THE production costs are known and the turbine has been proven over the past year, so let the selling begin, said Doug Clark, designer of a wind turbine specifically for New Zealand conditions.
Mr Clark erected his portable turbine on-site at the Central Districts Field Days in March, and attracted a huge crowd.
“We got a fantastic response from the field days,” he said, “with well over 1000 visitors.
“But we weren’t there to sell it – just to gauge the interest in the product.
“I told them to wait as it wasn’t proven and we had yet to plan our production techniques. Now we are confident we have achieved viability and can sell at a very competitive price.”
Doug is an energetic near-80-year-old Hawke’s Bay engineer, with a long history of design engineering and building innovative products.
He said he always wanted to build a turbine, but didn’t have time earlier in his life – too busy working as a precision and electrical engineer, then at sea in the Navy followed by dairy farming and involvement in other designing and building projects.
Over the past three years, he designed and built two prototype wind turbines and tested the 11 kW power generator on his small Hastings farm.
Doug said he designed the Turbine Power machine to be low maintenance and portable, so it can be shifted if the owner relocates.
“Our turbine is designed to arrive on the back of a truck and be put up in four hours on a near-level site, and it doesn’t need a trained engineer to look after it,” he said.
“All the components are available in New Zealand and will be for the next 20 years – I wasn’t interested in anything that might be going out of manufacture.
“It doesn’t even really need servicing,” he added, “although the machine should be checked and the blades cleaned every six months for maximum efficiency – but I can’t see many farmers lowering it down twice a year to do that – they are too busy.”
The turbine is designed to generate power from low-velocity winds with a braking system to shut it off in a high wind.
“New Zealand winds can change very quickly and are a major cause of turbine failure, but our turbine has an efficient multi-disc mechanical brake operating adjacent to the propeller boss, which protects turbine and gearbox from shock loading through wind gusting,” he said.
Whereas many imported machines generate power at higher wind speeds, the Turbine Power system begins to turn at a set wind speed of about 2m/second and switches off at 5m/second he said.
“Plus it has very little increased noise from running on low-velocity winds.”
Wind speed data shows the turbine has an indicative capacity to generate 30,000 Watts/year in Hawke’s Bay conditions.
Doug said the turbine will supply the electricity needs of about three average-sized homes, but it is also ideal for running an irrigator or contributing to a dairy shed’s electricity needs.
The turbine is simplified by plugging it in and running it alongside the national grid, said Doug.
“The squirrel cage induction machine naturally runs at a constant speed controlled by the grid, so the sine wave is in sync and we don’t need an inverter,” he said.
“When the wind is blowing and the power is not being used it can be sold back to the power company at an agreed rate, so the machine has a good payback period.
Doug plans to produce three turbines monthly and said they are cheaper to buy than other machines on the market, selling for around $5200/kW, whereas other retail prices are up to $10,000/kW.
The low price reflects his expertise in local manufacture. His son is now involved in the website marketing and sales of the turbine, while he concentrates on design and manufacture.
“I’m pushing the boat out and letting the others do the paddling,” he said.
• Contact Doug Clark, phone 06 8766-688 or visit www.turbinepower.co.nz
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