War of The Winds: Evolution
The current configuration of Vertical Axis Wind Turbines at Mezzacello Urban Farm.
This blogpost is a research update on the Vertical Axis Wind Turbines. I wrote a blog post War of the Winds. This is War of the Winds: Evolution. And I am still evolving my understanding of the way the wind interacts with the turbines on my farm.
Which Way The Wind Blows
At first I thought the issue with the second generation configuration of the VAWT systems were that they were too far away from the source of the wind; Broad Street traffic. I had the Blade VAWTs on the Bioreactor, 25m from Broad Street. Then I moved them to the north and south faces of sheds 1 and 2 (see map). But the north VAWTs were dramatically less efficient than the south turbines.
A 2024 Map of the Grounds at Mezzacello Urban Farm. The VAWTs are at the top of this map (Top = South)
However, the wind does not turn the westernmost turbine, even on the south face. The issue is the Brick Structure to the south of Mezzacello. Knowing this, and the data I am collecting on the power generation efficiency of each of the four turbines. I think I will need to transplant the western-most turbine to the location of the light over the arbor at the pond. There will be some energy lost in the added 6m to the power generation shed.
What The Data Shows
Data Test Date and Time: 2024-09-13-15:30-15:45
Atmospheric Data: Temp: 13C Wind: 28kph Precipitation: 0% Barometric: 76%
VAWT 1: 96W | VAWT 2: 98W | VAWT 3: 85W | VAWT 4: 45W | VAWT 5: 5W | VAWT 6: 2W
Solar Array 1: 76W | Solar Array 2: 78W | Solar Array 3: 96W | Solar Array 4: 95W Solar Array 5: 37W
A Google Map image showing the Layout of the VAWTs at Mezzacello and the General Direction of the Wind.
In the data and the image above, you can clearly see the issues with the placement of VAWT systems, the wind, the distance from the street and the position of the building to the south of Mezzacello. The Clinic Pharmacy building is a two-story structure that blocks nearly all wind from the street, and most of the wind traveling north from the south. By moving VAWT 4 to the east of VAWT 1 I may be able to recover more wind.
