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Choosing Windpower by Hugh PiggottDecember 1, 2006 A review by Paul Gipe Hugh Piggott is one of the English-speaking world's true experts on small wind turbines, especially for off-the-grid applications. (There may be other authorities on small wind turbines out there working in other languages, but I don't know who they are.) When I have a question, I turn to Hugh. Choosing Windpower is CAT's update of Hugh's well received "It's a Breeze". While CAT's promotional copy claiming that this slim publication is "the definitive guide" for using wind power off-the-grid is a bit over the top, it is a useful volume for the do-it-yourselfers that CAT has catered to for more than two decades. Hugh brings his no-nonsense style to bear on the subject and covers all the necessary bases in as few words as possible. I suspect that the book is a handy accompaniment to Hugh's workshops on building your own working wind turbine, though I haven't been to one of his programs in several years. What I find most helpful is Hugh's inclusion of photos of several wind turbines in his book that we don't often see over here on this side of the pond: Proven, Bornay, Ampair, and Marlec. He has also included some telling photos of both good and bad siting, including one Marlec sheltered along a row of trees. (The turbine should last a very long time since it won't be turning that much!) Ever a gentleman, Hugh politely advises in Choosing Windpower that rooftop mounting "is not usually a good idea" and proceeds to show a photo of two much ballyhooed Swift turbines mounted on a commercial building. He does admonish that the enthusiasm for rooftop mounting that has swept Britain "is a worrying trend" and suggests that wind turbines in such installations will simply become "expensive toys". Choosing Windpower is a gem of a little book on small wind turbines. Choosing Windpower by Hugh Piggott, paper, 111 mm x 175 mm, 116 pages, diagrams, charts, tables and photographs, ring-bound, ISBN 1-90217-531-X, £7.99, 2006, Centre for Alternative Technology, Machynlleth, Powys, SY20 9AZ, Wales. +44 01654 705950; pubs@cat.org.uk; www.cat.org.uk/catpubs. Table of Contents
Types of wind system How to use this book Economics Lifestyle implications Reliability The case studies
Inverters Batteries Battery system management Wind turbine 'controllers' Photovoltaic (PV) solar electric panels Safety The case studies
Tower position and height Other considerations How this applies to the case studies Section 4: Understanding wind turbine specifications Appendix 1: Glossary Appendix 2: Market survey Appendix 3: Useful equations Appendix 4: Web links -End- |