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The Archimedes Liam F1 wind turbine for the home: there may be hope after all

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This new wind turbine can generate half the typical home's electricity needs. It's been invented and now manufactured by The Archimedes. It will be available for purchase in July. I've already inquired about ordering one. Cost is about $5,000 for the hardware. Not bad. This should generate more than enough power to keep the Model S always charged with nothing off the grid. Go green technology! With these perhaps the need for huge wind farms will be diminished if not eliminated.

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I have been looking for something that would work to supplement my solar system in the winter, this looks promising especially since that say I only needs a minimum wind speed of 2mph. Most every residential turbine needs at least 6 mph. Wonder how easily it could be wired into the existing home electrical infrastructure.
 
I'm assuming that this could be used as a supplement to solar systems, such as at night? Also this would probably be good for those who live in regions where it isn't very sunny, but there is plenty of wind.
 
This will be great if it works. I recall reading about a similar design a few years ago and it turned out not to actually live up to the specs. I hope this one does better because it would be great to have around here as there is always lots of wind (and not just from the politicians).
 
Looks cool. But in a 20 knot wind the larger F1 model only generates 508W. They don't say what it generates in the more usual scenario of 5-12 knots of wind. And with a design survival wind speed of 35 m/sec (70 knots), it's susceptible to failure in our winter Chinook winds and summer thunderstorm outflow (straight line) winds. Another question is how noisy it is in operation: they're coy about that on the website ("it operates fairly silently" is the only reference I saw to noise). I bet my HOA would throw a hissy fit if I submitted a proposal to mount one of these on my roof...especially if it's the orange job. :biggrin:
 
@GSP. Thanks for the link. I think there is still a place for low cost owner install able/serviceable wind turbines. I agree that the industrial sized and serviced is likely more cost effective for the masses but tinkerers can still do their thing.
 
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I'm assuming that this could be used as a supplement to solar systems, such as at night? Also this would probably be good for those who live in regions where it isn't very sunny, but there is plenty of wind.

If it proves to address the concerns that a number of you have expressed in response to my post, it would be ideal for my situation. I'm on a high place with very consistently strong but not severe winds. So for me it would generate power consistently. But before I spend any money on this kind of device, I want to see data on how it performs in real-world installations.

Of course for proper installation it will require an inverter and other hardware, so that will add to the costs. In Maryland the utility could not prevent this from being connected up. And there may even be some tax incentives that would reduce the cost. And, yes, I would want a more subdued color and probably would locate it in a place on the roof where it's not in plain view.

There was on the web site real data on the noise levels it generates. Pretty good on that front.
 
And, yes, I would want a more subdued color and probably would locate it in a place on the roof where it's not in plain view.

I can't remember where I heard this, but be careful with roof installations. In a big breeze any sort of turbine can send vibrations throughout your whole house. I had a small anemometer mounted on a rain gutter once. It started to vibrate in big breeze and the vibrations sounded like a cat wailing.
 
@GSP. Thanks for the link. I think there is still a place for low cost owner install able/serviceable wind turbines. I agree that the industrial sized and serviced is likely more cost effective for the masses but tinkerers can still do their thing.

Yes there definately is a place for smaller turbines, despite thier higher cost per kWh generated. I think the author, Paul Gipe, also agrees. As I recall he recommends the following for small turbine buyers:

1) spend some money on a tower high enough to get your small turbine in stronger winds
2) shop the turbine suppliers carefully for cost, relibility and kWh generated per year at your site
3) be very wary of unusual designs like horizontal axis or zany propellers like the archemedies screw
4) be EXTREMELY careful when servicing your turbine. Hire a pro, or get training and safety equipment

GSP
 
Interesting design. Please keep this thread updated once you actually get it and mount it. How much electricity are you calculating on generating per day/month/year?

It's premature to answer that question. First I'll have to take wind measurements over a long period of time just to see what's possible. Then I'll need actual real-time operating data for this device. Then I'll have to figure out where on the roof I'd place this, if on the roof at all. I'll also have to deal with my community association, which may put the kibash on the while thing. It's not a very progressive group, to say the least.
 
There are also wind resource maps on the internet. Here is a map for a residential windmill, which assumes you put the thing 30m above ground:

WINDExchange: Residential-Scale 30-Meter Wind Maps

They also have state level maps:

WINDExchange: Wind for Homeowners, Farmers, and Businesses

For example, Maryland:

File:MarylandMap.jpg | Open Energy Information

A lot of the country is marginal for residential wind. To stick with the Maryland example, the map shows average wind speed at 30m for most of the state is less than 5 m/s (a lot of the state is less than 4).

The Archimedes power graph (assuming that it is accurate) gives an output of around 180w at 5m/s:

http://dearchimedes.com/pdf/Brochure_the_Archimedes.pdf

I suspect you'd get a lot less power than that if you mounted it on a rooftop.


Later...

The power of 180w at 5m/s looks too high. Their spec sheet says the diameter of the blade is 1.5m, so 180w is more than the total in the wind (132w) with that area. There is evidently a theoretical limit on how much power you can get out of the wind, a factor of .59. So their numbers are puzzling if I am reading them right. Another paper on their website,

http://dearchimedes.com/pdf/EWEA_2014_Poster_Pusan_University_PO200.pdf

shows output power of around 120w at wind speeds of 6m/s, which is somewhat more plausible. I'm not sure how to reconcile these discrepancies.
 
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I looked into this several years ago and cost was an issue and minimum wind speed. In the research I have done they recommend mounting on a pole and at least 30 feet in the air. I installed a weather station to monitor the wind speed and direction and even though I live at 900 feet in the hills we do not get enough consistent wind for something like this to pencil out. Maybe down the road there will be some technology that is affordable and can generate enough power to make it work as a supplement to solar. For me it would be nice to generate more power in the winter when my solar is not producing its maximum.