wind generator resourses

[Richard Beard]

I am looking for a 3kw, 5 kw and/ or 10kw generator.

rpm range between 50 rpm and 400 rpm

I have looked all over the internet for generator motors and have not been finding much. Most folks only sell the whole package not just the generator. OR as with Ebay low output treadmill motors.

I found some Chinese sites but they want $2000 to $7000 USD for a generator, and I do not trust the quality. Much too expensive.

I have been working on specific experiments and wind generator motors seem to fit my needs because of the high kilowatt output to low rpm.

I see alot of so called generator motors that do not reach full output until it reaches 1000 to 3600 rpm. Not many wind generators are going to get reved that fast. I have 10kw gen belt driven rated at 3600 rpm, which I bought new for under $400. Rpm's are too high for my needs.

Any help will more than appreciated. Take Care and Thank you

Richard - Lrbeard@yahoo.com

[Rob Beckers]

Hi Richard,

Take a look at Ginlong's permanent magnet alternators (http://www.ginlong.com/wind-turbine-pmg-pma-permanent-magnet-generator-alternator.htm). They were designed with wind turbines in mind, and by all accounts I've heard they are well made. They're also much cheaper than any of the other sources of low RPM permanent magnet alternators that I've found (they'll sell and ship a single unit if that's what you need). Do a search on this forum for "ginlong" and you'll find a number of posts about it as well.

My only issue with the Ginlongs is that they don't reach full power until much too high a voltage for use with 600V DC rated inverters such as the Auroras. For example, their 3.5kW alternator is at 450V phase-to-phase, or just over 600V DC after rectifying, for 3.5kW. I've been telling Ginlong this for years, yet they persist. There is a solution: For a small extra fee they'll wire up the alternator in delta instead of the default wye. This cuts voltage by 1.73, so now you're looking at 260V DC for rated power. Ideal for use with the Aurora.

-RoB-

[Richard Beard]

Thank you for your response. It is helpful.

My other big problem are the prices for the generators. A gas driven genereator is pretty cheap, wind gens are 5 to 10 times more, I find that odd since the cost to produce and engineering for wind gens is the same expense as the gas driven ones.

I will look into the company you recommended.

Richard

[Rob Beckers]

Richard, the big difference between gas driven and wind alternators is their RPM. For the gas driven ones it's normal to run at several thousand RPM, and most of them don't use permanent magnets (but coils that are magnetized from the battery instead). For wind alternators their rated RPM is just a few hundred RPM, and they use rare-earth magnets. This makes the wind alternators much, much more expensive (and bulky) to manufacture. Then there's the production volume; for gas driven alternators you have the entire automotive market. No such luck with wind. Volume drives down cost.

-RoB-