Project Number: 6209-13610-006-13
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Oct 01, 2004
End Date: Sep 30, 2009

Objective:
Determine the power, reliability, and electrical stability of small wind electrical generation systems for farms and ranches. Incorporate a wind/hybrid generation systems into small village or large farm electrical grids. Develop an autonomous wind-electric livestock water pumping system using small wind turbines, standard electric motors, and high efficiency electric submersible pumps. Determine the performance and reliability of autonomous wind-electric pumping systems.

Approach:
Small (2-50 kW) autonomous wind electric wind turbines will be directly connected to standard submersible water pumps for lifting water from deep wells in remote areas or pumping water through a water desalination system. A controller will be designed to start and stop the pump motor to provide automatic operation of the entire system. These systems will be compared with both old mechanical windmill systems and new solar PV systems for efficiency, reliability, and costs. Wind/hybrid electric generation systems consist of wind turbines, diesel engines, and solar-electric panels connected together to supply needed electric power. A power electronics controller will be designed to integrate the generator so that the wind- and solar-generated electricity will be maximized and diesel fuel required will be minimized.