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 | | WIND OF CHANGE IN DOMESTIC ENERGY! | | | Xpelair (Applied Energy Products) | | 15/10/2007 | | | Richard Scott of Applied Energy, parent company of Xpelair, looks at the advances in wind-turbines for the domestic and social housing marketplace.
Suddenly the world appears to be taking the need for renewable energy seriously, and you don’t get much more renewable than the modern ultra-quiet, high performance wind turbine. It's hard to imagine the wind running out, as long as the world keeps turning.
Renewable energy sources such as solar power, wind, wave, biomass, and geothermal are all low to zero carbon sources of energy.
They are also, for all practical purposes, inexhaustible; whereas energy from fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas cannot go on being extracted from the earth forever. The planet is going to run out of them eventually.
The use of fossil fuels also usually involves emissions of carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen. The vast majority of the scientific community is now united in believing that the current mix of energy generation and use, is accelerating climate change and it’s devastating effects.
Small scale or micro-generation of energy is a key part of the Government's strategy for reducing carbon emissions and reducing the increasingly obvious impact of climate change on the lives of real people.
Over two decades an Xpelair micro wind-turbine can produce 11,000KW hours of electricity, saving more than 4.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
The Government recently published a White Paper highlighting the importance of micro-generation technologies like small wind powered turbines, so look forward to a fair wind from regulation and the tax regime, as well as from Britain’s windy climate.
Far from being designed for farms and green fields, modern wind-turbines are at home in the urban environment.
Not all wind-turbines are the same, though. Next generation technologies, which are designed for those urban environments, are increasingly requested. Xpelair’s is designed to be visually unobtrusive, but with a powerful, low friction axial field alternator, which provides for start-up at lower wind speeds and results in lower noise levels and vibration free operation.
A modern mounting system, which spreads the load across a wider area, provides safe and secure installation of the turbine to just about any building.
However, we believe it’s important that wind-turbines are specified honestly; not every site will be suitable. Where there are obstructions, like tall trees or buildings, the output will be significantly reduced. We would not recommend installation in these conditions.
Electrical output of a generator is always going to be dependent on the wind. By starting at lower wind speeds turbines like the Xpelair StealthGen produce more energy than those that start more slowly of a similar size.
Low noise systems are only possible with slow speed, low friction axial field alternators, which ensure more of the wind energy is converted into electricity.
The alternators are carefully matched to low speed, high solidity rotors with multiple blades, creating maximum torque and therefore maximum energy generation. Only next generation technology offers this.
Typical output from a single turbine of this design can be between 400 and 600 kilowatt hours per year in an urban setting. This performance makes them suitable in applications where other turbines are not. On a well specified site this is an average of 1.6kW hours per day. A typical family may use 10kW hours per day.
Older wind-turbines tended to be noisy. But by converting more energy into electricity, instead of sound energy, latest wind-turbines can be a lot quieter as well as a lot more efficient.
By combining low friction, low speed technology you produce a turbine that is almost silent in operation and vibration free. That’s good news for the building and the people who live, or work within it!
Micro-wind turbines usually feed electricity directly into a home’s ring- main using a small box called a G83 inverter. The power is then used within the home in the normal way.
But some companies, like Xpelair, offer systems which allow the electricity generated to be used to directly feed a battery system or other application.
In the coming months we will launch a ‘controls pack’ to allow connection directly to the immersion element of a hot water tank. This reduces the cost of installation, because the G83 inverter is no longer required.
Where there are no electrical loads on the house, power will simply flow back to the local grid if it is connected via the G83 inverter.
Householders who want to be paid for exporting this energy will have to get a smart meter capable of detecting the electrical activity. They will also have to agree an export tariff rate with their electricity company.
These are not yet widely available, but will become increasingly so in the coming months and years. | |
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