Wind Power : Renewable Energy for Home, Farm, and Business, 2nd Edition

Preface vii Acknowledgments viii 1. Introduction 1(12) Wind Energy Workshops, 2(1) How This Book Is Organized, 2(1) Nomenclature-What Are We Talking About?, 3(3) Levers, Moment Arms, and Torque, 6(1) Equations-They're Informative, 6(1) What's New in This Version of Wind Power, 7(1) False Precision-How to Avoid It, 7(1) Units-Yes, Metrics, Too, 8(1) Size-It's All Relative, 8(5) 2. Applications-How to Use the Wind 13(10) Generating Power at Remote Sites, 13(4) Interconnecting with the Utility, 17(1) Lighting the Way, 17(1) Public-Spirited, 18(3) Heating, 21(1) Pumping Water, 22(1) 3. Measuring the Wind 23(32) Wind-What Is It?, 23(4) Wind Speed Units, 27(1) Wind Speed and Time, 27(1) The Beaufort Scale, 28(1) Power in the Wind, 29(1) Wind Speed Notation, 30(1) Power Density, 30(1) International Standard Atmosphere, 31(1) Air Density, 32(5) Frequency Distributions, 37(2) Wind Speed, Power, and Height, 39(1) Logarithmic Model of Wind Shear, 40(1) The Wind Shear Exponent a, 41(3) The Nocturnal Jet, 44(1) Published Wind Data, 44(1) Calculating the Wind Shear Exponent a, 45(1) Sources of Wind Data in the United States, 46(1) Surveying Your Site, 47(2) Estimating the Height of Obstructions, 49(6) 4. Estimating Output-How Much to Expect 55(16) Swept Area Method, 55(6) Calculating Swept Area, 61(1) Power Curve Method, 61(1) Swept Area Rules of Thumb, 62(1) Avoid Average Speed Confusion, 62(1) Manufacturers' Estimates, 63(2) The Method of Bins, 65(1) Power Curve Nomenclature, 66(1) Wind Power Plant Losses, 67(1) Performance Ratings, 67(2) Efficiency, 69(2) 5. Economics-Does Wind Pay? 71(12) Cost of Energy and Payback, 72(1) Economic Factors, 73(2) Residential Economics, 75(1) Farm and Business Economics, 76(1) Understanding Table 5-1, 77(1) Risks, 77(1) Understanding Table 5-2, 78(1) Cost-Effectiveness, 78(1) Taking a Gamble: Schafer Systems, 79(4) 6. Evaluating the Technology-What Works and What Doesn't 83(64) Orientation, 85(5) Tail Vanes, 90(2) Ducted or Augmented Turbines, 92(1) Lift and Drag, 93(2) Aerodynamics, 95(8) One-Blade Wind Turbines, 103(4) Tip Vanes and Tip Torpedoes, 107(1) Blades, 107(4) Hubs, 111(3) Drive Trains, 114(5) Other Forms of Transmission, 119(1) Generators, 119(2) Permanent Permanent Magnets?, 121(3) Air-Gap Generators, 124(4) Rotor Controls, 128(15) Putting It All Together, 143(4) 7. Towers 147(16) Height, 147(1) Stratospheric Heights, 148(1) Buckling Strength, 149(1) Drag Force and Thrust, 150(1) Tower Types, 151(5) Novel Towers, 156(3) Other Considerations, 159(2) Tower Selection, 161(2) 8. Cutting Costs, Not Corners 163(28) Building a Small Wind Turbine Yourself, 164(1) DIY Brake-Drum Windmill, 165(2) Buying a Used Wind Turbine, 167(1) Secondhand Wind, 167(7) California Wind Turbines, 174(5) Dutch Valley Produce, 179(4) The Spirit of Adventure, 183(1) Assembling a Kit, 184(1) Working Together, 185(1) Kennemerwind, 185(2) Sydthy Kabellaug, 187(4) 9. Buying a Wind System 191(14) Choosing a Product, 191(1) Standard Power Rating, 192(2) Much More Than a Turbine, 194(4) Evaluating Vendors, 198(1) Ventilators and Squirrels in a Cage, 199(1) Contracts and Warranties, 200(1) Case Studies, 201(2) Some Do's and Don'ts, 203(2) 10. Interconnection with the Utility 205(22) PURPA in the USA, 206(4) Wind without limits, 210(1) Electricity Feed Laws and Quotas, 210(1) Feed Laws Deliver Renewables, 211(5) Power Quality and Safety, 216(5) Dealing with the Utility, 221(1) Aussie Built-Aussie Operated, 222(2) Sizing-What's Right for You, 224(3) 11. Off-the-Grid Power Systems 227(20) Hybrids, 229(1) Tale of Two Cities, 229(2) Cutting Consumption, 231(3) U.S. Solar and Wind Data, 234(1) Micro Hybrid Power System, 235(1) Cabin-Size Hybrid Power System, 236(1) Household-Size Hybrid Power System, 237(4) Stand-Alone Economics, 241(1) Other Stand-Alone Power Systems, 241(2) Village Self-Reliance, 243(4) 12. Pumping Water 247(22) Windmills That Won the West, 247(2) Dempster Still Pumping, 249(2) Mechanical Wind Pumps, 251(4) Farm Windmill Conversion?, 255(2) Electrical Wind Pumps, 257(1) Wind Pumping Research, 257(4) Estimating Water Use, 261(2) Storage, 263(2) Irrigation, 265(1) Wind Pump Renaissance, 266(3) 13. Siting 269(34) Physical Restrictions, 269(3) Institutional Restrictions, 272(1) Property Values, 272(13) Anti-Wind Groups, 285(4) Will It Be Heard?, 289(4) Sources of Small Turbine Noise, 293(5) Shadow Flicker, 298(5) 14. Installation 303(42) Thoughts on Doing It Yourself, 304(1) Parts Control, 305(1) Foundations and Anchors, 305(8) Assembly and Erection of Guyed Towers, 313(4) Crane Installation of a Household-Size Turbine, 317(3) Freestanding Towers-Assembly and Erection, 320(3) Tilt-up Towers-Assembly and Erection, 323(1) Installation of a Medium-Size Wind Turbine, 324(3) Sample Tool List for a Micro Turbine, 327(1) Using Griphoist to Erect a Guyed Tilt-up Tower, 328(6) Wiring, 334(1) Up-Tower Block Connectors for Micro Turbines, 334(4) American Wire Gauge to Metric Conversion, 338(4) Junction or J-Boxes, 342(1) Ground Nets, 343(2) 15. Operation, Performance, and Maintenance 345(14) Small Wind Turbine First Rotation, 346(1) Monitoring Performance, 347(1) Maintenance, 348(1) Reading a Kilowatt-Hour Meter, 349(2) Proven on the Falkland Islands, 351(3) Bushland Enertech, 354(2) Cost of Maintenance, 356(2) Life Expectancy, 358(1) 16. Safety 359(24) Fatal Accidents, 359(1) Terry Mehrkam, 360(1) Hazards, 361(2) Dynamic Braking of Small Turbines, 363(2) Tower Safety and Climbing Gear, 365(7) Work Platforms, 372(1) Tower Work and Do-It-Yourselfers, 372(1) Ladders, 373(1) More Tower Tips, 373(2) Steen Aagaard's Crippling Fall, 375(1) Small Turbine Electrical Safety, 376(2) Rope and Cable, 378(1) Pulleys, 379(1) Winches and Hoists for Small Wind Turbines, 380(1) Loss Prevention, 381(2) 17. Looking to the Future 383(14) Expanded Applications, 383(3) MinWind-Farmer Owned, 386(2) Better Technology, 388(3) Challenges Facing Wind, 391(2) What's Needed, 393(2) Energy for Life, 395(2) Appendix 397(60) Constants, 397(1) Conversions, 397(2) Scale of Energy Equivalents, 399(1) Scale of Equivalent Power, 399(1) Air Density Correction Spreadsheets, 399(3) Wind Speed Distributions, 402(2) Map of Wind Resources in the United States, 404(1) Battelle Classes of Wind Energy Flux, 405(1) Maps of World Wind Resources, 406(5) Estimates of Annual Energy Output, 411(4) Estimates of Water Pumping Capacity of Farm Windmills, 415(1) Cash Flow Models, 416(2) Nongovernmental Organizations, 418(2) Government-Sponsored Laboratories, 420(1) Internet Sites, 421(1) Electronic Networks, 421(1) Workshops, 422(1) International Wind Energy Consultants, 422(1) Characteristics of Selected Small Wind Turbines, 423(7) Small Wind Turbine Manufacturers, 430(2) Characteristics of Selected Medium-Size Wind Turbines, 432(2) Medium-Size Wind Turbine Manufacturers, 434(2) Reconditioned and Used Wind Turbines, 436(1) Mechanical Wind Pumps, 436(1) Farm Windmill Manufacturers, 436(1) Small Wind Turbine Towers, 437(1) Rotor Blades, 438(1) Mail-Order Catalogs, 438(1) Wind-Measuring Devices, 439(1) Wind-Measuring Masts, 439(1) Wind and Meteorological Data, 440(1) Periodicals, 440(2) Wind Turbine Market Surveys, 442(1) Software, 442(1) Anchors and Guying Hardware, 443(1) Work Belts and Fall-Arresting Systems, 443(1) Inverters, 443(1) Batteries, 444(1) Plans for Small Wind Turbines, 444(1) Griphoists, 445(1) Videos, 445(1) Multilingual Beaufort Scale of Wind Force, 446(2) Multilingual Lexicon, 448(9) Bibliography 457(4) Rigging, 457(1) Solar Photovoltaics, 457(1) Wind Energy Technology in English, 457(1) Modern Wind Energy History, 458(1) Wind Resources and Siting, 459(1) Aesthetics and Noise, 459(1) Designing, Building, or Installing Your Own, 459(1) Water Pumping, 459(1) Wind Energy Technology in German, 459(1) Wind Energy Technology in French, 460(1) Wind Energy Technology in Spanish, 460(1) Wind Energy Technology in Swedish, 460(1) Glossary of Wind Energy Terminology 461(30) Index 491