By Tony Jones

One of the most and often questions I get asked involves the blades configuration of a wind generator. How many blades? How long should they be? What is the correct material for them to be built out of. This is very important when building a wind generator. There has been a lot of misinformation printed lately in the name of making a sale. At Hurricane Wind Power we sell what we believe is the best product for our generators. At the end of the day it is our job to provide the consumer with the best product available therefore nothing I do is set in stone. If I find something better I am the am always willing to change, but these are my opinions based on my experience.

Buying or building a blade set is not a one size fits all application. It is very important to match the blade set to the generator you are installing them on. Our generators are all hand wound so it is easy to get to the cut in point. Let’s discuss that for a moment and assume you don’t know anything about wind turbines. If you do great if not this is a piece of information I consider essential when considering a blade set. The cut in point is the place in the generators power curve where the voltage exceeds that of what is being charged. The load can be a 12,24,or 48 volt bank of batteries. It could also be the start up point of a grid tied inverter which is adjustable. What you need to know is that all of the spinning that your wind turbine is doing before it reaches the cut in point makes you no power.

Once a generator is spun to an rpm the makes the voltage of the ‘cut in point’of the system the generator is then under a load. After that point, the torque in your blade set that pushes against the resistance is what creates power. Therefore in my opinion and for our products the more torque the better. This is because our generators have a low RPM cut in and do not need several hundred RPM just to reach the point where they can produce usable power. Surface area and blade length are what creates power.

As a general rule there are few absolutes in choice of material. The exception being that my opinion is building blades out of PCV is dangerous and a waste of your time. Further if they are not balanced correctly they can destroy a generator. Aluminum blades seem to be popping up all over the place. These cupped blades are cheap to make and have little flexibility. They therefore tend to stress crack pretty quick. Again just relaying my experiences

I have seen quality blades made of galvanized steal such as the ones we sell. These blades have a fixed pitch and have some give to them. They therefore flatten out a bit as the RPM increases allowing the blade to be more efficient and resistant to the weather and stress cracking. Wood and carbon fiber are also used to make some of the finest blade sets I have seen.

In summary I believe the diameter and surface area of the blade set are two of the most important factors in choosing a blade set. These are directly related to how much torque can be put on the generator to overcome resistance and therefore produce power.

At the end of the day it takes power to make power. If you see a wind turbine with a small blade set with no surface area claiming to output 2000 watts it is a good bet that is a fraud . Wattage is a measure of work being done, therefore spinning a generator up to a high RPM with no load on it and reporting the wattage output is deceiving at best.

About the Author: I am Anthony Jones MA owner of Hurricane Wind Power. We are a quality customer oriented wind power store specializing in,complete kits wind generators wind turbines grid ties and DIY products visit us at: The Wind Generator Authority

Source: isnare.com

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