Wind Condtions for a Wind generatior

[Barry555]

Hi anyone,

This is our first visit to BM and we wanted to ask those experienced what the wind conditions are on the playa?

We are looking at bringing a wind generator (Wind Generator turbine Kit 850 12/24/48 DC PM Motor NEW) for some power.

Any information on the wind conditions there???

Thanks,
B

[illy dilly]

Welcome!
The wind conditions are.... Windy. And Dusty.
The wind is pretty steady most of the day. It is atleast always a breeze. Rarely is the air very still.

[weather man]

Hi Barry,

Generally,,,,
From the SW
Calm at daybreak, winds pick up late morning 10-20mph and then lay down at sunset.
There will be 2 or 3 or 10 "dust storms" during the week with sustained winds of 25+ that last last several hours or days.

I saw that rig on eBay. It looks interesting. I'm gonna have to check out some of the spinnie propeller things I see on the playa this year.

[Bay Bridge Sue]

Warning - Gusts to 70+ MPH are the norm... Whatever you do make sure it is WELL anchored down. You do NOT want your genny to come tumbling down, or worse, flying onto another camp. Seen it happen before, it is NOT a pretty site.

Dust? Expect to clean everything inside and out. Including your generator. When they talk about sustained white-outs they are not joking.

[jkisha]

Hey there, welcome to eplaya!

Have questions? Read this first: http://www.burningman.com/first_timers/
Everybody on eplaya is always excited to help first timers; but in sympathy for some of us old timers, please get your required reading out of the way before posting. As hard as it is to rein in the the excitement and enthusiasm, and as unbelievable as it might seem, most of your questions have already been asked and answered, if you just take a moment to read.

Now, let the adventure begin!

[Bob]

<snip>
Any information on the wind conditions there???

Try contacting someone with the AEZ. They're pretty much solar, though.

http://ae-zone.org/

[Tiahaar]

From experience, 1) have a blocking diode beefy enough to handle max current with plenty of headroom. If it opens up (or some other part of your connection to the batteries opens) the wind generator will freewheel, and in strong winds (like mentioned by Bay Bridge Sue up above) that will be very fast indeed. Which leads to 2) have a heavy duty double throw battery switch that both disconnects the wind generator from the battery banks and shorts the generator leads together. That brakes the turbine, keeps it from spinning when you don't want it to, and halts a runaway. One of those marine Off/A/B/A+B battery switches can be wired to do this. Happy power generating!

Hornet PMA wind turbine on top of my bus