As I thought,you need VERY high wind speeds,28 miles per,Many hours a day,to produce 4 to 500 watts of electricity.
"Not Yet" is my view.
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"Not Yet" is my view.
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- Thread starter AlterEgo
- Start date
Windmill installed.
USAID did a wind study of the country in the late 90's and measured wind speeds on I think 9 sights which were thought to have good wind potential. The data showed enough wind speeds to generate power at certain months of the year and at certain times of the day. Some sights had better numbers than others. I think maybe one project may have developed out of this. We purchased 5 of these 400 watt marine type turbines and installed them at various locations with no real results at all. A 75 watt solar panel did the same work at our best sight at Guzmansito, which has great wind. It is not common to have constant winds of over 12mps which is what these machines need. We purchased them through Microsol in Nagua and they had one installed right on the beach north of Nagua which seemed to work well but had a limited life span.
Micro sighting and maintenance are huge which using a wind turbine. The tower and installation costs are more than the turbine.
Micro sighting and maintenance are huge which using a wind turbine. The tower and installation costs are more than the turbine.
Thank you for some quantitative proof that wind power for private power generation is not practical right here in the DR. I do wish they were, but it requires the economies of scale for them to be truly useful. A 400 watt wind turbine being bested by a 75 watt solar panel says it all.
I get the feeling that if a place is suitable for wind power generation it might not be so nice to live there.
Amen CB.
Yesterday they relocated the windmill away from trees. Time will tell, but I suspect it will just be something pretty to watch.
Que sera, sera.
I hate to be picky, but a windmill is used to pump water and does not need the same wind speed to function as a wind turbine.
Agreed on the combined systems. Also use direct solar for water heating with an insulated cistern and convert to a 12v system with a series of small in situ inverters scaled to the devices they power. I just got a two plug, 12v 200w inverter for $30(US). Ten of those would be a lot cheaper(?) than one 2000w inverter and if any one breaks down, you have back-ups. You could even have one small solar panel to charge each car-sized battery which in turn powers one outlet. Why have all your eggs in one basket??
You'd need bigger inverters for the fridge, AC and any pumps, but even that could prob be worked around.
The nice thing about the LED TVs is they run on such a low power demand. LEDs lights are really coming along and hopefully they will become more competitive with compact florescents. They are worth it over the long run since they don't burn out and the colors are getting closer to incandescents. China is cranking them out by the billions.
You'd need bigger inverters for the fridge, AC and any pumps, but even that could prob be worked around.
The nice thing about the LED TVs is they run on such a low power demand. LEDs lights are really coming along and hopefully they will become more competitive with compact florescents. They are worth it over the long run since they don't burn out and the colors are getting closer to incandescents. China is cranking them out by the billions.
That's how I thought in my mind's eye if I was to build a house here from scratch and try to keep it off the grid.
I would probably cover the whole roof in solar panels and separate each system with it's own circuit. I would also try and keep AC consumption down to a minimum due to the losses of inverters.
For instance I would light the house with 12vdc LEDs that would come off it's own solar panel and battery. I would install 12vdc fans around the place too, again off it's own circuit and battery. 12vdc water pumps are also available too.
AC loads would then come off individual inverters like Peterinbrat suggests. My idea was to use UPS inverters at each outlet and maybe a 1kw sinewave inverter for the kitchen.
The only thing I would have to think hard about would be air conditioning. If the house needed it, then I think a diesel generator would be the answer. I don't know if there is a DC air conditioner on the market?
I would probably cover the whole roof in solar panels and separate each system with it's own circuit. I would also try and keep AC consumption down to a minimum due to the losses of inverters.
For instance I would light the house with 12vdc LEDs that would come off it's own solar panel and battery. I would install 12vdc fans around the place too, again off it's own circuit and battery. 12vdc water pumps are also available too.
AC loads would then come off individual inverters like Peterinbrat suggests. My idea was to use UPS inverters at each outlet and maybe a 1kw sinewave inverter for the kitchen.
The only thing I would have to think hard about would be air conditioning. If the house needed it, then I think a diesel generator would be the answer. I don't know if there is a DC air conditioner on the market?
I also had the idea of using a vehicle fuel injection pump for the water system. They are capable of delivering an enormous flow at high pressure and they are continuously rated. I just don't know how they would cope with water instead of fuel.
Maybe time for a mythbusters type of experiment!
Maybe time for a mythbusters type of experiment!
One thing I've thought of for cooling is to use a swimming pool as a thermal cistern. Pump cool(ish) water from the bottom of the pool into the house and have the pipes absorb heat from the house . You'd need moderate night time temps for it to work on the long run. I'd run 1/2" PEC pipe to the house and back and then use 1/4" copper coil in front of a standard box fan as the cooling unit.
"I'm LAZY"!
And I need a new TV.
My wife just bought a 42" LG,LED TV.
I want a new TV for our "Living Room".
My electric bill is around 14,000 pesos a month.
How much "energy" can I save,if I spend the $500 bucks more to buy a 42" LED,over a LCD TV?????
Is it "worth" it?
"Sleepless In Santo Domingo".
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And I need a new TV.
My wife just bought a 42" LG,LED TV.
I want a new TV for our "Living Room".
My electric bill is around 14,000 pesos a month.
How much "energy" can I save,if I spend the $500 bucks more to buy a 42" LED,over a LCD TV?????
Is it "worth" it?
"Sleepless In Santo Domingo".
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCccc
That is wise unless you have done the proper site survey and a wind generator will work well enough to be of benefit.
There are very few locations that will really benefit from having Wind Power in a private installation. Most of those locations have no access to grid power at all. Combining Wind Power with Solar Power in a bad location for Wind Power might make you feel good but do little to help with your energy requirements. Solar Panels also need a site survey and careful costing analysis to make sure it will really help. If you use power in the range of 500 KwH a month or more, you had better have the space to put in a large number of panels.
Solar Hot Water heating is a very good idea. Lower powered appliances and lights will generally pay for themselves. Going to an all DC system instead of using AC will also help, but isn't realistic for everyone.
I disagree that having more inverters is a good idea. The more electrical items you have, the more frequently you will experience breakdowns. There is an engineering measurement used by electronics design engineers called MTBF. Mean-Time-Between-Failure is what is stands for. What it means is that you have more electronics in a given system, that system will fail more frequently. Adding more inverters to power refrigerators just will increase the amount of failures you experience. I have replaced two smaller inverters with one larger one years ago and would never think to go back to the two smaller inverter system for that very reason.
LED vs LCD, you wouldn't save too much.
The prices for all flat screens is plummeting in the US because there is a glut in the market. If you shop around, it's not hard to beat the prices here. The overflow is going to get to the DR sooner or later:
Search Results - BJ's Wholesale Club
If you are getting another TV, it might be worth your while to get someone to ship you one. Two would be better if you can sell one off at a profit.
$400 for a 40"
TVs are cheap nowadays...