Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

[Clipper4730]

Just curious if anyone has used a vawt on a sailing yacht? Was entertaining the idea as they are quieter than a traditional fan and IMHO look pretty cool too. We want mount them on the aft outer corners of the arch on a 40ish cruising cat or on top of the mast. Any thoughts ideas experiences good or bad?

Thanks in advance

Wil

[Captain Bill]

No experience, but i did a bunch of research on them a couple of years ago. The biggest problem seems to be power output and lower wind speeds. Despite the claims of the builders the power output curves are better for HAWTs, at least in units small enough to put on a boat. I decided despite the advantages of VAWTs that they were not practical for use on my boat.

[GordMay]

Bad idea, IMHO.

Vertical Axis Wind Turbine designs turn relatively slowly, but yield a high torque. They can be useful for grinding grain, pumping water, and many other tasks; but are not good for generating large amounts of electricity. RPMs above 1000 are generally best for producing electricity; however, drag-based VAWTs usually turn below 100 RPM. One might use a gearbox, but then efficiency suffers and the machine may not start at all easily.

See ➥ Envirotek V20 VAWT Generator - Wind

[barnakiel]

I hear mixed opinions on Forgens. When I hear mixed opinions, I go and get something that works.

b.

[anjou]

Wot Bill said.

[xeon_tsd]

Bump this back up....
Earlier this year (2012) I saw an "At The Boat Show" quick bit that Bob Bitchen does highlighting a new VAWT that mounted on the spreaders. They sold them in pairs (for balance?). Has anybody seen it/the company/etc?

ahh found it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_i9A...AY7eJiuIiIfV4=

[GordMay]

Bob says go to Kronos Energy, for more information - but I didn't find any useful information on their site.
➥ http://www.kronosenergysolutions.com/

[xeon_tsd]

There is another vid from the same show on the site... in it he states...
$2850, for the pair, generating up to 1.5 Kw. thats a crazy amount of juice... But i still have concerns about the main getting caught in them running down wind.

[avb3]

Originally Posted by xeon_tsd

There is another vid from the same show on the site... in it he states...
$2850, for the pair, generating up to 1.5 Kw. thats a crazy amount of juice... But i still have concerns about the main getting caught in them running down wind.

I think I heard them say that they are custom designed for each boat so your concern MAY be alleviated.

I would like to see videos of them in action; the idea sounds great, but devil may be in the details?

[GordMay]

Most Vertical Axis Wind Turbiness (VAWT) produce much less energy than comparable Horizontal Axis Turbines (HAWT). (about 50 - 75% as efficient).

See “Wind Energy Systems” ~ By Dr. Gary Johnson ➥ Wind Energy Systems *| Book Download

Specifically Chapter 4
Wind Turbine Power, Energy, and Torque ➥ http://www.rpc.com.au/pdf/wind4.pdf

See also ➥ WindTurbine_Comparison - For more information, Goto: “Wind Energy Systems” ~ By Dr. Gary Johnson http://www.eece.ksu.edu/~gjohnson/wind1.pdf Specifically Chapter 4 - “Wind Turbine Power,... Cruisers & Sailing Photo Gallery

[Target9000]

So in the video he says there are no problems at all several times. But the thought of sticking 100lbs aloft seems kinda iffy to me.

[BillyDoc]

There is an article here: http://iopscience.iop.org/0964-1726/...0_5_055022.pdf about a rather radical approach to this problem that the authors are trying to apply to power collection on bridges. The phenomenon exploited would be extremely easy to implement on a yacht and, according to the authors, is capable of useful work at very low wind speeds.

The primary down side to this approach, seems to be the hit the boat would take to sailing efficiency. This may, of course, be acceptable. I can envision two of these devices hanging between each spreader and the deck, port and starboard.

The article is titled: "The experimental validation of a new energy harvesting system based on the wake galloping phenomenon" by Hyung-Jo Jung and Seung-Woo Lee.

Enjoy!

BillyDoc

[Hkalan]

Hello,

I just called Kronos and spoke a gentlemen named Frank.

1 - There is only a 3 inch space between the mast and the blades of each
2 - turbine. The wind only goes around the turbine blades, and NOT through it
3 - The generator has 3 wire output, but not 3-phase AC output. It is DC output from what Frank said (I am waiting for a return e-mail from them). I am confused to why it would not be 3-phase AC output and then a rectifier and controller near my battery bank connection... but I hope to learn more from them.
4 - He said that they can make them 18 inches to 4 feet... I think that is what they mean by "customized to every boat".

Overall I think it is a great idea, but I can not find any information from anyone that has actually bought one and installed it, not is there any detailed specification of the actual generator and blades (perhaps afraid the Chinese will copy it before they have a patent.. and I can't blame them for that).

I am very anxious to read any literature they send me... I will let you know as soon as I do !

Alan

[xeon_tsd]

Alan, thanks for the info, i look forward to more reports.
I still have concerns of the mainsail gettijng destroyed if you where running downhill (wing n wing). My thought was putting one on the front of the mast instead, high enough up that it would not hit the genoa.

[CeesH]

A DIY project from a dutch student.

Google Vertalen