Wind
Turbines & Hydro Turbines
Wind
and water turbines operate in a similar way, they use a natural
free energy and convert this into a rotational movement to power
an electrical generator.
Lets
deal with wind turbines first...
We exclusively offer the Futurenergy 1Kw
wind turbine, this is manufactured in the UK by a bespoke
engineering company who specialise in high quality, high
precision manufacturing.
This turbine is designed for high efficiency, attractive
aesthetics and great performance. It does not use mass produced
generic parts, for example the generator is a rare-earth
permanent magnet generator, unlike some current wind turbines
which use what are basically washing machine motors to provide
generation. Our wind turbine installations use purpose made
towers to support the turbines, we do not offer building
mount options in a domestic situation, only where the structure
of the building is suited to this type of arrangement will
we consider this, please feel free to contact us if you
feel you have a building mounted application you would like
to discuss.
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The simplest and most autonomous way of using a wind
turbine is to Grid-tie it, this involves the installation
of a grid-tie inverter.
The job of the grid-tie inverter is to convert the DC
electrical supply from the turbine to an AC supply then
synchronise it with the mains supply, before finally allowing
your free electricity to enter onto the mains supply to
get used either in your own home, or to export to the
national grid, depending on your electricity usage.
The obvious savings that can be made are a reduction
in your electricity supply, however if your quiescent
demand is very low, you could find that a turbine will
sometimes generate more than you are consuming, this will
then get absorbed back into the national grid, with the
correct metering, it is possible to sell this excess electricity
back to your supplier.
The third way of providing a saving is to meter the entire
generation of your turbine, in order to sell Renewable
Obligation Certificates, you can sell one ROC for every
1000Kwh that your turbine generates, prices for ORC's
vary but you can expect to receive between £40-£60
per ROC.
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If you prefer not to connect your wind turbine
to the mains supply, or if you live in an off-grid area,
there are alternative ways to utilise the wind to generate
electricity.
The most common of which is to use a battery system. The
wind turbine output is fed into a charge controller which
regulates the supply to a point where it is safe to input
to a battery bank. The battery bank can then be charged
by the wind turbine.
Once the battery bank is fully charged, there needs to
be a method to prevent overcharging, this is where the dumpload
comes in. The charge controller recognises when the batteries
are charged then switches the supply over to the dumpload,
which is effectively an electrical heater element. This
will absorb the electricity supply until there is a requirement
for the battery bank to be topped up. Although this method
means that some of the electricity generated is wasted,
it prolongs the life of the system and ensures its safe
operation.
For off-grid application, the battery bank can become your
own national grid supply, by installing an inverter, this
will allow mains voltages to be supplied to your house from
a low voltage battery system that is charged via a wind
turbine. An advantage to this is that normal mains voltage
appliances can be used.
Using a battery based system, wind power can be combined
with hydro power or Solar PV to increase the capacity of
the system, where required, it can be designed to supply
all of your electrical needs.
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If
you would like to know more about our wind turbines, please call
us today!
01604
211200
Hydro
Turbines
Like
wind turbines, hydro turbines use a natural energy to produce
kinetic movement in order to generate electricity. A hydro turbine
uses a source of flowing water to spin an impeller, which is connected
to an electrical generator.
Generating
electricity from a water supply is very much dependant on the
water flow and head available.
In
theory, the greater the head of water (vertical distance from
the
water's highest point to the turbine location) and the higher
the flow rate,
the more electricity you will be able to extract.
Hydro
turbines as a renewable energy source can be one of the best technologies
available, in the right location, they can payback very fast and
even become very profitable!
Unfortunately,
most people are not blessed with their own stream in the back
garden, however if you think you may have a viable location for
a hydro turbine and would like more information, please do not
hesitate to call us!
01604
211200
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