Antinuclear

Michael Le Messurier, Business Development Manager for Renewable Energy Solutions Australia (RESA), describes the Eco Whisper Turbine as a huge advancement for wind power technology, particularly in the mid-size 20 kW market.

Technical design

The Eco Whisper Turbine stands 21 m high, with a blade measuring 6.5 m in diameter. The wind hub and blades are made from aluminium, making them resistant to rust.

The unique ‘actual flux’ generator used to power the turbine is highly efficient. “We’ve moved away from the traditional forms of wind turbine generators as there are some weight restrictions around them and we find them to be highly inefficient,” explains Mr Le Messurier.

In the future, Eco Whisper plans to use generators known as ‘switch reluctant generators’, which are extremely lightweight and have an efficiency rating of around 98 per cent.

Another of the Eco Whisper Turbine’s unique technical features is its ‘slew drive’. The slew drive features a wind vein, which measures wind speed direction, and an anemometer.

Together, these slew drive features measure and analyse the wind. The data from the slew drive is then sent back to the slew drive controller, which constantly measures where the wind resource is coming from and changes the direction of the turbine accordingly.

This feature helps to maximise the available wind resource, and also doubles as a safety mechanism for extreme weather, as it is able to effectively turn itself out of the wind.

Furthermore, the Eco Whisper Turbine is rated to withstand wind speeds of up to 220 km per hour, and is quick and easy to dismantle, making it suitable for locations with harsh weather conditions.

If the turbine is placed in a good wind site it has the potential to generate more than 45,000 kW hours of electricity per annum.

Applications

The Eco Whisper’s silent operation and its ability to operate in a wide range of wind conditions, makes it ideal for urban developments, commercial sites and agricultural applications. Furthermore, agricultural and rural sites with a focus on remote on/off grid sites and diesel replacement are also well-suited to the Eco Whisper Turbine.

“It is not a residential product; it has enough power, on a good windy site, to power about three or four homes on a single turbine. We’re targeting most sites to offset between 20 and 30 per cent of their power, depending on how many turbines they have on site. It’s really an offset for our larger customers,” said Mr Le Messurier.

Lacking legislation limitations

Newly-introduced policy regulations in states such as Victoria and South Australia have seen a number of changes to the zoning of wind farms. According to Mr Le Messurier, however, the Eco Whisper Turbine does not face the same limitations as larger turbines.

“One of the major concerns from a community standpoint around wind turbines is the issue of noise. The planning response we have had from the Victorian government, however, is that [the wind legislation] doesn’t apply to us, given that the Eco Whisper is virtually silent,” Mr Le Messurier said.

Winding up the benefits

The Australian designed and manufactured Eco Whisper Turbine has a number of advantages when compared to three blade designs, including:

• A lower start up speed
• An advanced ability to collect wind, making it suitable for a larger number of sites
• Australian made generator and inverter, delivering more energy (up to 45,000 kWh per annum)
• No turn away losses
• Blades contained in a central hub to minimise birdlife casualty

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“The quietness of the wind turbine and its ability to operate effectively in a range of wind conditions makes it well-suited for organisations seeking to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and the impact of the Federal Government’s carbon pricing mechanism.”…. http://ecogeneration.com.au/news/quiet_as_a_whisper/065542/