The Skyrota Concept
Micro generation has had bad press during its infant years. This is due to products being sold that do not perform to the customer's expectation. LGC in conjunction with Skyrota have produced a 5KW Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) that will perform and produce power in an innovative and visually pleasing manner.
The design brief was simple.
-Two Blade Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT)
-Highly efficient, quiet, robust gearbox.
-Low blade RPM for minimal noise (4dB above background)
-Designed to be visually pleasing and unobtrusive.
The Blades
The blades have been designed using powerful Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software. The blade profile has been designed in conjunction with a leading University, to act as an aerofoil, which can harness energy from the wind regardless of its direction; hence the turbine does not waste energy endlessly trying to ‘hunt’ for the optimum direction. The blades are made from a polymer kevlar/carbon composite matrix using innovative moulding techniques by Eire Composites.
GearBox
SkyRota LGC, in conjuction with Richard Chadwick, have designed and built an innovative, quiet and robust gearbox unit, maximising efficiency. The entire gearbox is built in-house, drawing on our extensive knowledge of over 25 years of gearbox manufacture.
The design results in a low blade speed, of between 60-90 rpm, therefore resulting a remarkably low noise levels (4dB above background). The minimal gearbox losses result in maxizing efficiency and reducing noise, both of which are strong traits of the Skyrota design.
Electrics
The SkyRota electrics are a clever mix of intelligent control systems, which can be tailored to be site specific, making the turbine produce the optimal amount of power for the wind conditions. Various packages can be added to the base specification, ie. schools packages and remote monitoring
Safety
As with all wind turbines, there is an inherent risk that the blades can over run if the generator stops producing. This is a real risk which is taken seriously by SkyRota. To insure this does not happen, Skyrota have fitted an electro-magnetic braking system, which will stop the turbine if it goes past 100rpm. The brake will be applied automatically, even if all power is lost.
Our self diagnostic control system may want to try and fix the problem and restart the turbine automatically, enhancing our complete standalone capabilities.
Testing
An intensive testing programme has taken place since 2007, in Ireland. The SkyRota has been tested to near destruction by letting the blades run free in high wind, it was still fully fuctional and intact, at over 240% of its maximum operating speed.
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