Avalanche Protection In Norway
Wyssen Avalanche Control selected the Leading Edge LE-v150 Extreme wind turbine to power their equipment high in snow fields above an important road network.
The challenge is how to power the Wyssen equipment in a tough environment with strong winds, sub-zero temperatures and almost no daylight during the winter.
“We needed a fit and forget solution because of the remoteness of the installations. The LE-v150 Extreme has run through 2 winters so far and provides vital power during the long winter months,” said Benjamin Meier, Chief engineer at Wyssen Avalanche Control.
Series And Parallel Connection
After calculating the battery capacity and solar panel rating you have to wire them. In many cases, the calculated solar panel size or battery is not readily available in the form of a single unit in the market. So you have to add a small solar panel or batteries to match your system requirement. To match the required voltage and current rating we have to use series and parallel connection.
1. Series Connection :
To wire any device in series you must connect the positive terminal of one device to the negative terminal of the next device. The device in our case may be a solar panel or battery.
In series connection the individual voltages of each device are additive.
Example :
lets 4 12V batteries are connected in series, then the combination will produce 12 + 12 + 12 + 12 = 48 volts.
In a series combination, the current or amperage is the same.
So if these devices were batteries and each battery had a rating of 12 Volts and 100 Ah then the total value of this series circuit would be 48 Volt, 100Ah. If they were solar panels and each solar panel had a rating of 17 volts and were rated at 5 amps each then the total circuit value would be 68 volts, 5 amps.
2. Parallel Connection :
In a parallel connection, you must connect the positive terminal of the first device to the positive terminal of the next device and negative terminal of the first device to the negative terminal of the next device.
Example :
Something Smaller: The Grid
Just because you’re producing your own energy doesn’t mean you need to go off the electric grid entirely. In fact, a grid-tied solar/wind system retains a connection to the utility grid so you will still be a utility customer but can offset the energy you use from the utility by making your own. Say you buy a solar power kit that will generate about 1,230 watts for home use for around $7,000 . Deep cycle storage batteries can also be added to a system they generally cost about $250 each and last ten years.
On average, these panels alone would make about 4 kWh for daily use and knock off 120 kWh from the monthly bill for a savings of up to 12 percent for a typical 1000 kWh bill of $119 . That means a monthly savings of about $14.24 or $171.36 per year.
Assuming prices and usage remained frozen, the system would pay for itself in 17 years, or 24 years without the Federal Tax Credit. In the real world, your numbers may turn out differently as energy prices spike and the price paid for each kWh will vary during the year, trending higher over time. With this in mind, the return on a solar energy investment might in fact only take 15 years or even less. Plus, consider that 12 percent energy savings is competitive with the return you would get from putting the initial $7,000 in a bank.
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Select And Charge The Battery
A major hiccup with solar power is that it doesnt provide electricity when the sun goes down. However, you can easily crack this problem by using a battery. A lead-acid or a lithium-ion battery stores solar power generated during the daytime and discharges it at night. This provides a steady supply of energy, provided you have selected the optimum battery storage capacity. You will need a power controller to monitor your batterys charging. These come between the panels and the battery. Such controllers are typically fitted with a small LED light that announces the charging state of the battery, and it adjusts the power that flows into the battery.
How Is Wind Energy Harnessed
To understand wind power generation and its use, it is very important to understand the wind. There are four parameters which should be analyzed, recorded or obtained to understand the potential of the wind resource. These four parameters are:
In these, wind speed and direction are most important, whereas temperature and pressure affect the density of the air and thus the wind energy available, so should be accounted and recorded.
The data can be recorded by specific instruments for each and an anemometer is required to record wind speed. Wind speed data of at least 1 year at the site of installation is beneficial and additional data from nearest metrological station can be used to understand the wind speed and direction of that particular location.
As the wind speed and direction changes with days, months and seasons, a comprehensive wind data is first required to understand the resource and potential of installing a wind energy turbine to generate electricity.
To get a better view about wind speed Global Wind Atlas is a good way to start. This shows the mean wind speed of different regions of the world. If mean wind speed is above 5m/s, the potential to install wind energy system arises. Otherwise to confirm, data from local meteorological stations and practical readings from devices like anemometers should be considered.
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How Do Wind Turbines Work
The wind turbines work with the flow of the wind. The kinetic energy of the wind rotates the turbine blades which in turn rotates the electric generator. Wind energy is a form of solar energy as differential solar heating of Earth surface causes the pressure difference in the mass of air above ground.
Simply stating, heating of Earth causes warm air from the ground to rise up as it is lighter than the colder air and this causes winds to flow. The rotation of Earth and forces acting on mass of air also decide the behavior of wind.
To understand how wind turbine works, it is necessary to know about the wind source and its behavior in any particular region throughout the year. It is good to know the flow of westerlies or trade winds in the region where wind the energy installation is being considered.
Minimum wind speed required for a wind turbine
Mostly wind turbines have cut-in speed and cut-out speed of wind in which range the wind turbines usually generate electricity. This can differ for different wind turbine types, models and manufacturers but a basic of 5 meter per second of wind speed above ground under 100m height is the cut in speed and 25 m/s is the cut-out speed of the wind turbine.
Beyond 25m/s of wind speed the turbines stop rotating or stop generating electricity because of the high pressure and gusts which can damage the wind turbine.
What About Hidden Costs
The good news is that once your renewable systems are installed, maintenance is minimal for both solar panels and wind turbines. To ensure that solar panels get the most power, they might periodically need to have dust and leaves hosed off. The panels do wear out over time, losing on average one watt of generating capability over 20 years. Wind turbines usually only have two moving parts that are exposed to the weather. Blades are typically bolted onto the hub which is protected by a nose cone. There is also the pivot that allows the wind turbine to swivel into the wind. Both of these can easily be replaced with parts from the manufacturer.
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What Are The Benefits Of A Solar Wind Energy System
The biggest benefit of using wind and solar power together is they are complementary. Solar energy works best during daytime and the summer, while wind energy picks up on late afternoons and evenings during the cold season. When one source is at low production, the other picks up so they work together well.
Solar and wind power are not 100% efficient, which is why solar rated vs actual output are not the same. The same with wind, on some days it is very strong and others it can barely be felt. But both produce energy in predictable ways so you can prepare. If you are familiar wit the wind and sun behavior in your area, it is easy to set up the system to take advantage of the weather patterns.
Because solar power works best during the day/summer and wind during night/winter, you can have a constant source of energy all year long. This is very important if you are off the grid. With a wind turbine connected to solar power, you can be confident of having enough power even during the winter or when it rains.
A hybrid solar wind system also benefits a grid tied system. One of the drawbacks of being tied to the grid is when the power goes down, you dont have access to the energy you stored. With a wind turbine, you have a backup energy source in case of a power outage. You can also sell the excess energy to the grid and make money.
How Tall Are Residential Wind Turbines
The ideal height of the turbine from the ground is 100 meters. The wind speed near to the ground is considered as zero in calculation and minimum of 60 feet height above the ground is required by a residential wind turbine. Large wind turbines are installed at maximum of 100 meters or 328 feet from the ground to get maximum use of flowing winds.
Installation of wind turbines in residential locations or urban location is rather complex. Like in case of large on-shore and off-shore wind farms, the measurement of wind speeds and direction are carefully studied which gives a detailed perspective on design and generation of electricity from wind turbines of that wind farm.
The wind flow in these locations is strong and persistent without any turbulence. The direction of the turbine rotor and blades is also synchronized with the wind flow.
In case of small installations like for a residential load or in any urban setting the wind is not that strong and persistent. Also, the turbulent nature of the wind because of various buildings and other infrastructure on the ground makes flow of wind less capable to be used as energy source.
So, vertical axis wind turbine at height above 60 feet or 20 meter from the ground can be used in residential setting. Other options like horizontal axis wind turbine can also be considered if wind behavior of any location allows.
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Supplying A Wind Generator To A Solar Power System With A High
In this case, we connect the wind generator directly to the AC of the house. This means the wind power will be used in the house to supplement the solar power or can be exported to the grid if there is an oversupply. The cost is about $4000 plus the wind generator for up to 3kw.
Included in the kit is the Luxpower LXP inverter, a 48-volt lithium battery, battery case, and isolator. The LXP inverter is programmed to charge or discharge the lithium battery as required, and the wind generator controller is responsible for ensuring that the battery never gets overfull.
Easing Into Renewable Energy
It is not necessary to do a complete system all at once. One option is to pull a few circuits off the main circuit breaker panel and just run the loads on those circuits off solar. If the utility power goes out in your area a lot, then you want to choose these loads based on your priority loads what must be on even if the grid is down. Or you can install a utility intertie system that will feed some solar generated power back onto the utility lines turning your meter backwards and off-setting power that you would otherwise buy from the utility. This is less expensive than an off-grid system since there are no storage batteries and because it is not necessary to cover your entire load.
If you are interested in a wind electric system we will need all the same information about your consumption and we will also need some information about the average wind speed in your area. A quick way to get this information is to call your local weather bureau or airport. Cost-wise, a wind system to operate the average home in the US should be a bit less expensive than solar. A large wind turbine will most likely require the installation experience and large machinery of an experienced installer. Be sure to consult an installer before purchasing any large wind turbine.
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Improved Electricity Storage Capacity
Despite certain economic and social benefits of solar and wind power generation, one of the historical challenges of using renewable energy has been that production levels are variable over time. This is primarily because of variation in the weathercloud cover reduces solar panels effectiveness to capture energy and low wind days have the same impact on wind turbines. This variable production makes the ability to store energy for future use very important.
Similar to renewable energy generation technologies, large-scale battery storage technologies also follow a learning curve pattern of development and usage. Storage capacity grew from 59 megawatts in 2010 to 869 MW by the end of 2018.24 There is an additional 3,616 MW of largescale battery storage planned to be operational in the United States between 2020 and 2023.25 From 2015 to 2017, the cost of storage decreased by 61 percent.26 More opportunities to increase solar and wind power generation will come with continued improvements to and affordability of storage capacity.27 This will enable excess electricity production to be stored for later use, mitigating some of the challenges presented by lower energy generation conditions, such as cloudy or low wind days.
Adding Lower Central C
This step involves the installation of 2 Central C-Channels on the Lower Level. These are used to provide stability to the Central I-beams and also connect the central I-beam to the entire metal framework
There are 2 X 36ft C-Channels used in this step.
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More Jobs Through Wind Power
About 1.3 million people work in the wind industry worldwide. About 550,000 of them are in China, 110,000 in the USA, 90,000 in Germany, 45,000 in India and 40,000 in Brazil. Installing and operating wind turbines is more costly than coal-fired power, so the expansion of wind power is creating more and more jobs.
The future of wind power
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Solar + Battery = Peace Of Mind
Its simple math. When you add battery storage to your solar or wind, you make your home more prepared during an emergency or outage. Plus, if you join our new Smart Battery Pilot program, youll help add even more renewable energy to the grid.
With your panels connected to PGEs grid, youll be receiving credit for all the power they generate. Thats the beauty of solar. You just sit back, relax and let the sun do the work.
Increasing Demand For Renewable Energy
Although cost competitiveness is the primary factor driving growth in renewable energy, the ongoing reduction in atmospheric contaminants is another reason people are likely to choose to use renewable sources of energy. Both solar and wind energy are considered cleaner because they produce less carbon dioxide, compared to the amount generated by the use of fossil fuels.17 Consumers are likely to be increasingly influenced by the cleanliness offered by solar and wind energy, especially as costs continue to remain low.
In 2019, 62 percent of total electricity generation at utility scale facilities was from fossil fuels.18 Of this share, coal made up 39 percent and natural gas made up 60 percent. Electricity generated from fossil fuels, especially from coal, leads to increased carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere. These greenhouse gases harm the climate.19 About one-third of methane emitted into the air is due to the production and transport of coal, natural gas, and oil.20 Additionally, other contaminants that are released from fossil fuel use, such as sulfur dioxide, ozone, and particulate matter, are known to cause respiratory complications that make people more vulnerable to certain illnesses, such as pneumonia and influenza.21
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