turbine assembly fits over, and is secured to, the end of the scaffoldpole tower and is free to rotate around it when the wind changes direction.Once youve fitted the turbine to the top of your tower you will now needto connect power cables down the tower tube to its base, where you willhave access to the power for battery charging etc. The cable we use forthis purpose was supplied by Halfords, and can be found in their Hi-Fisection. The cable used to pass the power down your tower should be as

thick and flexible as possible, and Halfords sell a range of such cabling,normally used with high powered in-car hi-fi systems. You will also findcable of a similar type in most car accessory specialist stores throughoutthe UK. You will require 2 lengths of 14m of this cable, preferably in twodifferent colours (red and black ideally) such that you can tell whichconnection is positive (red) and which is negative (black). Halfords alsosell various cable crimps and rings, which you may find useful whenmaking connection to the cables in the turbine housing. Battery terminalposts are also available from Halfords, and these will be required to makeconnection to your battery banks etc.

Tape the two 14m lengths of power cable side by side using insulatingtape (or duck tape) at intervals of 50cm or so, to form one 14m length ofdouble cable. Pass this cable down the scaffold tube from the generatorend, and make electrical connection to the turbine in accordance with theinstructions supplied with your kit. If you have difficulty in passing thepower cables down the scaffold tube, then you should attach a weight tosome string and drop this down the scaffolding tower to give you a pullthrough to attach the power cables to. The power cables should beanchored securely to the supplied generator power cables to prevent themfrom coming loose, or rotating when the turbine changes direction.Connecting and anchoring the power cables is described in the kitinstructions.

http://www.futurenergy.co.uk/http://www.futurenergy.co.uk/


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We have included the option of using slip rings in our design, to enhancethe performance in changeable wind directions. The turbine will rotatearound 360 degrees if required to do so by the wind, and this wouldnormally put a twist in the heavy power cables inside the tower tube. Theinclusion of the slip rings prevents this from happening. As long as thepower cables are secured properly at the top and bottom of the tower,then they should remain in good condition for the life of the turbine.Please ask for slip rings to be fitted to your kit if you feel that youd ratherhave them installed for you.

The ends of the two power cables, emerging from your tower, should bestripped and terminated in terminal clamps to suit your battery bank. It isvital that you connect the positive power output of the turbine to thepositive of the battery bank, and the negative to the negative batteryconnection. If you accidentally connect the power cables round the wrongway, then massive currents will flow up your tower, through the 3-PhaseBridge Rectifier and through the three windings of the 3-Phase Generator.

These currents will blow the weakest link in the electrical circuit, whichcould include the rectifier, or even the generator itself, rendering yourturbine useless.

It is for this reason that we suggest placing a 50A fuse in series with thepositive connection to the battery bank, which will blow if a fault occurs,and will protect the generator and associated electrical components. Thisfuse should not be placed within the generator housing at the top of yourtower, since youd need to tilt the tower down to change the fuse if it everblew.

With all connections made, you are almost ready to start using your

turbine for the first time. What you must now consider is what you intendto use your free power for. In most cases you will want to store theenergy produced by your turbine in batteries, so well now look at how thiscan be carried out.



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Battery Charging

You may intend to use your turbine to produce power for outbuildings,your home, or to operate garden lighting or water features. Whateveryour intended application you will almost certainly require to store the

power from your turbine in a battery bank of some sort. Advice can begiven as to the best selection of batteries for your application fromFuturenergy Ltd or from a wealth of websites containing this information.

As a general rule, the larger the battery bank, the more power you will beable to store from your turbine, and you should select the correct capacityand type of batteries to be used with your setup, after consultation. Withsmall turbines, it is sometimes not required that you incorporate any formof charge control device to take care of your batteries. An example of thiswould be if you had a very high capacity battery bank, where the chancesof overcharging them is much smaller than if the bank capacity was muchlower. In general, however, it is always advisable to incorporate some

form of charge control device into your setup.

A charge controller does what its name suggests, in that it controls thelevel of charge passing into your battery bank, and protects the batteriesfrom both overcharge and over discharge. Protecting your batteries in thisway is vital for the long term life of them, and the correct selection ofcharge controller is very important.

Powering other devices from your battery bank can be very straightforward, depending on what you would like to power. For example, youcould power low voltage lighting in outbuildings from a 12V system, using12V halogen lights from your local B&Q or DIY store. The thickness of thecabling required to do this will depend on how far your battery bank isfrom your outbuildings, and as a general rule, you should use as thick acable as you can for any low voltage power applications.

If you wish to run mains powered applications from your battery bank,then you should consider the following. There are several very costeffective mains inverters available from internet and shop stores acrossthe world, and you could, for example, operate your house lights and a lowpower ring main circuit in a power cut using a 500W to 1kW modified sinewave inverter. These inverters are very efficient, and produce power thatis suitable for running most household appliances. Some appliances, like

TVs and Hi-Fis may make a strange sound from their speakers and powersupplies, but most should operate well despite this. Fluorescent lightstend to give a noticeable flicker when running from a modified sine waveinverter, but they will still operate. The only thing youll find difficult topower will be your kettle, your electric cooker and an electric shower,which simply require too much power to be run from a small inverter ofthis type. You should always consult an electrical expert beforeattempting any connection to an existing mains circuit.

We would suggest that a low powered inverter (300W or so) be used tosupply lighting to outbuildings, since this will involve running normal1.5mm twin and earth cable to your buildings, and using standard

incandescent lights and mains switches for the wiring. This saves you



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running thick, heavy and expensive low voltage cables over any significantdistance.

Should you wish to use your turbine to give you hot water for householduse, or to provide a supplement to an existing heating system then youwill not need to invest in either batteries or charge controllers. If you havean immersion heater for example, then you can change the heater coil fora low voltage one, usually 48V, which will



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allow you to connect your turbine output directly to it. Since immersionheaters are fitted with thermostats, there is no need to control the powergoing to them, since theywill switch in and out of circuit as and when required. The only problemthat this can introduce is that there may be times where your turbine isrunning off load which can cause it to over-speed and become very noisyin severe wind conditions. To avoid this, you should consider connectingthe output of your turbine to an automatic power switch such that if theimmersion heater no longer requires power, the power is diverted toanother load. This will keep your turbine under continuous load, and willprevent it from being able to run at excessive speeds.

An alternative use for your free power could be to heat an outbuilding orpart of your house. This can be achieved by purchasing a resistive dumpload from any one of the many internet renewable energy companiesacross the planet. The dump load is simply a resistor housed in a suitablehousing to allow its heat to be dispersed into the surrounding atmosphere.

These loads can be connected directly across the output of your turbineand will produce more power as the wind increases. Its usual for yourhouse to loose heat more in higher winds, so this solution can compensatesomewhat to those extra losses.

Should you opt to store the turbine output in a battery bank, then youshould consider using Deep Cycle Gel batteries, or better still, CarbonFibre Batteries, which can be recharged over 1000 times (up to 1500times). Under no circumstances should you consider using Car Batteries asstorage devices, they are simply not designed for this kind of application.

You should house all your batteries and all associated electrical and

measurement devices in a suitable weatherproof housing near the base ofyour turbine tower. This will keep your cable runs as short as possible, andthus your losses will be kept to a minimum. The housing should be ventedto allow any excess gasses to escape form your batteries, should theyproduce any.



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The following diagrams show some of the different ways to connect yourbatteries together to form banks of batteries for voltages ranging from12V to 48V. Also shown is a charge controller, and how it should beconnected (follow specific instructions supplied with the one you select).

This 12V setup uses just one 12V Battery to provide power storage fromyour turbine. It incorporates one of the simplest charge control devices,called a diversion load (or dump load) regulator. The regulator will keepyour battery at a voltage between 12 and 15V, and any attempt toovercharge it will result in the extra power being diverted to the dump

load for consumption. In practice, the dump load could be an air heater, awater heater, or simply a bank of 12V lights.

This setup uses two 12V batteries to form a 24V system, and again uses a

dump load regulator to control the battery voltage.



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A revision of the standard 24V system just described is shown above. Thisuses four 12V batteries connected as two banks of 24V as shown. Eachbank of 24V is connected in parallel with the other, to double the capacityof power storage. In all cases, use identical batteries for each bank, anddo not mix types or capacity ratings, as damage and personal injury couldoccur.



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Turbine Performance

Once youve decided how your free power is to be used, and you haveconnected your batteries or other load to your turbine, you are now readyto tilt your tower up and begin to enjoy the benefits of it.

With the assistance of at least 2 other people, walk the tower up into itsvertical position and attach and tighten the main guy wire (to anchorposition 1). You will find it easier to have 2 people walking the tower upwhile the third person pulls on the main guy wire. Take extreme care notto slip or drop the tower, since it now weighs a lot more than it did whenyou first erected the basic tower. Dont try to erect your turbine in strongwinds, this is simply too dangerous. If there is a slight wind blowing at thisstage, you should notice the blades beginning to rotate and your batterieswill begin to charge.

The power produced by your turbine will depend on the strength of the

wind on your site. Below is a chart of the power produced by an FE1024UGenerator, with 5 blades, mounted on a 6.2m tower.

Wind Speed (m/s) Output Power W (24V load)3.0 524.0 785.5 1896.5 2437.2 2908.6 4509.5 558

11.0 76812.5 100214.0 1025

The FE1024 turbine shown above will start to charge a 24V battery bank in3.0m/s wind speeds, and will start to rotate at only 2m/s wind speeds.

For wind speeds above 12.5m/s, the turbine will continue to producepowers in excess of the 1000W shown, but will start to furl out of the windto reduce the stresses imposed by the wind on the turbine.

If you selected a different turbine other than the FE1024 for your turbineapplication, you will be supplied with performance data for it.



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For example, the FE1048U turbine will result in a power chart as shownbelow. These factors should be considered before you order the rightturbine for your intended application.

Wind Speed (m/s) Output Power W (48V load)

3.8 724.2 1215.7 2446.3 3446.8 4508.5 7179.5 832

11.0 100712.5 118814.0 1219

The FE1048U turbine will start to charge a 48V battery bank in 3.8m/swind speeds, and will start to rotate at only 2m/s wind speeds.

For wind speeds above 12.5m/s, the turbine will continue to producepowers in excess of the 1100W shown, and will produce over 2kW beforethe turbine blades become less aerodynamic, and begin to limit the power.



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Data Collection

For some people, the challenge of installing their own turbine will not beenough. And for this reason, this section explains how to collect data fromyour turbine, allowing you to plot graphs of it using your PC or MAC.

The simplest data to collect include the turbine output voltage, its outputcurrent and the rotational speed of the turbine blades themselves.Somewhat trickier is the ability to accurately measure the wind speed atthe top of your tower. However, should you wish to collect thisinformation then we shall cover this also.

Measuring the voltage produced by your turbine involves the use of adigital multi-meter, available from Maplin Electronics, or RS Componentswhich can cover the DC voltage range which includes your battery bankvoltage. Most multi-meters can do this and you should expect to have topay less than 20 for a reasonable model. The multi-meter should be set

to a range of 50V DC or something similar, and the measurement probesshould be connected across your battery bank terminals. The metershould read the voltage present across your battery bank, and you willnotice this voltage rising when the wind picks up.

To measure the current flowing into your battery bank, you will require agood old fashioned ammeter. This ammeter should be of the moving coilor moving iron type, and should have a DC range of 0 to 30A. This meteris available from RS Components, or a limited version is available fromMaplin Electronics. The meter should be connected in series with thepositive supply coming from your turbine to your battery bank. Whenconnected, it should give you a reading of DC current passing into yourbatteries, and it should rise with an increase in wind speed.

The next most useful measurement you can make is that of the RPM ofyour turbine blades. This does sound a bit tricky but it is in fact a verysimple thing to measure. If you purchase a cycle computer from your localbike shop, then youve essentially bought yourself an RPM meter, amongother things. The bike computer relies on a magnet being fixed to yourbike wheel, with a corresponding sensor being mounted to your frontforks, to operate. When the magnet passes the sensor as you cycle along,the sensor sends pulses to the bike computer, which then does all thecalculations and hard work.

If you fix the magnet to your PMG generator casing, and the sensor to thegenerator mounting bracket (such that they pass each other closelywithout touching), and extend the length of the sensor cable down yourtower tube to the battery bank using 2-core bell wire from your DIY store,then you can connect your bike computer to its mounting connector andyoure almost ready to start measurements. Included in the instructionssupplied with your bike



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computer will be how to set it up for your own bike wheel size etc. If youset the wheel size to 166.66cm and change the output reading to Km/h,then this is all that you need to do to make yourself an RPM meter. If youdo the maths, then youll see that the bike computer will display 30.6Km/h when the turbine is doing 306 RPM, so, by ignoring the decimal pointin the Km/h reading, you have a direct reading of RPM of your turbine.

The fact that your bike computer is a bit more intelligent than just givinginstantaneous speed readings, it will also give you average speed, topspeed and many other useful functions. For example, if you reset the topspeed setting of the computer and leave your turbine for an hour in a gale,youll be able to see what the maximum RPM your turbine reached withinthat hour, at a glance. Likewise, the average speed represents theaverage RPM of your turbine, which in turn can be used to calculate theaverage Power Output of it. This neat solution will give you a wealth ofinformation about your turbine, and will only cost you around 20. Thismust be the most cost effective RPM and data acquisition gadget on the

market today.

Wind speed is a bit more expensive to measure, since youll need ananemometer. Youll find these on various websites and they range in pricefrom 40 or so, to several hundred for the more serious ones. If youdecide to purchase such an item, then this will fill in the only remaininggap in you data gathering. Mount the anemometer around 20cm belowthe bottom turbine blade tip to ensure that the turbine will not affect itsoutput reading.

If you create a simple chart which covers the following data, then fill in theblanks from the readings form the various meters and bike computer etc,

youll be able to calculate all sorts of useful information about yourturbine.

WindSpeed(m/s)

Turbine RPM Output Voltage Output Current

For example, the FE1024U generator will produce 1000W in 12.5m/swinds, but a chart showing the following data will allow you to work outthe wind speed on your site without having to purchase an anemometer.



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Chart of Wind Speed versus Turbine RPM for the FE1024U Turbine(24V load)

Wind Speed (m/s) Turbine RPM Power into 24V3.0 258 52

4.0 280 785.5 310 1896.5 360 2437.2 400 2908.6 420 4509.5 442 55811.0 460 76812.5 480 100214.0 490 1025

So, for example, if your bike computer shows a turbine rpm of 400, thenthe wind is blowing at 7.2m/s. This information will be supplied in tabularformat with each of the FE10xxU range of wind turbines.



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Testing Your Turbine

The diagram above shows how to connect all the test equipmentmentioned in the Data Collection section. Remember to ignore thedecimal point in the BikeComputers reading of speed.



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The Completed Turbine

We hope you enjoy many years of satisfaction from knowing that you have

done your bit for the future of our planet, not to mention the free powerthat youve enjoyed along the way.

Documents

Turbines and Towers