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Energy Booklet 6
Energy Booklet 6
SWGs are
Local manufacture of wind available on the market through more than 50
turbines for battery charging manufacturers. Yet the technology has not made inroads
into developing country markets (with the singular
exception of Mongolia). Again the problems revolve
around the need to make the technology affordable,
Small wind generators to power batteries accessible and locally appropriate.
in Peru and Sri Lanka
ITDG has developed a small wind generator (SWG) ITDG’s work with wind generation in Peru and Sri Lanka,
intended primarily for battery charging in Peru and Sri backed by the UK government’s Department for
Lanka. The project aims to provide rural households and International Development, set out to tackle these
communities who do not have access to mains electricity problems from the start.
with a form of electrification.
Researching the market
The generator design is based on the following: This project has been developed to ensure that SWGs
● Output – 16kWh/month in a typical wind have the greatest chance of being accepted long-term in
regime both countries. This has been done by:
● Cut-in wind speed – 3m/s ● researching the needs of the market,
● Rated wind speed is taken as 8 m/s ● designing the SWG with these needs in mind,
● Tip speed ratio – 5 ● ensuring that local manufacture can supply the
Pouring resin onto ● Output to battery at rated speed – 100 W. market,
coils in stator, Lurin Peru. ● Rotor diameter – 1.7m ● ensuring that local institutions exist to ensure a long
● To be able to manufacture in a small product life.
metal workshop with basic tools and
equipment The research showed that the needs and characteristics
● The machine to be fully assembled on of the markets in the two countries naturally differ. Using
the ground and erected with the help of the same basic technology, distinct approaches to the
a gin pole non-technical issues are required in the two countries to
ensure that the technology becomes locally appropriate.
The axial air-gap generator has eight
magnets on the rotor and six coil assemblies
encapsulated in a fibreglass iron-free stator.
Potential for small wind generators
Peru
This arrangement results in a 3-phase output
which is rectified before entering a charge In Peru, rural people who live in small villages have
controller and the battery. more access to electricity options than people who are
dispersed throughout the countryside. Villagers with no
mains electricity use vehicle batteries to supply their
Hugh Piggott
Sri Lanka
Around 300 000 car batteries are said to be in domestic
use in Sri Lanka. Here they are mainly used to power
information services such as radio and television for a
20 Technology...is only half the story Technology...is only half the story 21
few hours per day, kerosene being the The selling price of the SWG will make it difficult for the
main lighting fuel. Typical household very poor to afford, but it may be possible to establish a
demand is 16kWh per month. small business of battery charging for two or three
homes. ITDG will also draw upon the lessons of its
With this market information, two uses for success in establishing innovative financing for micro-
SWGs have been identified which could hydro in Peru.
make the technology sustainable.
Personal ownership allows all the output Future developments in marketing the wind
from the generator to be used by one turbine
household; where there is excess energy In Sri Lanka, a wind project research team has been
this can be used to charge neighbours’ formed which aims to promote the technology locally, as
batteries for a small fee. Community well as making improvements to SWG design. In Peru,
battery recharging makes available a there has already been interest in the prototype model
convenient local facility to reduce the cost by customers and manufacturers.
and time involved in existing
arrangements. Two manufacturing manuals are being produced, one
covering generator manufacture, the other covering the
Local manufacture rotor and mechanical component manufacture. These
The size of the market in Peru is large will be disseminated to local manufacturers in both
enough to be viable and there is the local countries. A more general booklet for development
capacity to manufacture small generators organisations and other interested parties is also being
completely. Some components need to be produced which will be disseminated widely.
imported, such as magnets, and off-the-
shelf bearings are used. Fibreglassing
Hugh Piggott
22 Technology...is only half the story Technology...is only half the story 23