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Forum Index : Windmills : choosing a windmill

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GWatPE

Senior Member

Joined: 01/09/2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 2127

Posted: 06:40am 13 Mar 2010

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The subject above comes up quite often.

too often the biggest, most powerful windmill seems to be the best.

I myself have trod this path.

I am now in a position to make some suggestions for those who want a windmill in the suburbs.

If the winds are turbulent, and not particularly strong, then there is a problem with sizing, bigger is not always better.

My own windmills are not the same. One has twice the capture area and has a much bigger alternator. In the right wind conditions, the bigger unit does produce much more power.

In light to medium, and turbulent winds, the smaller, more nimble unit produces approx twice as much power as the larger unit. Both windmills have good load matching. As the windspeed increases, the larger unit pegs back the difference. In particular wind directions, with less turbulence, the bigger unit overtakes and comes out at close to double the average power of the smaller unit, which is what is expected.

This then can be concluded that if the location is not really ideal, then a smaller unit may still be a better option.

I will be concluding my testing by trialling both windmills with similar blades. It is still possible that the blades on the larger unit[traditional airfoil type, minimal twist, medium aspect] are not as good in low winds as the Lakota blades on my smaller mill[high performance airfoil, high twist, and high aspect].

I will collect some comparison data, and should be able to confirm this for the skeptics.

Readers who have similar testing might wish to comment.

Gordon.Edited by GWatPE 2010-03-14

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