Local man tapping wind power
The winds of change are blowing in the energy sector. Within the social momentum to grow one’s own food, build one’s one furniture, sew one’s own clothing, is the advent of providing one’s own power. David Buchanan is a retired Air Force member, and when he ended up back in hometown Prince George with productive time on his hands and access to workshop space unlike anything he’s ever had before, he naturally turned his attention back to the skies.
It was conversations with friends back in the Lower Mainland that got his wheels spinning in the workshop.
They had a problem. He was moved to solve it.
“My friends on the coast had their own wind turbines, but when the big storms off the water would hit, they would get torn apart. They were having to replace these windmills all the time,” Buchanan said.
“There is just too much energy being applied to the attachments on a horizontal shaft. To handle that kind of force, you’ve got to go vertical. That’s what I’ve done. It’s a rotating spinnaker of sorts, and that way the energy always has somewhere to go, it doesn’t get overpowered, the faster it spins.”
This isn’t the invention of the vertical-shafted windmill, but it took Buchanan a lot of experimentation to get the materials and design right for what he envisioned for local applications. Sure, his coastal friends could use the new turbine, but so could a lot of other people if it was designed for practical use in this area.
That meant materials had to be easily obtained. The inch-anda-half steel shaft and two sets of bearings are common off-the-shelf mechanical products. For the blades that catch the wind and spin the shaft, he tried wood first. It failed but gave him valuable information. He applied it to laminate material and it worked well, but the new information again informed his next generation and aluminum is now his material of choice.
The machine also had to be por- table and easy to use. What good is a DIY power source if it’s too complicated for anyone to want to use?
“It had to be tough, but it had to be simple enough that a farmer family could look after it themselves, far away from town,” he said.
The ones he has built so far are the size and scope for that rural family. It comes with a compact trailer that hooks behind an everyday pickup, so it’s easy to place at the top of a ridge on someone’s home property. It is estimated to generate 8-10 kilowatts of power.
According to BC Hydro statistics, the average home consumes 900 kilowatt-hours of power per month, but that can amount can be greatly reduced if the home is not reliant on electric heat. For the rural and remote homes that Buchanan’s turbine is designed for, many have alternative heat sources like wood.
“I could make them even bigger, but the size I’m using is the size that works best for travelling down the road pulled on an everyday trailer,” he said.
That sizes out to about nine feet tall and a wingspan of about 10 feet wide.
“A person could get more than one, to boost their power even more, or bigger trucks and trailers could be used for me to make you a bigger one,” Buchanan said.
He made it all at his workshop space at Interior Warehousing, a company he credits with going above and beyond to help him complete his prototypes. The first one ready for someone to take home and use is now on sale. It will be featured in the next Ritchie Brothers Auction on Tuesday.
It is available there now for viewing at their compound at Highway 16 East and Old Cariboo Highway.
It comes with the a pair of 2,000-watt generators, charge controllers and dump-load component so it is ready for use and protected against power overloads if the wind blows excessively.
To contact Buchanan, email him at dbuch2@ yahoo.ca.