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Forum Index : Windmills : A clever furling system
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Gizmo Admin Group  Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5078 |
Recently I've been reading a 20 year old book called Energy from Nature, 7th edition, by Peter Pedals of Rainbow Power Company. The book is about setting up a off grid system, and includes solar, wind, hydro calculations, cable sizes, etc. Good reading, and I see they still sell it, but its now up to the 15th edition. http://www.rpc.com.au/catalog/energy-from-nature-living-with -solar-p-981.html There are a couple of pages about the Survivor brand of wind turbine, and I though it had a interesting furling system. I think they are now called Synergy. Below are a couple of pages from the book. Normally I would say you shouldn't post material from a book or magazine as it infringes on copyright, but this was more of an advertisement in the book, and I think both Rainbow Power Company and Synergy benefit from this post. Anyway, I think the furling system is clever and simple. 
Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| brucedownunder2 Guru  Joined: 14/09/2005 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1548 |
Hi Glenn, first up don't want to sound like I'm a smart ass,, OK, I've got that book ,very good reference book . Been up to Ninbin a couple times and met the crew , He's got a Survivor hanging up in the roof space -it was for sale .. HaHa ,better re-phase that ,, He's got a "Survivor windgennie " haning up in the roof space. Cool idea on how they furl ,simple ,really ,more wind less wind facing surface area from the blades. They drive a car alternator vis a "v" belt pulley system . The store is open every day ,I recall, you can wander around and pick things out of the storage boxes that are for sale -he's allways got a crown there , mostly attending RE courses. They have a complete Solar/ Wind installation wired up on the shop front wall,,so you can actually see whats happening.. One thing you have to be aware of is --- as soon as you park your car in Ninbin, you will be offered all sorts of smoking type "Goodies" .. we, politely refused and went to check on one of the "locals" lying on the road . A police man came up and said "she'll be OK ,mate" " and some of her mates dragged "it" back into the park --If you don't want to be set upon by these colourfull loving people wear a tie and carry a black book ... Bruce Bushboy |
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Madness Guru Joined: 08/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2498 |
I remember seeing one of those up on a pole there at the Rainbow Power Company, it was in a spot where there would be no usable wind. Back then they where also selling micro hydro systems using an induction motor as a generator. I was trying to figure out how they made the induction motor into a generator but could not info any where, that was well before the days of the Internet. There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't. |
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| Gizmo Admin Group Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5078 |
Yeah I've heard that, my brother was there last weekend with his wife and said they were offered all sorts of "cookies". Peter Pedals is pretty well know around the area for his off grid renewable energy stuff. My mum went off grid with her place a Boonah 20 years ago ( thats where the book came from ) and I remember her talking about Peter Pedals then. I think the furling system used by the Survivor has merit. It may be more suited to the high torque GOE222 blades that struggle with the offset tail furling we often use. I think as a DIY builder its worth experimenting with. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| Jarbar Senior Member  Joined: 03/02/2008 Location: AustraliaPosts: 224 |
My experience with this type of furling is that the gyroscopic forces cause the mill to rotate around the tower axis every time it furls.You can see this effect by spinning up a bicycle wheel by hand and then try tipping it up.Very hard to control although the lower tail assembly may help counteract this somewhat. Anthony "Creativity is detirmined by the way you hold your tounge".My Father "Your generation will have to correct the problems made by mine".My Grandfather. |
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yahoo2 Guru Joined: 05/04/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1166 |
I first saw it here usa solar wind it is shown as a 30 Kw generator, I notice the website has not changed since I last looked at it 12 months ago. 
I remember reading about one running somewhere remote and its performance in low wind but I can not remember any details or where I saw it. I'm confused, no wait... maybe I'm not... |
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MacGyver Guru Joined: 12/05/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 1329 |
Crew: Here's a Hot Link that shows the mill tilting. This is much the same as I did in Florida back in the day. I used one of my little towers with a counter weight at the base of the tower, which held everything upright until the wind started jamming, at which point the whole thing tilted back. My wind came from the west constantly, so I didn't have to worry about heavy winds coming from the side. My tower application works in a similar manner, but only where there is consistent wind from the same direction all the time. I kinda like the approach taken in the video link above, because all the guts are in one place hanging alongside the tower. The only really tricky part would be the gymbal at the top and getting the wires down the main tower without a twisted mess. . . . . . Mac Nothing difficult is ever easy! Perhaps better stated in the words of Morgan Freeman, "Where there is no struggle, there is no progress!" Copeville, Texas |
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Perry Senior Member Joined: 19/11/2009 Location: Posts: 190 |
It looks pretty cool and makes good sense for a furling system but as I think about it there are some drawbacks to the design. When you think about blade loads and fatigue the torque forces would be a nightmare. Torque forces during yawing are pretty large. This machine has torque forces from yawing plus torque forces from furling at a right angle. I would bet that you would brake some blade roots or hubs after a while. Plus, aerodynamically, you usually have a tower shadow that messes with loads and efficiency, this machine has a shadow from the tower and the rear fin support. This is just my opinion of the design not knowing much about it. It my be an awesome machine. Perry **edit** I googled it and found Hugh's page. There is a short discussion on it about half way down. With a pretty interesting picture. http://www.scoraigwind.com/Scoraig/index.htm |
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