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Wind Turbine Design Conference: Feb 25 - Mar 1, Bluefields, Nicaragua
blueEnergy hosted a wind turbine design conference at its facility in Bluefields, Nicaragua, in late February, 2008. The main goal was to create and study several options to increase the robustness of blueEnergy's small wind turbine, then make some decisions on which design to hone in on moving forward. We succeeded in building all three models we had planned to and ran a considerable number of tests to inform our design decisions moving forward.
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On-site Conference Participants: Back row standing - Felix Rios, Ismael Castillo, Rich Carlsen, Danni Wilson, Bruno Borgarino, Octavio Batlazar, Stephanie Beurrot, Gerson David, Denver "Heavy" Hamilton, Sarah Mayles, François Racape, Guillaume Craig, Roger Antonio, Sébastien Lohr, Marie Roussel; Middle row kneeling - Ronald Quintana, Charles d'Argencé, Maxime Goursaud, Julie Zarka, Mathias Craig, Gilberto Jose; Front row sitting - George Claus, Dan Bartmann, Dan Fink (Missing from picture because he was taking it - Ben Hyman). Remote participants included Hugh Piggott, Christian Casillas and Ian Taylor.
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We were honored to have the Otherpower.com crew (Dan Bartmann, Dan Fink, Rich Carlsen and George Clous) with us on the ground in Nicaragua and to have the remote advising of Hugh Piggott. For Otherpower.com the conference provided an insight into the challenges of operating in an environment like the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua while their practical knowledge represented a treasure trove for blueEnergy's local employees and volunteers. blueEnergy's goal is to make Bluefields the capital of small-scale wind power in Central America and this conference certainly strengthened its case.
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Dan Bartmann of Otherpower.com explains how a wind turbine alternator matches with its blade rotor.
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The Otherpower crew discusses design issues with blueEnergy's Sébastien Lohr and Mathias Craig.
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Bruno Borgarino and Danni Wilson wire up a new stator.
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Bruno Borgarino, Stephanie Beurrot, Sébastien Lohr and Maxime Goursaud seal the mold to cast a new stator.
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George Clous of Otherpower welds the body of the blueDiamond machine.
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Guillaume Craig and Ronald Quintana describe the plant activities to 60 visiting professors and scholars.
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Maxime Goursaud and Sébastien Lohr use blueEnergy's new test bench equipment to test a new alternator.
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Danni Wilson and Denver Hamilton adjust the blueDiamond wind turbine while others look on.
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The two new designs built:
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GreenMachine (Piggott Gryreum Inspired)
• 37% reduction of heat dissipated in alternator
• 11% increase in efficiency |
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blueDiamond (Otherpower inspired)
• 53% reduction of heat dissipated in alternator
• 18% increase in efficiency |
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blueEnergy QuickFacts:
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Number of Installations:
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11
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| Number of Communities Served: |
6
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| Total Number of Beneficiaries: |
1,500
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| Installed Capacity (kW): |
11
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| Number of Local Employees: |
14
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| Total Number of Historical Volunteers: |
110+
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