Courtesy and consideration of Bob Hayes of PrevailingWindPower.com;

DoyoCore’s SolAir will be featured in the upcoming This New House is airing next Thursday.

September 09, 2010
8:00 PM e/p

Licensed contractor and host Amy Matthews hits Redondo Beach, Calif., to see how a company called Prevailing Wind Power sells and installs plug-and-play residential wind turbines.

See link:

http://www.diynetwork.com/this-new-hous ... index.html


Bob Hayes
Prevailing Wind Power
310-529-5217
www.prevailingwindpower.com

*** Residential and commercial renewable energy installations. ***

Specific to Small Wind Turbines/conditions:

If the “Actual” average wind is less than 8mph, your conversion efficiency will be very low, possibly less than 30% of the power created will be converted through a Grid-tie application. Charge controller are a bit more efficient because your not stepping up the voltage so high – possibly only to 20v or 50v. An inverter requires a step up to 220v in most situations. This could be 5x to 10x the produced voltage in lower wind conditions. Rapid changes in wind speeds make the step up process very difficult for modern equipment to handle.

If your winds are on Average greater than this then the efficiency in conversions goes up in respect to the wind speeds. At higher wind speeds the conversion efficiency optimal. If you get a wind of about 20mph (consistent – with no wild gust variations) your conversion should be about 80% to 90%)

In winds about 12 mph (again constant, with little or no wild variations) your efficiency should be about 50% to 60%, the efficiency is directly related to the “consistency of wind”. Rapidly changing wind speeds will greatly affect the conversion efficiency.

Though we think we have identified some solutions testing still needs to be done and we are working with several companies within the market towards a combined solution. Some of these companies are Texas Instruments, Aurora (Power One), ZhanTech, Xantrex(now Scheinder Electric) and WMIA.

The primary barrier is the wide varying range of power generated by SolAir’s Permanent Magnet Generator. Modern inverters are not efficiently capable of converting or in some cases recognizing the rapidly changing voltage produced by wind turbines. Modern inverters are working at an approximately 30% efficiency in converting turbine power to grid tie applications.

We have identified some equipment that could potentially increase this efficiency by about 20%, our objective is to increase efficiency to about 80% or great conversion of energy produced by the turbine to a grid-tie application.

Starting with the inverter. The inverter wants to see a DC voltage on its input that is within a specified range. Then it boosts up this voltage by chopping it through a transformer which steps up the voltage and filters out the chopping ripple with an LC filter, or the voltage is boosted by a boost converter and then chopped into a sine wave and filtered with an LC filter.

The inverter needs to put out complete sine waves and does not react fast enough to fluctuating inputs, especially if the input cuts in and out with changing wind speeds. Similar to large Turbines bulk capacitance can be used as a way of filtering these fluctuations out but it would be a huge investment and take a very large space. Some choose to store the energy in a chemical state which is much more space efficient as it can store more energy per unit volume. This allows the converter to stay in sync with the line, and also allows a steady control loop.

If the input voltage is only 40V the inverter needs to step this up to 1.414 x 120V = ~170v plus allowance for losses. So let’s say 180VDC. If the wind generator puts out say 5A at 40V that would be 200Watts. At 120Vac that would be about 1.6A rms. So roughly we have about a 5:1 increase in voltage and about a 5:1 decrease in current.

Wind power generators want to be able to supply low voltage with lots of current or else high voltage and lower currents. Most wind turbines voltages are consistent with lower currents(amps) and higher voltage ranges as they turn faster. Most likely because it is really hard to wind high turn count coils with really heavy copper wire. Hence, more turns with a smaller gauge wire seem more practical. With any direct drive system the prop speed would want to be on the fast side so as to generate more voltage.

The problem here is that the small wind community needs some sort of storage medium that can handle the wide voltage range. Other than batteries there isn’t a good one.

Boost converters can be used to convert the wind generator voltage up to the 180VDC level. Most simple boost converters can’t boost much more than 8X their input voltage due to losses and topological limitations. So if you use 8 as our limit then divide 180V by 8 we would have the minimum wind generator voltage that would work for this system. That would be about 22.5V.

If we try to optimize for lower wind speeds before we cut in power with a 5x to 10x booster this would result in a substantial increase in voltage at higher wind speeds. This would cause the turbine to generate too much load resulting in potential damage the inverter and electrical equipment connected to it.

So if we also consider the generator as linear then we might see 220V on the output, which is okay because the inverter was expecting 180V and could easily handle this higher voltage. The boost converter is happy because now the input exceeds the design output voltage so the boost shuts off and the voltage and current go straight through it with only a diode drop of voltage loss.

A majority of inverters available operate optimally at least 180V on the input. This is fairly consistent with the available products on the market.

Making a boost converter that can bump up 22V to 180V is easy. Making it large enough to handle the current isn’t too hard either. But doing this in a method that is constant and results in effective conversion of power is very difficult.

DyoCore is working towards a solution;

One solution is measuring prop speed and output voltage and current. If the wind energy falls off, the current delivered to the line must also back off. This will take a controller with some smarts – programmable and/or smart application hardware. Some MPPT inverters work in this fashion but optimized for changes in PV not wind.

The other part of the solution is a capacitor that can take rapid changes in input and adjust to a steady output current that can then be leveraged by a standard MPPT inverter.
The combination of these two is the optimal solution for all Small Wind Generators.

In August, a small electricity producing facility was installed at the Santiago Canyon College (SCC) Coast Keeper Garden near the corner of Jamboree Road and Santiago Canyon Road. This facility is a product of the combined efforts of students, wind turbine company DyoCore, and the City of Orange Building Division. The average wind speed in the City of Orange ranges from 2 to 11 miles per hour, enabling wind to provide an alternative source of energy through the use of small turbines.

This installation includes two residential scale wind turbines, with a backup solar photovoltaic (P.V.) system capable of producing 0.2 kilowatts of electricity. The system is capable of capturing wind and solar energy, and converting the energy to electricity. The electricity is stored in batteries that provide power to illuminate the garden landscape for five hours per night, from 7:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. The estimated energy produced by this off-grid system is equivalent to reducing 1/4 metric ton of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as well as $50 worth of electricity annually. The energy produced by this system is equivalent to that generated by one 36” x 48” solar panel. Homeowners that have installed solar/P.V. systems have been able to reduce GHG emissions by over 8 metric tons, saving over $900 dollars annually.

The major difference between a solar/P.V. system and a wind turbine system is that presently the cost of a wind turbine system is fully refundable a Southern California Edison incentive program. Installation of P.V. systems or wind turbine systems should be performed by individuals with experience and training related to renewable energy devices. Only licensed electrical contractors with C-10 license or knowledgeable owner-builders should install such systems to ensure safe building and electrical conditions. The City’s Building Division can be a resource for the public before making such a decision as to proper installation methods and procedures.

The project at SCC’s Coast Keeper Garden demonstrates how the renewable energies can be utilized in small scale projects such as a small park or residential project to off-set utility costs. The Coast Keeper Garden is a showcase project and interested public can schedule to see this installation by contacting Ryan Tade, Energy Efficiency Intern, at Rtade@cityoforange.org or (714) 744-7229.

DyoCore, a San Diego hybrid small wind/solar manufacturer on Friday July 23rd benefited from a unanimous approval by the County Planning Commission board to adopt changes in permitting to allow for the install and use of small residential/commercial wind turbines. DyoCore’s SolAir is one of the first small wind products to be allowed up to 5 units per structure anywhere under the jurisdiction of the County Planning Commission

DyoCore manufactures the SolAir, a residential / small commercial hybrid wind turbine. This small residential power house can provide about 2,000 kWh’s annually in green renewable power. For the past several years DyoCore has worked diligently in both becoming the first and only residential roof top turbine approved by the CEC (California Energy Commission) and working with municipalities on updating their building codes to allow its communities to take advantage of its technology and the state incentives that make the SolAir almost completely free to purchase and install!

SolAir is the only approved Turbine though the CEC that is virtually free. For each installed SolAir unit the state of California through the CEC, funded by major utilities companies such as San Diego Gas and Electric, will pay you up to 100% of your cost and installation within 4 to 6 weeks of final installation.

David Raine, the founder of DyoCore said “The County Planning Commission of San Diego are not the first to recognize the potential of Small Wind and DyoCore’s power generator in the state of California and not the first in the County as Carlsbad recognized the benefit of these solutions within its community only just a few weeks ago along with several other areas in California that are very friendly to renewable energy and specifically small wind”. David expects other communities to follow in these footsteps very soon but not without an uphill battle.

States and the Federal government in preparation of these new modern green technologies several years ago began adopting and outlining Green energy guidelines but these have and will continue to take time to trickle down to the community level.

Communities have not addressed these types of products since the early 70’s and most current regulations are specific to “Large” pole mounted turbines. DyoCore’s SolAir in most communities doesn’t fit into any building code category. Even though it is light weight, appealing, silent and an easy to install generator at less than 65” tall this is a completely new solution that requires new thinking in how to change existing or implement new codes that allow for modern friendly green technologies.

In a time in which communities service budgets and personnel are being cut right now seems to be the most inconvenient time to expense the costs of creating, amending and approving new codes. But on the other hand DyoCore SolAir creates sustainable energy that reduces a community’s dependence on the grid which at certain times during the year can be very costly.

In the near future DyoCore is positive that both federal and state regulations will allow communities to implement and manage guidelines for the quick deployment of their products nationwide. But this week’s first step within San Diego puts DyoCore on the map as a major innovator and contributor to the future of residential small wind!

March 2010 was a milestone in DyoCore’s effort to bring the SolAir™ 800 Wind Turbine to market in California. This State-of-the-Art wind turbine is revolutionary in its ability to reduce homeowner monthly utility bills using the power of wind to generate electricity. Three years in development and research was rewarded recently through the following events

• CALIFORNIA STATE UTILITY COMMISSION CERTIFICATION (Renewable Energy Unit): certified the, 1st low wind residential roof top surface mountable fifty-six inch tall, SolAir 800 Wind Turbine for their cash rebate program and listing on the California State List of Eligible Equipment. The California State Rebate money along with the federal tax incentive of thirty percent of gross purchase price completely reimburses the homeowners for his out-of-pocket expenses. Lower utility bills at no cost.
• PUBLIC INTRODUCTION OF SOLAIR 800: The DyoCore Team presented the SolAir 800 in February at the Del Mar Home Products Expo to rave reviews and signed purchase orders from thirty homeowners wishing to install from one to four units on their property. Catch the Wind, ditch the utility bill.
• WWW.DYOCORE.COM INTERACTIVE WEB-CAM WEBSITE: DyoCore’s new website will allow individuals to see the SolAir 800 Wind Turbine operating in real time (San Diego, County), download information about wind energy, state and local regulations regarding wind turbine installations, product prices, install time, and a host of other valuable information. Watch the Wind? What’s next?
• FIRST SOLAR 800 WIND TURBINE INSTALLATION (San Marcos, California): The DyoCore Team watched as the first installation took place in San Marcos. The first is great, but DyoCore will rapidly follow with over twenty other scheduled installations throughout San Diego County over the next month. Distributor relations have been established for the rest of California, New York, Illinois, Texas, Florida, other parts of the US, Europe, Asia, and South America. A SolAir 800 Wind Turbine is coming to a home near you, soon!

For David Raine, inventor and founder of DyoCore, this is significant milestone in the change in thinking in this industry. “Until this moment I’ve been constantly told by the industry that small wind doesn’t work despite my live camera and live data feed that demonstrates directly that not only does it work, it can work at a low cost!” This accomplishment is only one of many in the works with several other states now looking at SolAir unit as a applicable solution for residential roof top mount applications.

DyoCore’s SolAir product line is priced for the average homeowner to begin small and build or buy a full package when needed. The price on a single installation is approximately under $4,000.00 with installation. Additional SolAir units can be simply added at anytime and networked together via a plug and play solution. For the average home a full system consists of four to five units, an inverter, wind monitor, and installation for around $11,000. Previously, companies sold individual units for over $30,000.00 which were bulky, unsightly, and sustained on-going mechanical problems.

DyoCore, a San Marcos company, produces the SolAir product line in American made at its Chicago manufacturing facility, with administrative offices in San Marcos, California. Questions about Dyocore or SolAir products can be addressed to Mr. David Raine, 760-807-2135 or dave@dyocore.com.

Reference: CA CEC Eligible wind turbines: http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/cgi ... llwind.cgi