A classic horizontal axis wind turbine has the appearance of a large fan, placed on top of a supporting pole, often when it’s small is equipped with an helm for the orientation to the wind, this part, if low quality, creates vibrations and can be very noisy. The generator of the machine is parallel to the ground. The yield is affected by the wind direction rate of change.
The Etneo horizontal axis wind turbine is realized with rotors provided with aerodynamic curves able to pick up the wind from the rear and able of accelerating its speed, thus increasing the production capacity. The turbine does not have the rudder thus minimizing vibration and noise, exploit the aerodynamic and the sail for the turbine orientation to the wind while maintaining minimum production losses.
A classic vertical axis wind turbine has the blades placed vertically in a ring around the axis of rotation, it may be of the Savonius type small and with low efficiency, or the Darrieus type with larger blades of various shapes and sizes with considerable weights and sometimes difficult to start with light winds. The efficiency of these machines is conditioned by the cyclical movement of the aerodynamic actions experienced by the blades during rotation. The generator is perpendicular to the ground.
The Etneo vertical axis wind turbine is also called hybrid because on the same axis mounts: the Savonius rotor oriented on the 4 cardinal points to start the rotation with the winds, the Darrieus rotor with three aerodynamic profile curved blades to increase efficiency and production capacity with moderate and strong winds. The 61400-2 certifications made for the 300W and 3kW turbines, certifications usually made only for big wind turbines, give confirmation of the real quality of the products.
The current legislation considers the installation of individual wind turbines on existing buildings with a height less than 1.5m and a diameter of less than 1m as normal activity for free building and therefore are subject only to inform the authorized municipality. In the case of wind farms different form the above ones, with a capacity below 60kW is required a PAS – enabler simplified procedure – which replaces the previously scheduled DIA.
For wind turbines with power ratings from 1 to 5kW the costs are, more or less, in the order of 5 to 6,000 € / kW for the installed product. However, there are many variables related to the installation location, the type of post needed for land rather than a roof building, to the devices coupled to the turbine such as on-grid inverter or storage systems; a correct assessment, by the suppliers and installers, of all the possibilities leads to the definition of a fair price with a reasonable payback time.
Etneo wind generators available for on-grid installations are the horizontal model A018 with 1,4kW, using ABB 3kW inverter and wind interface and the vertical model DS3000 with 3kW using ABB 3-3,6kW inverter. The A018 turbine is provided with 1,75mt pole and a control box to connect to the inverter while the DS3000 model comes with a control box for protection management and braking of the turbine.
All Etneo wind turbines can be used with storage systems, according to the power the storage is configured to 24 or 48V, each turbine is provided with a controller with MPPT management of the energy generation, security management and braking of the turbine, management of battery charging and, only for 24V generators, management of Led lights for the hybrid street lights installation. The energy storage solution is the best choice in combination with photovoltaic systems.
The monitoring of energy consumption is a very useful practice in order to understand the functioning of the electricity, very important component in the life of every thinking human being. This understanding helps people to manage the electrical appliances in their home, office, in general allows for positive action in a reduction of such consumption. See real-time numbers “kilowatt” when you turn on a device makes it clear how much this adds to the cost of the energy bill, then see the other number “kilowatt hour” which is the consumption over time suggests the total amount of energy that we used in a day. A monitoring system transforms these numbers, sometimes complex, in graphic data simple and intuitive.
The Etneo proposal is very simple and based on two types of products: monitoring via display with web option ready or monitoring only on the web. Let me explain better:
- Ensemble is the Etneo color display used to show real-time data of current fuel consumption and cumulative, graphics speedometer tells you how you consume instantly, sidebars instead show the daily consumption, there is historical aboard for one month and display of days of the week. It’s also possible to add the wireless smart plugs to know appliances consumption, the bridge to connect to the Internet that allows you to activate the web portal with the ability to see all the data in a more convenient way and from anywhere around the world.
- Owl is the Etneo solution via web to show real-time data of current fuel consumption and cumulative, only graphics for easy understanding, you only need to have an active internet connection in order to activate the web portal and smartphone application after which users can monitor their energy data rather than energy generated by their own pv installations.
A storage system is a set of equipment that allows you to store energy, generated from renewable sources, in a battery bank and then use it at any time. There are several storage systems with various working way and different products, listed below are some characteristics of those provided by Etneo Italy:
- Etneo storage for retrofit: the kit consists of home automation control panel with off-grid inverters, with various power sizes, control unit for automatic activation of the loads, remote monitoring system connected to the Internet, sets with 24 or 48V battery pack. This system is installed where a photovoltaic system already exists and it’s able to increase the share of energy self-consumed, reducing the amount fed into the grid, without changing the flow of the existing plant and hence no need for Enel or GSE requests, it can always be completed with the micro wind turbine option to help charging the batteries.
- Etneo storage for new plants with grid connection: the kit includes home automation control panel with grid inverters, with various power sizes, control unit for automatic activation of the loads, charge controllers for PV modules, remote monitoring system connected to the Internet, sets with 24 or 48V battery pack. This system is installed with new pv plants without any request for connection to the grid, it can always be completed with the micro wind turbine option to help charging the batteries.
- Etneo storage for new installations without grid conneciton: the kit consists of grid inverters, with various power sizes, with MPPT charge controllers for PV modules, control panel of the system and control unit that monitors the network via LAN or via Internet. This system is installed in the absence of electricity network and become the main source of energy of the site, you can always add Micro wind generators as an option.
The advantages of storage systems are derived from the reduced use of energy drawn from the power grid, the cost saved on the bill is then proportional to the quality and size of the storage system installed. Today you can take advantage of the tax deduction for photovoltaic systems or for improving electrical system.
The choice of the batteries is essential for the proper functioning of the storage systems and especially for the life of the battery bank. The offering today is very wide such as types of batteries such as price range, therefore it’s difficult to choose well and it’s always better to rely on professional people help.
Etneo for their storage systems useLead AGM batteries or Lead Gel batteries in two models:
- Model AGM sealed maintenance free 12V with capacity 100-120A connected to get 24V for hybrid street lamps, these batteries are the best compromise price/quality to ensure an autonomy of 3/5 days to hybrid street lights powered by solar panel and micro wind turbine.
- Model Gel flat positive plates 12V with capacity from 100 to 200A, these are then connected in series and/or parallel to obtain 24-48V or to increase capacity, their cost is contained and the life cycles are about 1000 with a percentage of discharge never higher than 50%.
- Model Gel positive tubular plates from 2V with capacity ranging from 220A to over 3000A, these are then connected in series and/or parallel to obtain 24-48V or to increase capacity, their cost is higher, due to many more life cycles: about 2000-2500, with a percentage of discharge never higher than 50%.
The suggestions for the better use of gel batteries are mainly linked to the percentage of discharge, if it’s between 40 and 50% the life of batteries is definitely longer and better operation. There are also solutions that leverage the Lithium technology ensuring less space and a chance to deep discharge up to 85%, the cost of this solution is still high in residential business but already good for commercial/industrial business.
Etneo storage systems are based on reliable and powerful machines, that did their story in the first stand alone pv installations before the FIT era. The two brands used for our proposals are Schneider electric and Studer, the power electronics inside these inverter is synonymous of reliability and quality as well as longevity.
Here are some characteristics of the products:
- All Schneider solutions are able to handle peak power for nearly double the nominal power, for periods of time from 1 to 30 minutes, this allows the inverter to work optimally in the presence of engines, water pumps, devices that have very high consumption when switched on.
- The machines Conext SW and XW+ can be put in parallel in both single-phase and three-phase and work with other devices via Modbus connection, which makes them manageable simultaneously from a single control panel or by the web.
- All Studer solutions are equipped with the certificated “Boost system” thanks to which draw from the mains only the portion of missing energy to power the loads; every inverter allows passage of current up to 50A: for example, the inverter 2,6kW may allow a transfer of power up to 11kW and therefore can be installed on existing photovoltaic systems rated at 6kWp.
- All the control boxes for retrofit are pre-wired and complete with all accessories including monitoring system, it must be added only an external differential depending on the type of PV system exists.
