Home Power #4 (excerpts from original article 1988) photos current 2009
LOCATION OF SITE
My wife Beverly and I live on the western edge of the Colville
Indian Reservation in North Central Washington. Our 80 acres
lies on the top of a plateau (elev. 2600 feet) with little, but
barbed wire to stop the wind. In addition to the wind, we have
good solar potential with an average of 4.1 sun hours per day.
We have no hydro power potential.
I started thinking seriously about alternative energy around
1965, and moved slowly in that direction until, finally, our home
is 100% powered by alternative energy. I looked, briefly into
bringing power lines in, but with costs in the neighborhood of
$20,000, we figured that we could build a system for less.
Paying for access to a power line would give us the privilege of
paying a monthly power bill for the rest of our lives. This high
cost was our excuse to do what we wanted to do in the first
place and that was to produce all of our own power.
Windpower System
The old Kohlers are very durable, since they are built of cast
iron and turn only 1,000 to 1,200 RPM. I found ours in the
back of an old garage and the owner was glad to take the $250
that I offered to get it out of the way.
The heart of our system, the Bergey BWC-1000, is an up wind,
horizontal axis windplant which uses propeller blades that are
rigidly attached to the alternator can, but are free to twist about
their longitudinal axis. A pitch weight projects forward from the
leading edge of each blade. As the RPM increases, the weight
tends to twist the fiber glass blade toward a lower pitch angle,
thereby improving aerodynamic performance. Bergey
employs, what they call an Autofurl™ tail assembly which
automatically turns the machine out of the wind, when speed
exceeds 32 MPH. In one 23 1/2 hour period, we had average
wind speeds of 76 1/2 MPH, with violent gusting, but the
BWC-1000 handled it.
The brain of the system is the EMS-4 controller. This unit
protects the battery storage system from overcharging or
excessive discharge. If the batteries are fully charged, the
EMS-4 will automatically divert the power to an alternate load.
5 colored lights on the front of the EMS-4 tell, at a glance, what
mode the system is in. Rocker switches allow override of
normal switching functions.
The batteries were built especially for our use by Charger
Battery Co. of Okanogan, Washington. Though not as heavy
or powerful as the Trojan L16W, we did not have to pay the
high shipping costs normally associated with batteries, and the
entire set of 20 cost only $1270.00. They should last at least
10 years under the conditions that we use them. They are
stored in a room inside the house that is dedicated to electrical
A Working Wind/PV System
Gerald L. Ames Sr.
LOCATION OF SITE
My wife Beverly and I live on the western edge of the Colville
Indian Reservation in North Central Washington. Our 80 acres
lies on the top of a plateau (elev. 2600 feet) with little, but
barbed wire to stop the wind. In addition to the wind, we have
good solar potential with an average of 4.1 sun hours per day.
We have no hydro power potential.
I started thinking seriously about alternative energy around
1965, and moved slowly in that direction until, finally, our home
is 100% powered by alternative energy. I looked, briefly into
bringing power lines in, but with costs in the neighborhood of
$20,000, we figured that we could build a system for less.
Paying for access to a power line would give us the privilege of
paying a monthly power bill for the rest of our lives. This high
cost was our excuse to do what we wanted to do in the first
place and that was to produce all of our own power.
Windpower System
The old Kohlers are very durable, since they are built of cast
iron and turn only 1,000 to 1,200 RPM. I found ours in the
back of an old garage and the owner was glad to take the $250
that I offered to get it out of the way.
The heart of our system, the Bergey BWC-1000, is an up wind,
horizontal axis windplant which uses propeller blades that are
rigidly attached to the alternator can, but are free to twist about
their longitudinal axis. A pitch weight projects forward from the
leading edge of each blade. As the RPM increases, the weight
tends to twist the fiber glass blade toward a lower pitch angle,
thereby improving aerodynamic performance. Bergey
employs, what they call an Autofurl™ tail assembly which
automatically turns the machine out of the wind, when speed
exceeds 32 MPH. In one 23 1/2 hour period, we had average
wind speeds of 76 1/2 MPH, with violent gusting, but the
BWC-1000 handled it.
The brain of the system is the EMS-4 controller. This unit
protects the battery storage system from overcharging or
excessive discharge. If the batteries are fully charged, the
EMS-4 will automatically divert the power to an alternate load.
5 colored lights on the front of the EMS-4 tell, at a glance, what
mode the system is in. Rocker switches allow override of
normal switching functions.
The batteries were built especially for our use by Charger
Battery Co. of Okanogan, Washington. Though not as heavy
or powerful as the Trojan L16W, we did not have to pay the
high shipping costs normally associated with batteries, and the
entire set of 20 cost only $1270.00. They should last at least
10 years under the conditions that we use them. They are
stored in a room inside the house that is dedicated to electrical
A Working Wind/PV System
Gerald L. Ames Sr.
Our primary source of power is a Bergey BWC-1000
windplant which feeds 20 each 6 volt, 250 ampere-hour
lead acid, deep cycle golf cart batteries, wired in series to
deliver 120 volts DC. This power is used almost exclusively
for home lighting, and is an improvement over the kerosene
lamps of two years ago. We have a Kohler 110 volt
generator for backup but rarely use
it, due to the frequent winds. Integrating the 110 volt
generator into our 120 volt system required only a slight
increase in engine RPM to boost the voltage to within
operating limits. One thing to watch for when buying one of
the numerous old Kohlers which can be found lying around,
is to be sure the generator produces the type of power you
need. Kohler built both AC and DC generators and the
difference is not readily apparent. The quickest way to tell if
it's AC or DC, is to examine the generator section of the unit.
If it is DC, it will have 4 field coils, if it is AC, it will have 6 field
coils.
windplant which feeds 20 each 6 volt, 250 ampere-hour
lead acid, deep cycle golf cart batteries, wired in series to
deliver 120 volts DC. This power is used almost exclusively
for home lighting, and is an improvement over the kerosene
lamps of two years ago. We have a Kohler 110 volt
generator for backup but rarely use
it, due to the frequent winds. Integrating the 110 volt
generator into our 120 volt system required only a slight
increase in engine RPM to boost the voltage to within
operating limits. One thing to watch for when buying one of
the numerous old Kohlers which can be found lying around,
is to be sure the generator produces the type of power you
need. Kohler built both AC and DC generators and the
difference is not readily apparent. The quickest way to tell if
it's AC or DC, is to examine the generator section of the unit.
If it is DC, it will have 4 field coils, if it is AC, it will have 6 field
coils.
The a quarter circle ranch's wind/solar system
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GERALD LEE AMES
