ARE wind turbines

[Rob Beckers]

I just returned from a wind workshop at Abundant Renewable Energy in Oregon where the participants learned more about ARE's turbines and how to install them. Besides having a great time we also learned quite a bit, very interesting stuff going on over there!

ARE makes a 2.5 kW turbine, named the "110", and a 10 kW called the "442". Those numbers indicate the square footage of swept area. Their design philosophy follows the "heavy metal" school of wind turbines; These generators are quite literally very heavy, and designed to handle anything nature can throw at them. They should last a good long time. ARE makes their own permanent magnet alternators. It was interesting to see how that's done. If you download my wind production spreadsheet (http://www.greenpowertalk.org/showthread.php?t=7) you can see how they stack up in energy production.

ARE's place of business is located at the top of a ridge. A windy place. They have a 120' tilt-up tower (which they manufacture) as well as a 145' self-support lattice tower on the premises. I got to climb the latter one, we took down the rotor and alternator of the 442 on top of that tower.

Below are a few pictures I took while over there:

[Ralph Day]

ARE these going to be on your inventory list Rob? what are the specs and price (110 unit)?

Looks like you get all the fun!

ralph

[Rob Beckers]

Hi Ralph,

They won't show on my inventory list as such, but I can certainly get them at a competitive price for anyone that wants one. The same goes for all other RE supplies. Since I don't personally install wind turbines there's not a whole lot of reason for me to carry them, installers would buy directly from ARE and not through me. For the odd person that wants to do his own install (maybe possible for the ARE110 though keep in mind this thing is heavy, but absolutely not recommended for the ARE442) I can sell them one, including a tilt-up tower. In fact, if it's not too far away I'll be happy to help installing it (as long as it's clear I'm there only to help, and the responsibility of the install rests with the owner, in other words, the owner is expected to do due diligence).

You can find the specs of the ARE110 at their site (http://www.abundantre.com/). In short it's as follows:


Rotor Diameter: 3.6 meters
Swept Area: 10.1 m² (110 sq. ft.)
Configuration: 3-blade up-wind with side furling
Rated Power: 2.5 kW
Cut-in Wind Speed: 2.5 m/s (6 mph) estimate
Rated Wind Speed: 11 m/s (25 mph)
Alternator: Neodymium magnet, 3-phase
Voltage Options: 48V for battery charging, high-voltage for grid-connect
Tower-Top Weight: 143 kg (315 lbs.)


I believe that since they wind their own alternators they also can make other voltages upon request (for direct battery charging, if that is desired). I'll contact you off-list with pricing, they are not cheap, but as I mentioned they are very well built.

-RoB-