Wind Generator
(Page 3 of 6)
This method of restraint is commonly used in upwind
machines, but in this case, Mr. Price again took a tip from
the Jacobs design and set the tail springs so they'd shut
down the windplant if the cable broke, rather than
open it to the full force of a storm. Marshall points out
that he can take advantage of his machine even in strong
winds, simply by unwinding the winch partially and allowing
his blades to face the breeze at an angle, so they'll spill
off a good deal of wind and yet continue to turn rapidly
enough to generate power.
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Handmade Redwood Blades
A knack for scrounging, coupled with the ability to
understand the potential of each junk component, aided
Price immeasurably in bringing his project to completion.
But he knew from the start that he'd have to fashion the
wooden blades from scratch.
"I went and handpicked three straight-grain redwood 2 X 8s
from the lumberyard, then cut and shaped them according to
the specifications in the homemade power book. Because
windplant blades are driven by the wind—they don't
drive into it themselves as an aircraft propeller
does—their contour must differ from that of a
standard propeller to work correctly. After I'd formed and
sanded the wood, I protected it with fiberglass resin and
matting—coating it evenly to maintain proper balance
at speed—then roughed up the glass lightly and gave
each blade another coat.
"Now those redwood airfoils aren't just bolted to the hub .
. . each spar coming off the governor pinions is
7/8"-diameter coldrolled steel, and extends a full 20" into
a socket that's been bored into the blade. Furthermore,
these internal spines are pinned through the wooden
shoulders, and I've also got them sandwiched on the outside
with 6" X 6" metal plates. This way, I can have my
feathering feature as a governor, and still feel
comfortable about the integrity of those redwood blades at
higher wind speeds."
The Chain's Weak Link
After fabricating the blades and working out the best
method of mounting them, Marshall had only to erect a tower
and place the plant atop it. Since the source of wind is
generally from the lakeside quadrants and doesn't suffer
interference from trees or hills, it wasn't necessary for
Mr. Price to build a fancy lolly pivot or to rely upon
altitude to catch the best breezes. He simply sank a length
of well casing into a concrete footer, leaving about 18' of
the casing exposed. Then he mounted the generator and
gearbox on a frame and set that into the tower so it would
pivot on a vertical axis. Double-aught copper cables
(purchased at scrap prices from the local power company),
given plenty of slack to allow for yaw, carry generated
current to the battery bank.
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