HA-5 is Born
Ha-5 with manual Furling rope
Although still based on a similar permanent magnet generator to the earlier HA-4 this machine was mounted on a front wheel drive hub assembly to facilitate yawing and the generator was mounted on a rear car hub assembly to improve rigidity and life span.
Other major changes were the addition of a proper stand alone tower re-cycled from a security camera which revolutionized mounting the turbine and let us bring it to the front of the yard where it could make more use of the prevailing South Westerly wind.
Blade Diameter dropped from 6' 6" on the HA-4 to 5' and a new tip speed ratio in an effort to get higher RPM.
The addition of a manual Furling system can clearly be seen with the activating rope blowing in the wind. Although this worked reasonably well we still hadn't perfected the automatic furling, perhaps we were trying to hold it in the wind too long in an effort to get higher revs.
We also managed to acquire a battery UPS ( Uninterruptible Power Supply ) although the wiring and electrics were burned beyond repair most of the batteries were OK, and after several nights soldering ( they were wired in a configuration to store 440v ) a bank of 120 12v batteries were finally available for storage.
3 secondhand damaged Solar panels were obtained to add to our re-newable energy production. Around this time our hens became solar powered, Santa had brought me a mini Solar panel to extend the hours of light in the hen-house and help produce more eggs.
Probably the single biggest development with HA-5 was the availability of low energy 230v bulbs. With the price of Inverters and low energy bulbs coming down we opted to run a 230v system rather than the 12v system previously used. Not only had we much better lighting but we could now use normal domestic wiring without the big voltage drops associated with low voltage systems. Generation was still 12v 3 phase converted to 12v DC via a home made rectifier charging the battery bank which in turn supplied a 500 watt 230v inverter.
Other major changes were the addition of a proper stand alone tower re-cycled from a security camera which revolutionized mounting the turbine and let us bring it to the front of the yard where it could make more use of the prevailing South Westerly wind.
Blade Diameter dropped from 6' 6" on the HA-4 to 5' and a new tip speed ratio in an effort to get higher RPM.
The addition of a manual Furling system can clearly be seen with the activating rope blowing in the wind. Although this worked reasonably well we still hadn't perfected the automatic furling, perhaps we were trying to hold it in the wind too long in an effort to get higher revs.
We also managed to acquire a battery UPS ( Uninterruptible Power Supply ) although the wiring and electrics were burned beyond repair most of the batteries were OK, and after several nights soldering ( they were wired in a configuration to store 440v ) a bank of 120 12v batteries were finally available for storage.
3 secondhand damaged Solar panels were obtained to add to our re-newable energy production. Around this time our hens became solar powered, Santa had brought me a mini Solar panel to extend the hours of light in the hen-house and help produce more eggs.
Probably the single biggest development with HA-5 was the availability of low energy 230v bulbs. With the price of Inverters and low energy bulbs coming down we opted to run a 230v system rather than the 12v system previously used. Not only had we much better lighting but we could now use normal domestic wiring without the big voltage drops associated with low voltage systems. Generation was still 12v 3 phase converted to 12v DC via a home made rectifier charging the battery bank which in turn supplied a 500 watt 230v inverter.
Electronic circuits were made to control the use of power ie. timers to control the lights for variable lengths of time, daylight sensors to bring lights on at dusk and voltage regulators to protect the delicate circuits against sudden voltage spikes. A capacitor was added to try and level out the spikes in generation and stabilise the output. On one occasion Techie opened the Control Panel looked in and was heard to say "anything goes wrong in there I hope you're about", looking back it was more like the inside of a green Telecom Box, the individual components were joined with wires rather than circuit boards, my wiring techniques obviously didn't meet with his approval. A new tail was designed and smaller diameter blades introduced along with a few other minor upgrades added during its life, but not sufficient to warrant a MkII.
All in all things had moved forward light years, we now had light without wind and for 3 years it was our main source of lighting for lambing and feeding cattle. A storm in 2011 due to failure of the manual furling mechanism caused major damage to HA-5 and brought to an end what had been a very reliable albeit high speed turbine for over 3 years.
Estimated Output was slightly higher than HA-4 after all it was a very similar rotor and stator producing around 50 watt in a 12-15 mph wind, rising to 200 watt in strong winds thanks to the change in blade design.
Cost in the region of £15.00 - £20.00 + £60.00 Tower = £80 + A lot less Hours on cold winter nights as a result of better rotor shaft design.
All in all things had moved forward light years, we now had light without wind and for 3 years it was our main source of lighting for lambing and feeding cattle. A storm in 2011 due to failure of the manual furling mechanism caused major damage to HA-5 and brought to an end what had been a very reliable albeit high speed turbine for over 3 years.
Estimated Output was slightly higher than HA-4 after all it was a very similar rotor and stator producing around 50 watt in a 12-15 mph wind, rising to 200 watt in strong winds thanks to the change in blade design.
Cost in the region of £15.00 - £20.00 + £60.00 Tower = £80 + A lot less Hours on cold winter nights as a result of better rotor shaft design.