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Westwind Turbines
NEWS
Our Business History

31 July 2008
 

Westwind Wind Turbines was started by an enthusiastic engineer, Geoff Hill, in Western Australia

Geoff had experience in wind energy after being commissioned to build grid tie machines; in it would appear in the sub 100kw class in the 1980s, Most of these turbines are still operating

There are many manufacturers of large grid tie commercial turbines today who would be very proud of the reliability Geoff achieved with these early machines

However, despite Geoff’s interests and wonderful design,  Australia with its large coal reserves had no need for his wind power and the attention towards his product faded. Geoff didn’t fade away however after interest was minimal, he began to sell and manufacture Bergey wind turbines in the

Australian market and did this for some time. Bergey turbines were respected and regarded by him as a well designed machine (please remember Geoff’s perfectionist characteristics, so you know that this machine was good.)

At this time, the Australian government had a slight upturn in its interest for renewable energy, and Geoff seized upon this upturn, designing the first Westwind wind turbines (prior to the later generator version).

 

 

Geoff approached designs with a monoque chassis and tail boom, the advantage of this was that there was no fibreglass nacelle to resonate with the generator; so a quieter wind turbine could be created. The combined body / chassis was also stronger and lighter than separate items; similar to the era when the auto-industry left the separate chassis behind.  The chassis part were to be hot dip galvanised, just like today, to improve the quality of manufacture and prolong lifespan.

 

The slip ring and brush assembly could now be housed internally,  which was beneficial for damp humid areas, as there is an insignificant chance of dust collecting in the brushes to accelerate component wear.

 

The design of the generator incorporated large robust taper roller bearings; this superior design issue (relating to the choice of bearings) in comparison to competitors is only now being brought to your attention (these bearings be seen on another section of this section).

 

In the background work was continuing, funded by the Australian government, to design revolutionary range of PM (permanent magnet) generators; the generator that many other turbine manufacturers would later adapt into their design. After continuous testing of slots & windings, an optimum PM generator with rare earth magnets and 95% efficiency was produced. It was so much more efficient that the same blade and swept area had been given a 35% increase in power right across the operating range The generator would be sealed due to there being so little waste heat; any excess air circulating around the inner void could transmit more than enough heat to the outer wall, even in extreme climates. Sealing the generator stopped any chance of dust collection, especially metal particles carried in the air, a problem that troubled those before who used these very powerful magnets (as particles would have previously been liable to collect and damage the generator.

Again, like the huge bearings, there was little mention of this generator design being so much of a move forward - It is still a leader in design today.

 

The next design issue for Geoff was the ‘Westwind controller’.

Most of Westwinds production back then was 24V,48V and 120V stand alone battery systems. There was various types of charge controllers on the market that operated a large resistor when

the battery bulk charge was reached; poor in design as it was difficult to get the batteries up without over charging them. When the element switched on, the voltage would plummet as the element had to be at least the turbines maximum output. Bulk charge volts have to be held for some time before a large deep cycle battery is fully charged. The smaller machines could rely on zennor diodes which could be made to limit voltage level, however zennor diodes were not practical for machines in this size range. Another method was to let  the turbine run free when the required voltage  was reached, this was very noisy and definitely not pleasant to live with.

Geoff saw these flaws and designed a PWM ( pulse width modulation ) charge controller that sends excess energy to a large resistor, but in a controlled fashion. It allowed for the voltage level to rise to a preset level, and to “chop” current to the resister. In whatever situation, the volts remained at the correct level. Many wind turbine manufacturers have since have adopted this principle, but never has another able to hold such a constant level. The new controller could be run without a battery connected; this was unknown at the time, and a great safety feature. The  reliability of this controller has been second to none, in the two years since UK ownership we have never had a customer requiring a spare part or replacement.

 

Geoff continued the design of his range, seeking design perfection once more, by designing a 20kW wind turbine that was to contain the 95% generator and all the robust Westwind internal components. This larger turbine however would require blade pitch control, an engineering issue that many have tried to achieve, but failed to perfect. The 20kW’s superiority was to be apparent in every way; it was extensively tested by Murdock University, Australia, as were the rest of the range previously. The 20kW did not require a gearbox, and surely was the first of its kind, and once more the very conservative man, Geoff, did not ‘sing its praises’ highly enough. He was content to make his turbines in his own way and sell them, we at Westwind UK however feel he enjoyed the challenge and did not worry about marketing the product; it sold itself to those who discovered it.

 

 
 

Westwind feel that you may also wish to know how the company moved to the U.K, and about any improvements since the move…

Our Production Manger here, Dermot Kyle, is another enthusiastic of part of our team. From an early age he would have been involved in Lister DC AC sets etc, and had access to a Lucas Freelight at his home; so he had from an early stage a keen interest in power production. He began to become engrossed in the ‘green energy’ move during 1984, learning to understand the peak oil concept prior to anyone hearing about it.

He himself has…

 

Ø        A 3kW stand alone system of wind power

Ø        A 2kW system of PV (on the same stand alone as above

Ø        A 4kW system of solar water heating

Ø        A 5kW system of PV on a grid / heat system

Ø        And finally a pole, which would be suited to our 3 -10kW turbine, on this same grid / heat system. This pole will be one of our test poles and part of the testing regime for Westwind’s up and coming new multi-channel heating / dump controls.

Ø        If our interest and experience isn’t evident enough by now, as we wish for our customers to have complete belief in our knowledge, this next section outlines the J.A. Graham Renewable Energy Services history

Ø    We installed the first 20kW Jacobs here in Ireland

Ø        Andrew Graham, Dermot Kyle and Rodney Douglas (who still work within our company) installed the first Atlantic Orient in Ireland

Ø        The first 10kW Bergey was also installed here

Ø        In addition to these, and since this time, J.A. Graham Services continued to install countless Jacobs, Provens etc machines

Ø        We installed the first, of what now has become our own, Westwind turbine here. The arrival of this new machine was investigated thoroughly by Andrew & Dermot; and Andrew, who was once Provens largest installer here in the U.K. and had colossal experience in this business, was overwhelmed by the quality of the turbine

Ø        Andrew, although wouldn’t regard himself as ‘green’ with his 20kW of PV and 30kW of wind power, has had an interest in wind power from childhood, carving his first set at blades at 14 years of age

Ø        At around 16, Andrew was flying his Lucas Freelight, and had rewound Lucas alternators to suit a low rpm. This Lucas Freelight is still in our possession today, and there is a good chance that it will be on display in the hall of our new factory

Ø        Andrew bought his first 2.5kW Proven in Scotland and brought the lot home in an Astra van

Ø        J.A. Graham Services later became the Proven installer in the province, and then Provens largest installer   

Ø        As did they become the regional installer for Jacobs then, installing just over 140 of these

Ø        We also installed various other turbines such as Bergeys, Atlantic Orients etc

 
 

Thanks, The Westwind Team

 
 

 


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