1KW Upwind Turbine

WELCOME TO THE FUTURE AND TO THE LAUNCH OF OUR LATEST RENEWABLE ENERGY PRODUCTS.
Solar Conect are suppliers & wholesalers of wind turbines.
Our ‘rugged’ Upwind Turbine range is based on 2 years of real-life testing and development.

Using our unique Permanent Magnet Generators, combined with our Hi-Spec Wind Turbine Blade Sets, these furling turbines create very useful power in low wind conditions, and over 1000W in winds of 12.5m/s.

We don’t recommend ‘building-mounted’ installations other than steel- framed buildings. These turbines are tower-top ready, and will fit on to a standard 50mm galvanized scaffold tower.

• Mechanically furling tail fin for high wind protection
• Unique high-spec Permanent Magnet Generator
• 5 top-grade glass filled nylon turbine blades
• Sealed bearings in mast-mounting shaft
• 60 Amp rated slip-ring prevents cable twisting
• Aerodynamic profile design
• Zinc-plated and Stainless Steel with powder-coated and anodized aluminium for optimal corrosion and weather resistance
• Manufactured in the UK

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Nominal Power Output - 1000W (600W / 12v Version)
Start-Up Wind Speed - 2.5 m/s
Cut-In Wind Speed - 3.2 m/s
Rated Wind Speed - 12.5 m/s
Survival Wind Speed - 50 m/s
Rotor Diameter - 1.8m
Number of Blades - 5
Generator Type - 3-Phase Permanent Magnet
Weight - 22 Kg
Suitable Tower Diameter - 50 mm

Your turbine will be supplied in 2 shipping containers, weighing a total of 30 Kg, and you will be required to attach the tail fin and blades to the main turbine housing.

All instructions will be supplied to guide you through the simple assembly, and you should be ready to mount and use your turbine in only a few hours.

For battery charging applications we suggest that you use a suitable charge controller to prevent your batteries from becoming overcharged.

For site location, and tower mounting options, please download the Tower and Site Location document from www.futurenergy.co.uk, where you will find loads of useful information about setting- up, connecting and operating your turbine.

We have a more detailed guide to the 1KW Wind Turbine available for download here.

PHILOSOPHY

Futurenergy’s development of the very latest in cost-effective products has been driven by the vast renewable resources available to everyone, and which remains untapped for most.

Futurenergy seek to find the best sources of energy, and to build and promote products which can extract it efficiently, while making them available to all.

Based in the UK, Futurenergy work alongside some of the renewable industry’s pioneering and forward thinking companies, pulling a wealth of knowledge and experience together, which through Solar Conect, bring you the latest in energy efficient products and services.

Why buy the Futurenergy 1 KW Wind Turbine?

• Power- Provides more power for any given wind speed than any turbine in its class.
• Start up- Lowest start up wind speed 2.5m/s with cut in speed of 3m/s.
• Quiet- Only 2Db above background at any wind speed
• Reliability- British Design and Manufacture with minimum moving parts.
• Long Life- Product life expectancy 20 years. Minimum long- term maintenance.
  2- year manufacturer’s guarantee.
• Survival Wind Speed- 50m/s.
• Installation- Ideal for direct mounting onto steel frame buildings.Tower mount recommended for domestic use.
• Independence- Available to buy without long- term commitment to an energy provider.
• Support- Futurenergy has a technical helpline manned by trained technologists.
• Affordable!

Multiple Solutions

• Grid tie
• Stand alone power systems off grid or as a supplement to Generator/Solar/Geothermal power solutions.
• Low energy Lighting.
• Water heating.
• Water pumping.
• Power source for heat pumps.

 5 reasons why NOT to mount a turbine on a house

• Vibrations and amplified noise.
• Structural damage.
• Air turbulence.
• Wind updrafts from pitched roof.
• Ultimately poor performance.

PERMANENT MAGNET GENERATORS

At the heart of our 1KW Turbines is this Permanent Magnet Generator. Using the very latest in rare earth magnets we are able to produce very high power outputs at low RPM levels, while achieving this from a PMG weighing only 7Kg. With a wide variety of uses, from wind and water turbines, to fuel- powered generators, we are offering these PMG’s to anyone who wishes to adapt them into their own products.

Supplied with 3- phase power output cables (approx 15cm in length), 18mm axle securing nut and washer, and 5 x 8mm nuts, washers and split rings on the faceplate mounting bolts, you will need to rectify the output of the 3- phases to produce DC for battery charging and other applications. Our PMG’s are not guaranteed for use with your own rectifier solutions, and so we can supply a 3- phase bridge rectifier kit fir this item, please ask when ordering. 

WIND TURBINE BLADE SETS

These wind turbine blade sets are constructed to the highest of standards, and are used at the heart of our 1KW downwind range. They can easily be adapted to suit other turbines, and will produce up to 1.2KW of power in 12.5 m/s winds. The blade set comes in kit form, including 5 x high- spec blades, manufactured in black PAG material (virtually indestructible, and doesn’t require painting), with 2 x 5- blade hubs (blacked anodised finish) and location pitch pins (25 degree root angle).

Once assembled, the complete rotor, measuring 1800mm in diameter, can be adapted to suit many power generators, and will perform best in the 300 to 900 RPM range. The hub is supplied with enough nuts and bolts to assemble the complete rotor, and has 5 mounting holes, each of 6mm in diameter, positioned in a pentagon shape at a PCD of 90mm. The main boss hole in the hub has a diameter of 74.6mm, and care should be taken to accurately, securely and centrally mount the completed rotor on to your intended application.

In order to achieve the best results from these blades, the final rotor assembly should be balanced by the user prior to being used in any application. Neither Solar Conect, Futurenergy Ltd nor the blade manufacturers accept any responsibility for any issues arising from unbalanced rotors in any application. Each blade set will be supplied with instructions on how to perform a ‘static balance’ of the assembled rotor, and it is the user’s responsibility to ensure that every effort has been made to address any balancing issues prior to using these blades.

HIGH POWER CABLE

For use with our turbines and PMG’s, this cable is very flexible, High-Power with a 10sq mm conductor area (8 AWG), available in red or black. Ideal for connecting the DC power output from our turbines, down your tower to your batteries, charge controller, heating element or inverter. Also good for making your battery bus bar connections.

The cable is sold per metre, and has the following specifications……

• Single core PVC insulated High-Power cable, ideal for use with wind turbines, batteries, power interconnections, charge controllers and heating element connections
• Each cable contains 80 x 0.4sq mm plain annealed copper conductors with heat resisting PVC insulation rated up to + 105 °C.
• UL,AWM,CSA,TEW,BS6231 and SEMCO recognized
• Maximum working voltage – 600 Volts
• 10sq mm overall conductor area, suitable for currents up to 75A
• Volt drop of only 2.2mV/A/m
• Weight 1.2Kg per 10m

CHARGE CONTROLLERS

Futurenergy 60A Charge Controller
For use in Battery-based and Grid-Tied systems (when using the SunnyBoy 1100LV inverter), these rugged charge controllers offer protection against overcharging when used with our wind turbines. The FE6oA is capable of handling charging currents of 60A, and is suitable for use with battery banks of 12V, 24V and 48V. The FE6oA should be used (operating in 48V mode) with the Grid-Tied Inverter shown right to protect the DC input to the inverter during power cuts and during initial start-up conditions.

The FE6oA requires the use of a Dump Load to operate, and these should be ordered with the charge controller. You should note that onle one Dump Load is required when operating the charge controller in 24V applications, but 2 are required for use in 12V and 48V setups. In 12V systems, connect the 2 dump loads in parallel with each other, and in 48V systems, connect them in series. The FE6oA comes complete with a digital Voltmeter and Ammeter, showing the Voltage and Current being passed to the batteries or Grid-Tied Inverter. It also incorporates a Stop Switch, which will allow you to stop your turbine for maintenance. Please note that you should not operate this switch if the turbine is producing high power, but should only operate it when the turbine is either stationary or rotating very slowly.

XANTREX C40 AND C60 CHARGE CONTROLLERS  
For use in Battery-Based systems, these rugged charge controllers offer protection against overcharging when used with our wind turbines. The Xantrex C60 is capable of handling charging currents of 60A, and is suitable for use in12V, 24V and 48V battery charging applications.

In order to use either of these controllers with your Futurenergy Turbine and Battery Bank, you will require a suitable dump load for the connection to the C40 or C60.

The following numbers of dump loads are required with each of the following battery voltages.

• For 12V systems use a C40 or C60 and 2 Dump Loads (in parallel)
• For 24V systems use a C40 or C60 and 1 Dump Load
• For 48V systems use a C40 and 2 Dump Loads (in series)

GRID-TIE INVERTER

The SunnyBoy 1100LV inverter provides an ideal way to connect your Futurenergy turbine to the ‘mains’ supply in your household/ business. This inverter has a ‘turbine’ mode which we will program for you when you order your inverter, to match the performance of the turbine model you plan to use. The power from your turbine is converted into high quality 240VAC and is synchronized with the utility supply in your house. Any power you use will come mainly from you’re your own turbine (when in operation) in preference to the mains, which basically means that you will use less power from the national grid than would otherwise be the case.

This inverter needs to be connected directly to your consumer unit, to a separate fuse, rated at 16A, with a 16A double pole isolation switch (lockable) connected in accordance with UK wiring regulations. A qualified electrician will be able to carry this out for you.

This inverter is suitable for use with either the FE1024 or FE1048 turbine, and you will require a Dedicated Futurenergy Charge Controller (FE6oA) with 2 dump loads (shown below) to protect the inverter mainly during power cut situations.

DUMP LOADS

For use with either of the Xantrex charge controllers above, these dump loads are effectively very high power air heating elements. The C40 and C60 charge controllers are used in ‘Load Diversion’ mode, and as such, they dissipate any unwanted power into these dump loads when your battery bank becomes fully charged. It is vital to use a charge controller to prevent damage to your batteries with an inverter, or other suitable device.

These dump loads should be mounted as close as possible to your C40 or C60 charge controller. They should be mounted in free circulating air, and not in an enclosed space. The power connection blocks are made of solid brass, and all cabling use should be securely connected using the bolts provided. Please ensure that you choose the correct number of dump loads for the battery bank voltage you are charging. See opposite for details.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why wind as my source of energy ?
A: There is little doubt that global CO2 emissions have to be greatly reduced if we are to halt global warming. Wind energy produces more watts per euro invested than any other type of renewable energy. Admittedly if there is no wind you will not be generating...BUT...when there is wind (above 3.2 m per second) you will be generating 24/7, day or night. Emissions are virtually nil.

Q: Can I connect my generator to my home electrical circuit ?
A: To connect directly to your household circuit you will need a G83 approved Grid-Tie Inverter which is intelligent enough to isolate itself from the Grid in the event of a Grid Power Failure. We now offer a SunnyBoy 1100LV (operating in Turbine Mode) which will be programmed to match the performance of the FE1024 or FE1048 turbine, depending on which model you prefer to use. You will also require to use a Charge Controller and dump load to protect the inverter during power cuts and some other operating conditions. Please ask for details of the charge controller when ordering. There are no batteries involved in this type of setup.

Q: What power can expect, and what can I use it for ?
A: In reality, a 1KW wind turbine will only give you 1KW of power if the wind is blowing at a constant 12.5m/s speed. In practice you should expect to get 20% of this on a good site, with good average wind conditions. This will represent anything from 0 to 4KW of power per day.  To most people this figure means nothing much, and so, to put this in laymen's terms, if you produce 3KW of power over a 24 hour period, this is the equivalent of boiling your kettle for a full hour constantly in any one day.  Similarly, if you produce 1KW of power, you could operate your toaster for 1 hour constantly over a single day.  This demonstrates how much power you can expect to receive from your turbine.  You can use this power to store into batteries, for use with an inverter for powering outbuildings or a remote office, or just to power the lighting in your house.  Alternatively, you can connect the turbine to a grid-tied inverter and share the turbine power with the "mains" power in your house/office. This will simply reduce your bills by varying amounts each day depending on the wind conditions, and you should notice a drop in your monthly electricity bills of a few percent to 30% at most, depending on how windy your site really is.

Q: How do I become an installer of FuturEnergy Wind Turbines ?
A: If you would like to become an installer of our products, we have enlisted the expertise of our business partners at Beyond Innovation and Core Information, to develop a training course to cover all aspects of carrying out Site Surveys, Planning Applications, System Designing, Safety, Regulations and Installation.  Furthermore, we have developed a Technical Service which is designed to give your business full technical support at all stages of carrying out installations for your customers.

Q: Do I need planning permission ?
A: If your turbine tower is classed as a temporary structure, we believe, provided the tower is less than 6 metres in height, will probably not need specific planning approval. There is very little precedent but before you install you should check with your Local Authority planning department.

Q: What power can I expect to generate at different wind speeds ?
A: pdf downloads are available here in graph and numerical formats.

Q: What noise can I expect to hear from the turbine at different wind speeds ?
A: The noise figures shown on our Products Page will mean very little to most people.  Your Planning Department may be more interested in these figures than anyone else. In reality, the sound that the turbine makes is 'drowned out' by the noise of the wind, in speeds over 7m/s. The best way to describe the sound of the turbine is that it sounds similar to the noise that the wind makes when blowing through trees.  In reality, on a windy day, your ears will be able to distinguish the unique sound of the turbine from the noise of the wind, but it will sound no loader.

Q: Can I connect several turbines in parallel to one large battery bank to get much higher powers ?
A: Yes, as long as you use one Charge Controller and Dump Load for each turbine you connect together. You should also ensure that your battery bank capacity is greater than 200Ah per turbine, so if you intend to connect 5 of our FE1024 turbines to one 24V battery bank, you will require 5 Charge Controllers, 5 Dump Loads and a battery bank with a capacity of at least 1000Ah @ 24V. The cabling which connects all your charge controllers to the battery bank should be the same length in order to properly share the power that's being dumped. We suggest that a maximum of 6 wind turbines are connected in this manner, since the wiring and complexity of larger turbine numbers will be unreasonable.

Q: Can I convert 24 and 48 volt DC to 240 volts AC ?
A: Our Turbines all generate DC electricity at 12, 24, 36 or 48 volts (see specifications) You can convert this to 240 volts AC to power lighting circuits, and very light domestic appliances by using a DC to AC Inverter. These are fairly inexpensive, compact, portable and readily available. Please contact us for more information

Q:   Would your Permanent Magnet Generators be suitable for a bicycle power generator? At a cadence of 100 and a gearing ratio of 52:11 I can generate about 473 RPMs but I think I can only sustain about 200 watts for a reasonable period of time. I'm looking to put in a solar and wind power plant with an additional bicycle charger, to run lighting and small appliances. This type of generator seems ideally suited but I'm wondering if you have a smaller version?
A:   In reply to the question, the answer is yes. The potential buyer hasn't indicated what voltage of batteries he intends to use the generators to charge. If it's 24V then he would only require a 52:20 ratio to get the 200W output or so he desires. It would be easy to change the ratio to suit the desired output power requirements. It's not practical to expect to use a 'person' powered generator to produce any more than 100W or so. Even a pro' cyclist could only produce 400W peak power for a short burst, so he is being practical in his calculations. Any of the 4 PMG's would be an ideal generator for this type of application, as it has a large 'flywheel' effect when in use, which would feel smoother than a smaller generator, which may be very difficult to obtain.

Q: Have your generators ever been used with the Savonius or Darrieus models of ( vertical axis) wind turbine?
A: The two types of vertical turbine you mention are normally used for smaller applications.

Q: We were asked a few days ago if our PMG would work with a Forgen (vertical axis) turbine.
A: I guess the simple answer is yes but at this point in time we have no idea how big the blades should be. We will be addressing this in the near future and will almost certainly develop a smaller PMG which should lend itself better to this sort of application.

Q: I want to charge 12/24v batteries or dump the voltage. You say its just a case of adjusting the RPM, but isn't RPM just the force of the wind ?
A: In the case of using the generators to build a wind turbine, then the RPM is related to the wind, that is correct. These PMG's can in fact be used for all kinds of generator builds though, such as petrol/diesel or water powered systems, where the RPM can be altered accurately. If the user wants to use the generators to make their own wind turbines, then the power curves for each generator can be downloaded from the Products Page from which the user can select the correct generator for their intended wind turbine blades etc.

Q: I would buy this if I could source engineering components, eg. bearings, pulleys, belts, etc. to build my complete generator, can you recommend a catalogue supplier?
A: We buy from many Industrial Supply Catalogues and it's hard to understand why but simple pulley wheels are really expensive (about £20.00 each). You can pick up all sort of pulleys (and belts) from motor scrap dealers, new belts from car part suppliers and bearings from companies like Seager Bearings who have depots uk-wide.

Q: Do your PMG's need a gearbox?
A: These PMG's don't require a gearbox since they have been designed to produce a high power output at very low RPM's. The rectifier is used to convert the 3-Phase AC output from the generators into DC, for battery charging or any other application you feel would suit the output.

Q: What is the winding configuration of this generator?
A: The generators are all Delta wound.

Q: The PMG we received seems to take a lot of effort to rotate the unit when turning by hand?
A: If there's nothing connected to the output wires, and they're not shorted together, then the motor should be able to be turned by hand. It will 'cog' between poles as you rotate it. If you connect a 10W or 20W halogen bulb between any 2 of the 3 output wires and grip the axle in a vice, it should be possible to rotate the generator by hand to light the bulb. The generators have 16 poles and powerful magnets which do take a bit of a shove to move from pole to pole when just holding in the hand. This is perfectly normal and in fact when you have blades or a water wheel attached the extra leverage spins it really easily. If you cannot rotate the generator by hand at all, or it requires a lot of effort to even rotate it through only a few degrees, check that the output wires are not touching together, thus shorting out the output, thus acting as a massive electrical brake. If you have a digital multimeter, set it to measure 0 to 10 Ohms and measure the resistance between all pairs of output connections, ie. between any 2 of the 3 connections, then between the odd connection and each of the other 2. The reading should be between 1 and 2 ohms. If your meter reads a short circuit, then there may be an internal short between the wires inside the generator, and it should be returned for replacement.

Q: What is the IP rating of the generator? Will it need extra weather proofing? Can I charge 12v batteries and how do I drop the voltage. Is this covered in the circuit diagram?
A: The generators have no IP rating at present, and as such, you may want to add a protective spray coating on the outer face of the generator from time to time to limit the chances of degradation from a cosmetic point of view. They are suitable for continued use outdoors, but their outer paint finish will degrade through years of harsh exposure. To charge 12V batteries, simply connect the output of the 3-phase bridge rectifier to the batteries. As the RPM increases above around 200 rpm, the batteries will begin charging, further increases in the rpm will increase the charge current up to a maximum of 25 to 30A. Use a charge controller to limit the voltage of the batteries, to avoid overcharging.

Q: Do you think that a site 80 feet from the nearest neighbour will be ok for noise?
A: 80 feet should be fine. The only noise is that produced by the blades which is more of a whirring than anything else, louder in very high winds, but then the wind is noisy through trees anyway.

Q: I was hoping to use whatever energy I generate to heat water. Could you advise on the best way to proceed? I would also like some information on DC to AC inverters.
A: Beewind sell a 300 watt water heater which farmers seem to use, mainly for stopping troughs freezing in winter. They have a 1'' thread and can be screwed into your domestic immersion heater draincock hole. 300 watts however isn't going to heat very much water. We have found a USA made 1kw heater but it's expensive at around £90.00. We are currently testing a full blown Grid Tie Inverter which would enable you to connect directly to the mains. Should complete testing in the near future. It's not going to be cheap however at around £1100.00. There are lots of inexpensive 240 volt AC inverters around. CPC are as cheap as anyone and sell over the web. Prices vary according to wattage.

Q: Does it matter which way the PMG spins?
A: All our PMG's operate identically in both directions.

Q: We are running a micro-hydro system using a pelton wheel.   I am unsure of the exact RPM of the system but I'm sure its too high to charge 12v direct using your generator and anyway higher voltage is better because it has to travel!   I was wondering if it is possible (do you have the technology (ie. a 3 phase transformer) ) to drop the voltage before rectifying it and charging a 12v battery?
A: Sounds like an interesting project, but unfortunately we don't have a 3 phase transformer that we'd suggest you could use. If you try RS components, they supply all kinds of transformers so you may be able to get one from there. If you connect our PMG's to 12V and try to rotate them fast (above 600RPM) the power output will be over 1kW, which is a lot of current. A suitable transformer may therefore be hard to find.

Q. Our intention is to use a wind powered generator output to supplement the heating of an existing circulated hot water heating system. The site is an open rural location. We would like to avoid having to have banks of lead acid batteries and would like to feed the heater element directly with the output from the wind generator. From our researches we know that there are heater elements and associated pipework that can be incorporated into existing circulated hot water circuits and this is what we would like to power from the wind generator. The problem will be locating a low voltage heating element. The 3 phase output of the generator will probably necessitate doing a DC conversion and feeding this to the heater element.|
A. If your intention is to make the in-line heating tank with associate paperwork, then just use 12V 300W elements from eBay and connect them in series to give 36V or 48V worth of heaters. This will then let you drive them directly form the turbine, which will produce around 1200W at 48V, ideal for 4 x 300W 12V heating elements. This would save you trying to get into DC conversion, which isn't easy, and would keep your circuitry low voltage (under 50V) which is deemed to be safe.

Q.Can you recommend a 3 phase rectifier and if you have its cost. Also the only inverters I can find are rated up to 600w do you know of any of higher power and not too expensive. What are your thoughts on direct connection to a conventional 240v heating appliance, e.g. some form of immersion water heater or do you know of any low voltage equivalents?
A. The 3 phase rectifier kit we use consists of 3 single phase rectifiers. This is the lowest cost way of rectifying 3 phase to our knowledge. The kits are £16.20 each. There are inverters rated up to 8kW available, of which you'll find most of them on eBay. We currently do not sell inverters but aim to do so in the near future. There are low voltage immersion heater elements available which are designed to operate on 12V or 48V. These fit into the drain plug of a standard heating tank. You could connect the turbine to an immersion heater element, but a 3kW element will only produce around 130W, so would not act as a suitable load. A 9kW shower element will give you about 400W at 48V and this is slightly better than using an immersion heater.