Loading...Brian's Morning Newsletter
Friday, April 15 2011
Good Morning
Renewables losing momentum? Well of course they are, after all what have any of us done to further the cause?
The capitalistic-fascists are running the show now. They don't care about anything that has to do with people.
Here is a headline from MSNBC Nell just sent me, being an ex-teacher she notices these things: Detroit to send layoff notices to all its public teachers
Las Vegas, NM on the other hand, has a brand-new million dollar sidewalk. That's right folks, school teachers are being laid off, but somehow the government found the money to install a sidewalk on Seventh Street for a whopping $895,000. My brother asked while we shared a ride to doctors visits last week, "It's a million for sidewalks on both sides, right?" It had not even occurred to me that they might do both sides for a million bucks. This doesn't address my point, exactly, well maybe, but, WTF???
Why are we spending trillions in Afghanistan, when we can't pay teachers? Pentagon spending in February, the most recent month available, was $6.7 billion in Afghanistan compared with $5.5 billion in Iraq. As recently as fiscal year 2008, Iraq was three times as expensive; in 2009, it was twice as costly.
Sigh. I'm surprised Americans are putting up with this insanity. Perhaps I shouldn't be.
So yesterday was my first day off from Physical Therapy in more than a month, I do get 8 more sessions if I want them. Honestly, I am encouraged by our insurance's complete coverage of my physical therapy. With the state of the world as we know it, I need all the encouragement I can get.
Anyway, or regardless, or whatever, I spent the day in my wonderful little renewable energy shop yesterday. This felt very good. Jackson joined me after a while. We had a nice fire going, because damn it was colder than a witches' titty yesterday, and windier than hell too. The project at hand is building a new stator for our axial flux wind turbine. The old stator cracked, and generally wasn't built very well to begin with.
Stator-Coils-Winder- A stator is the stationary component in a motor or alternator. Our stator is flat with the coils positioned axially, as opposed to radially like most motors and alternators. I can provide more information about axial flux alternators if you like. Nell just commented that yesterday's BMN was good and the quantity and quality of comments proves it. I mention this because I can provide links and information to requests in the comments. When you write in the comment field, I know I'm on track with my newsletter.
Stator-Coils, Winding coils is somewhat akin to patting ones head while rubbing ones tummy in a circular motion. There are three main issues to pay close attention to: Guiding copper in a neat and orderly fashion around and round. Keeping consistent tension on the cooper so the overall shape of the coil is uniform. Last but not least is counting while doing the first two. It may sound easy, but be assured it is not. Stop for a second to guide the copper to a better place and always remember that if you lose count even once the coil won't be the same as the others, which they absolutely must be, because each coils makes a specific quantity of electricity. There are nine coils wired in three pairs creating three phase alternating current. I know this is probably gibberish to many of you, sorry. The important thing here is I know what I am doing. It would be nice if you wanted to know how this works, and I'd be happy to answer to the best of my understanding.
Stator-Coils-Winder- Here is the modified winder. The last time we used our winder, it had an 1'8th inch plywood disk on the right. That plywood was too thin and it wasn't keeping the copper in place properly. I made a new disk yesterday employing 1/2 inch thick plywood. It worked much better.
Stator-Coils-Winder, Closer view of the new plywood disk. The pins control the inside shape of the coils. There is a sleeve with a hex-key set-screw which holds the two disks in place. When done counting off 73 wraps of #14 copper, I release the set screw, and gingerly remove the coil taping the copper wire in place until we're ready to solder the coils together in a star configuration. See Star Delta transform
Stator-Coils-Winder, I wound seven coils and was starting on the next of nine needed when I noticed the copper was about to run out.
Not a problem, thanks to BMNer Mackenzie Thatcher. He had sent us what he called " a remnant," from the place he works. Although this copper has a slightly different color coating it is the same gauge. I quit for the day because I'll need to either do like a sewing machine user does when spooling a bobbin, and move some copper from the big spool to the smaller spool, or just run the copper fro the big spool on the floor. We have a spool holder and dispenser at work, I'll borrow that this weekend, and with a little bit more patience, and a lotta luck, I should be ready to solder the coils together by Sunday.
Yesterday I ordered more vinyl-ester resin for potting the stator
Brian Rodgers
Comments online at: http://outfitnm.com/
By DARREN SAMUELSOHN | 4/15/11 4:44 AM EDT
For the renewable energy sector, it’s a wonder either wind or solar power is still standing.
Austere budgets and small government have become Capitol Hill credos, and clean energy technology champions are scrambling to secure the tax breaks and loan guarantees they’ve depended on over the past decade to drive investments.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/53195.html#ixzz1JasieeU9
Cheap natural gas is beating renewables as the lowest-cost option for meeting the nation’s thirst for new electricity.
Scathing media reports have also raised questions about whether the Obama administration favored its green-tinted campaign contributors with federal stimulus dollars and wound up sending upward of three-quarters of the subsidies to companies that are now based overseas.
And when the industry does show signs of life, wildlife advocates and environmentalists have been making it difficult by blocking transmission lines to get the clean energy to urban centers.
Moderating an Import-Export Bank conference panel earlier last month alongside several top energy industry executives, Carol Browner, President Barack Obama’s former top energy adviser, bemoaned the lack of a long-term market signal to help renewables. Without private entrepreneurs, she said, the already small U.S. market could be swamped by foreign competitors.
“This is an industry evolving rapidly, whether it be on the supply or demand side,” Browner said. “From my perspective, on the public policy side, we need to do more to ensure there is demand for the technology. We are in danger of not being at the forefront of the industry. It’s because of people like this we’re at least able to hold on.”
John Denniston, a partner at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins, sounded off on the disparity, too, ticking through the top 20 renewable energy companies in the world and noting that just four are American.
Exactly what the federal government can do is a question.
Obama promised to put solar panels on the White House roof last year and has continued to talk up renewable energy. During a visit earlier this month to a wind turbine manufacturer in suburban Philadelphia, Obama pledged to keep up the fight to make the renewable industry’s tax credits permanent — rather than leave them exposed to the often last-minute dash for renewal.
“I want to kick-start this industry,” the president said. “I want to make sure it’s got good customers, and I want to make sure the financing is there to meet that demand.”
But several market experts doubt Obama can live up to his promises. While the solar tax credits are secure through 2016, wind will see some of its most cherished benefits expire at the end of 2012, just after the presidential campaign.
“We’ve seen this movie a number of times,” said Rob Gramlich, senior vice president for public policy at the American Wind Energy Association.
Some of the long-term options are also no longer looked at so kindly on Capitol Hill, either.
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Please don't give up Dave, keep posting articles about cycling, we like seeing how simple alternatives to fossil fuels can be. your efforts really does help
Brian
Hey ,THANKS BOSS, eye am at a loss as to how to wake folks up or get their attention, yes being ANGRY hurts more than helps. A conversation eye had with someone yesterday afternoon the guy explained to me "That eye cant blame the retard for drooling on me" he just doesnt know,so it is onward thru the fog. yes eye know that eye get rather fanatical about cycling,what can eye say ? for me it is a true passion.One that was reborn in my mid 40's and now that things are getting OUT OF HAND WITH GASOLINE PRICES and THE NEED FOR ALTERNATIVE TRANSPORTION that PASSION has GROWN. It really is nice to be ahead of the curve on this one,However eye wonder what good it will really be in the end. ?? Yes eye need to back off and let it be.CYCLING IS GOOD TO ME and so it is looking like the best eye can do is to just keep on cycling, Eye have posted links to different cycling sites on the many different way cycling can work to help. Eye have stated that MAYBE cycling isnt for everyone ,BUT there are plenty of ways everyone can still support cycling that will help everyone .saw again yesterday that cycle tourism in the state of wisconsin is responsible for generating 564 MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR in that state,eye have tried many ways to explain the benifits of cycling ,health, recreation ,gas saving,overall infrastructure improvement,tax savings,tax generating,money in our own pockets and so on.in this BMN alone you stated 895000 dollars for a sidewalk, get the hell out A sidewalk ?once again eye posted a link THAT SHOWS a million dollars spent on a roadway puts like 6-8 people to work, same money spent on cycling infrastructure puts like 40 people to work,now those numbers may not be EXACT but the point is the same,you yourself BOSS red the article on car parking spots VS. the cost of bicycle parking spots and the benifits involved , o.k. o.k. eye'm preaching to the choir here, my point is that yes YOU may have red it ,but what about the other faithful BMN READERS ? and how many of them thought to do something about it OR even care to get and or be upset about this ??? at this point eye no longer know how to go about any of this,eye tried the money angle,eye tried the health angle,eye tried the recreation angle,eye tried the infrastructure angle, man BOSS eye'm running out of angles here, so the point to all this is ,EYE GIVE !!! eye no longer have it in me,so eye guess the braindeads have won out and eye will just continue to watch them be raped by the oil companies,power companies,coal mining companies and all the other powers that be. EYE GIVE Dave The Wave a.k.a. DTW
Dave don't falter in your mission, it is noble and bold, many people are dumb and stubborn. No doubt at times you'll feel like you need to help them buy a bicycle then reteach them how get on it, to ride it, then get off again. Basically you are trying to train a very spoiled society to act responsibly. This is called by some, Tilting at windmills
Yes, just like you encourage me, I in turn honor you efforts, what you are doing and saying is very important. I do recommend that you skip over the getting mad at people phase and move forward to the serenity phase. They'll listen better to a person who is at peace with the world
Don't be discouraged, it doesn't help anyone
Yours truly,
Brian
Sorry about that DTW
Mack, the book calls for 70 wraps of #14 in 9 coils, for 24v. I've been reading on the forum and someone suggested adding a few turns to get a little more power out of the alternator, and using the airgap adjustment to keep the blades out of stall. Kevin has designed new blades and if we can get him moving, we'll employ those when we put the new alternator in the wind, very soon I hope. I am very much looking forward to seeing what a professional stator looks like.
What is the reason for the 73 wraps. Does this put off the nomial volatage or is it the most copper you can get in the space you have available. Also does the interior shape of the coil mater other than to have square edges where the magnet crosses? I may take a shot at making one of these using the process we use to make much larger coils.
Thanks
Maceknzie
Well SHIT THE BED,eye had a very good albeit a long winded response to todays BMN,but thanks to the gray rainy day we are having here in paradise and a power outtage it got wiped out when the power went off,probably a good thing, the gist of it was, that eye do not know you do it . that is keeping up with the good fight ,eye find it very discouraging to keep on trying with my efforts and advocazy for cycling most times it feels like eye'm just pissing up a rope,and now eye dont have whatever it was to go back and cover the things eye was going on about in what eye was trying to post earlier,NEEDLESS to say 895,000 dollars for a sidewalk,eye bet it is not 8 feet wide, a MINAMUM for cyclist's AND ped'sto use at the same time. O HELL here eye go again AND you know what eye am not gonna go there ,EYE JUST DO NOT HAVE IT IN ME ANYMORE ,but THANK YOU BRIAN for keeping on with the keeping on. Dave The Wave