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Airdolphin Wind Turbine
Find out about the new Zephyr Airdolphin Z1000 micro wind turbine
The Zephyr Airdolphin Z1000 is a new micro wind turbine designed for the domestic market and developed and manufactured in Japan by Zephyr Corporation (1).
Airdolphin Features
The Airdolphin has a 1kW rating in 26mph (12 m/s) winds with a cut-in wind speed of 5.5mph (2.5 m/s). Unlike most micro wind turbines (2), the Airdolphin will continue to generate power in wind speeds of up to 110mph before it cuts-out.In order to protect the turbine from damage in high winds, if the power output reaches around 2kW, the rotation of the turbine is automatically stall controlled until output falls below 600 Watts. Therefore, although this turbine will continue to generate power in wind speeds from 20 m/s to 50 m/s, it will only generate 60% of its rated value from 23 m/s to 50 m/s. (It is worth noting that wind speeds (3) in execss of 23 m/s are exceedingly rare in the typical domestic UK setting).
The 1.8 metre diameter rotor of the Airdolphin Z1000 is made up of three ultra-light blades reinforced with a carbon-fibre skin. Thin grooves are cut into the blades which are designed to reduce the noise of the air flowing over them. These Silent Disrupter Blades were inspired by the wings of owls - well known for their silent flight.
The Airdolphin can be connected to a battery bank (4) - 500Ah is the recommended minimum size - for off grid power generation, or grid-tied (5) using a unique patent-pending UK mains electricity connection.
Coping with Turbulent Air Flows
Wind turbines located near to buildings and in towns and cities notoriously suffer from turbulent air (see our article Consumers Disappointed with Micro Turbines (6). Rapid changes in the wind direction (turbulence) result in micro wind turbines constantly chasing the wind and never quite catching it. The Airdolphin has been designed with a new swing rudder system which goes some way to reducing this problem.
The Airdolphin weighs just 17.5kg which further assists wind tracking in turbulent conditions.
Installation
The distributors of Airdolphin do not recommend that their wind turbines are roof mounted (7) on domestic properties (unlike most ill-advised micro wind turbine manufacturers). Instead they offer 6-12m high galvanised tilt towers (8) designed to last at least 25 years to provide a "safe and rigid platform for power generation".
Airdolphin Costs
The Airdolphin micro wind turbine does not come cheap. An installation survey costs £250 + VAT and a standard residential package £6000-£7000. The package includes the micro wind turbine, a 9 metre tilt tower, concrete foundations and installation, cable trenching and laying, a grid-tie cabinet, and the electrical connection. For this money you can expect (according to the distributors) between 500kWh and 1400kWh of electricity generated per year reducing carbon emissions (9) by up to 500kg.With the average price for 1kWh of electricity in the UK at around 11 pence, this wind turbine is predicted to save its owner just £55 to £154 per year giving a pay back period of 45 to 125 years! On that basis we would recommend you spend a little more money and purchase a far superior (British) wind turbine - the Proven WT2500 (10) or similar.
More Airdolphin Information
The Zephyr Airdolphin is marketed in the UK by Semplice Energy (11) - suppliers of a range of energy saving products. Click here to visit the official Airdolphin website (12).A video (13) of an Airdolphin Z1000 in action in the UK in a storm in January 2007 can be viewed by clicking here.
Web Link References
(1) http://www.zephyreco.co.jp/en/index.htm(2) http://www.reuk.co.uk/Micro-Wind-Turbines.htm
(3) http://www.reuk.co.uk/Wind-Speed-Distribution-Weibull.htm
(4) http://www.reuk.co.uk/Interconnecting-Batteries-for-Battery-Bank.htm
(5) http://www.reuk.co.uk/Grid-Tie-Inverters.htm
(6) http://www.reuk.co.uk/Consumers-Disappointed-With-Micro-Turbines.htm
(7) http://www.reuk.co.uk/Roof-Mounting-of-Wind-Turbines.htm
(8) http://www.reuk.co.uk/Wind-Turbine-Tower-Basics.htm
(9) http://www.reuk.co.uk/carbon.htm
(10) http://www.reuk.co.uk/Proven-WT2500-Wind-Turbine.htm
(11) http://www.semplice.co.uk/
(12) http://www.airdolphin.co.uk/
(13) http://www.airdolphin.co.uk/Movies.html
Article from REUK.co.uk:
http://www.reuk.co.uk/Airdolphin-Wind-Turbine.htm
Published: 28th May 2008
© REUK 2009