Homemade Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) Helical Prototype

[white0moon]

It might do better with lighter material for the sails. I've seen that design before, made by some VAWT company in the US.

[bluesymo]

Very good work! How tall and wide is the turbine?

[DisneySK]

And has it the generator now? How much power does it produce at low winds, say 5m/s ?

[neez1111]

@DisneySK With 1000W PMA and direct drive it produces around 400W at 5m/s. With a pulley/indirect drive it produces 800-1200W depends on friction from the belt.

[DisneySK]

@neez1111 That's pretty. Do you think it would be possible to maximize direct-drive power by connecting load with smaller resistance, or using MPPT? Have you tried that? It would avoid the belt losses.

What is the rotational speed at 5m/s?

[neez1111]

@DisneySK The PMA is connected to a battery charger and that is a small resistance. There is a limit to what you get out of wind due to Betz. The best way to increase revolution is to use wind funneling.

Direct rotation speed at 5m/s is around 1.6 rev/sec.

Note that I was surprised to find out that mathematical calculations are far less than actual measurements. I believe the upside cone on the top added more power to the turbine.

[danphobic]

Wow that's cool. Look's like a solid design. Does have a generator ?

[neez1111]

@danphobic At the time of taking the video the generator and electronics were not installed.

[neez1111]

@danphobic a 1000W PMA has been installed and the design was modified by adding one large pulley under the helical blades and a smaller size pulley on the PMA shaft since the original design was for 10KW which is too expensive. This was necessary since the RPM of the 10KW is 120 rev/min while for the 1KW it is 400 Rev/min

[neez1111]

@danphobic Last week the turbine survived wind speed in access of 120Km/hr (~74 miles/hr). With such wind It was not even possible to count the RPM of the turbine. Note that the turbine didn't even produce any noise and it was almost vibration free.

[DisneySK]

@neez1111 That's quite impressive! Good work!

May I ask, how did you actually made the blades? It is apparent that 5 vertical sections are stacked...

And how much did it cost?

[neez1111]

@DisneySK Many thanks DisneySk.

The blades were made from galvanized/Aluzinc steel sheets. Folding the bladed helically was the most difficult part without a mold. It was formed into shape manually. I have tried different materials such as tent fabric which can withstand high stress, but not possible to fold into shape.

The blades and the center pole are one piece that is enforced with what you described as five stacked sections

Cost was high without new funnel modification. its a prototype