Check out the VBINE Wind Turbine, a recent addition to the Factor IV area, which will harness the power of wind to power the AFRESH home.
The VBINE is a project from the GAIT research group. It is a vertical axis wind turbine with power of 5 kW at wind speed of 12 m/s. The VBINE starts rotating at low wind speed (2.1 m/s) making it an interesting product in areas where mother nature does not create strong winds on a regular basis.
More details:
BC Hydro purchased and donated to BCIT this vertical axis wind turbine from VBINE Energy, a firm based in Saskatchewan. The wind turbine has been physically installed on a fifty foot pole equipped with a hydraulic raising and lowering system in close proximity to BCIT’s AFRESH home and is electrically connected to the AFRESH home.
The purpose of this project is to connect the VBINE to the AFRESH home’s electrical system; to install data communication gear to monitor electrical generation of the wind turbine; and to integrate this generation data into GAIT’s EMS. In the bigger picture, the overall purpose of installing the VBINE is to research integration issues of renewable energy sources such as wind into grid-connected and off-grid scenarios. The VBINE installation also provides BCIT students and faculty novel educational opportunities as this is BCIT’s first wind turbine installation.
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