Design and Engineering of Wind-Powered Machinery for Developing Countries

Thesis

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Fine Arts in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University

By

Miriam R. Simon, B.S.

Graduate Program in Design

The Ohio State University

2011

Thesis Committee

Seok Bo Shim, Adviser

Dr. Blaine Lilly

Paul Nini

Copyright by

Miriam R. Simon

2011

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ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to inquire about the uses of wind-powered

technology in developing countries. Throughout the introduction of technological models

in developing countries, citizens are able to acquire knowledge about these and adapt

them to their specific needs. A thorough preliminary investigation of various existing

texts, as well as full-scale prototype developments and interviews to citizens of Honduras

have led to valuable information about the way in which design and engineering can aid

citizens of developing countries. By researching what the customer wants, the local

environment, and local materials and needs of the people, one can design and build

models of various technological advancements which are then adapted by the locals to

suit their needs. Furthermore, locals use these models as opportunities to create small

businesses used to stimulate their economic development, as well as invest in the

community. In comparison to commercially available products which tend to be

expensive for the end user, customers are able to build their own equipment using scrap

and re-usable materials.

The first step to truly understanding the technology behind small-scale wind

generators was to build fully functional prototypes. This experience was extremely

valuable as it provided not only ideas on how to assemble the entire system, but

preliminary design flaws were fixed in updated iterations of the model. Along with the

prototypes, a wind-speed sensor, or anemometer, was installed at the location of the

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generator. Wind data is one of the most important aspects of building a wind generator, as

it is important to know at what speeds the blades can begin rotating. Wind data is also

part of the general assessment that should be done prior to building a wind generator, as

not all areas of the world will benefit from installing a wind generator if the wind is not

constantly blowing. The construction and assembly of these preliminary prototypes was

useful in getting ready for the next part of the research process which included

interactions and feedback from future users.

A trip taken to Choluteca, Honduras in March of 2011 along with a group from

ECOS (Engineers for Community Service) provided valuable information in regards to

field research and observation. This information has been thoroughly analyzed in order to

create a guideline for a model wind-generator to be built in the city of Choluteca, at the

vocational school 'Escuela Vocacional Estados Unidos de America'. This model will be

used to lower electricity costs at the school as well as introduce a model of a generator

that students can learn from.

Trips and experiences such as this one provide extremely valuable information for

those attempting to address design and engineering issues in developing countries. Only

by immersion in a culture can one truly understand the way people live.

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DEDICATION

I dedicate this thesis to my parents, John and Elba, who have always supported my

education and aspirations. Their strength and admirable wisdom has always inspired

positivity in my life. Thank you.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thank you to my family. To my parents, John and Elba, for their continued support and

love. To Danny, my brother, for his constant advise and humor. To my grandparents for

always supporting education as a necessity in life. To my husband, Marko, for his

outstanding support and love, as well as allowing me to build experimental machinery in

our backyard.

Thank you to my advisor Scott Shim, and committee members Paul Nini and Dr. Blaine

Lilly. A special thank you to Dr. Lilly for his continued support and encouragement to go

to the next level. Thank you to the Department of Design and Professor Brian Stone for

all their support and generosity throughout the last few years.

Thank you to Dr. John Merrill and Professor Roger Dzwonczyk for allowing me to join

their group of students for my field research in Choluteca, Honduras. Thank you to Larry

and Angie Overholt for assisting with the field research in Honduras.

Last, but not least, thank you to the amazing friends I made in Graduate School. Your

friendship has made these last few years even more special.

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VITA

May 2003 ……………………………….. American Cooperative School, La Paz, Bolivia

May 2007 ……………………………….. B.S. Computer Graphics Technology, Purdue

University

2007 – 2009 …………………………….. Product Engineer – American Furukawa, Inc.

at Honda Research and Development,

Americas, Inc., Raymond, OH

2009 – Present ………………………...…Graduate Teaching Associate, Department of

Design, The Ohio State University

FIELDS OF STUDY

Major Field: Design

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT........................................................................................................................ii

DEDICATION....................................................................................................................iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.................................................................................................v

VITA...................................................................................................................................vi

LIST OF TABLES..............................................................................................................xi

LIST OF FIGURES...........................................................................................................xii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION........................................................................................1

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW..............................................................................4

2.1 History of Wind Power and Current Applications ............................................4

2.2 The Need for Wind Powered Technology..........................................................5

2.3 Alternative Uses for Wind Powered Machinery ...............................................6

2.4 Global Wind Speed Data ...................................................................................9

2.5 The Design and Technology of Wind Generators............................................11

2.5.1 Renewable Energy.............................................................................11

2.5.2 Different Types of Wind Generators.................................................12

2.5.3 Advantages of Wind Technology......................................................12

2.5.4 Disadvantages of Wind Technology..................................................13

2.5.5 Materials for Blade Development ....................................................14

2.6 Economies in Developing Countries...............................................................14

2.7 Materials Research in Developing Countries..................................................15

2.7.1 Vehicle Alternators and Radiator Fans..............................................16

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2.7.2 Vehicle Sheet Metal..........................................................................16

2.8 Blade Design....................................................................................................17

2.8.1 Power.................................................................................................17

2.8.2 Shape.................................................................................................18

2.9 Motors..............................................................................................................20

2.10 Power Supply.................................................................................................22

2.10.1 Inverters..........................................................................................22

2.10.2 Batteries..........................................................................................22

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY......................................................................................25

3.1 Introduction......................................................................................................25

3.2 Preliminary Research.......................................................................................27

3.3 Testing of First Prototypes.............................................................................. 29

3.4 On-Site Exploration: Choluteca, Honduras.....................................................31

3.5 Guideline Development...................................................................................33

CHAPTER 4: PROTOTYPE DESIGNS...........................................................................34

4.1 Introduction......................................................................................................34

4.2 First Prototype..................................................................................................34

4.3 Analysis of the First Prototype.........................................................................40

4.3.1 General Assessment..........................................................................40

4.3.1 Blade Assessment…..........................................................................41

4.4 Second Prototype…………….........................................................................43

4.4.1 Second Prototype Tail.......................................................................44

4.4.2 The Rotation Mechanism..................................................................45

4.5 Electrical System.............................................................................................47

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4.5.1 The Charge Controller.......................................................................49

4.5.2 The Battery........................................................................................50

4.5.3 The Inverter ......................................................................................51

4.5.4 The Diversion Loads.........................................................................52

4.5.5 Switches, Fuses and Diodes..............................................................54

4.6 Summary of Prototype Development ..............................................................55

CHAPTER 5: HONDURAS TRIP RESEARCH...............................................................57

5.1 Introduction......................................................................................................57

5.2 Escuela Vocacional Estados Unidos de America.............................................59

5.2.1 Introduction to the School.................................................................59

5.2.2 Aquaponics System...........................................................................60

5.2.3 Assessment of the School for the possible location of a Wind

Generator............................................................................................64

5.3 Wind Data in Choluteca...................................................................................66

5.4 Materials Research in Choluteca.....................................................................69

5.5 Choluteca Interviews…...................................................................................76

5.5.1 Introduction.......................................................................................76

5.5.2 Interview Results..............................................................................77

5.6 Summary of the Field Research Conducted in Choluteca...............................81

CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK...................................................82

6.1 Guideline Development...................................................................................82

6.1.1 Introduction.......................................................................................82

6.1.2 Materials Selection on the Guideline................................................83

6.2 Learning Outcomes..........................................................................................84

6.3 Future Work.....................................................................................................87

REFERENCES .................................................................................................................89

APPENDIX A: SURVEY CONDUCTED IN CHOLUTECA, HONDURAS..................93

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APPENDIX B: SURVEY ANSWERS ……………………………………....................96

APPENDIX C: WIND DATA SHEETS ……………………………………...………..126

APPENDIX D: WIND GENERATOR GUIDELINE …………………………………129

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Combined Wind Speed Data from Choluteca, Honduras ……………………...32

Table 2. Average Wind Speeds in Choluteca from March – July 2011.…………………68

Table 3. Maximum Wind Speed Gusts in Choluteca from March – July 2011……….…68

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. Average income by continent vs. the cost of wind generators………………….2

Figure 2. Wind-powered Organ…………………………………………………………...7

Figure 3. Spinning and Winding using the wheel…………………………………………8

Figure 4. Wind Speed Data in North America…………………………………………...10

Figure 5. Bernoulli’s Principle…………………………………………...………………19

Figure 6. The internal components of a permanent magnet DC motor……………….....21

Figure 7. A common layout for a wind generator …………………………………….…24

Figure 8. Dr. Elizabeth Sander’s Diagram for Research Methods……………...….…… 27

Figure 9. Anemometer (wind speed sensor)…………………………………….……….29

Figure 10. Prototype 1……………………………………………………………………30

Figure 11. Prototype 2……………………………………………………………………30

Figure 12. Initial Prototype and Illustration of the Assembly……………………....……35

Figure 13. Permanent Magnet DC Motor from Turdan Industry Co., Ltd………….…....36

Figure 14. PVC pipe cut into thirds……………………………………………………...37

Figure 15. The blades cut into their final shapes………………………………………...38

Figure 16. Attaching the blades to the motor…………………………………………….39

Figure 17. Generator mounted onto the post using the ‘L’ bracket……………...….……40

Figure 18. The damage done to the generator because of high winds…………………...42

Figure 19. The paint of the blades rubbed-off onto the post …………………………….42

Figure 20. Second Prototype……………………………………………………………..43

Figure 21. The first attempt at a tail………………………………………….…………..44

Figure 22. The upgraded tail support made from “L” shaped aluminum………………..45

Figure 23. The brass and stainless steel rotational components…………………………46

Figure 24. The new support mount vs. the old one………………………………………47

Figure 25. The electrical system…………………………………………………………48

Figure 26. Xantrex C35 Charge/Load Controller ……………………………………….49

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Figure 27. The inverter on top of the battery…………………………………………….52

Figure 28. The Diversion Loads…………………………………………………………53

Figure 29. Diversion loads wired in parallel……………………………………………..54

Figure 30. Map of Choluteca…………………………………………………………….58

Figure 31. One of the buildings at the school……………………………………………60

Figure 32. The aquaponics system powered by solar panels…………………………….62

Figure 33. The aquaponics power system………………………………………………..63

Figure 34. The tool storage building……………………………………………………..65

Figure 35. Installing the anemometer……………………………………………………67

Figure 36. Assorted roofing materials found at Ferromax……………………………….70

Figure 37. The junk yard vehicles sitting at the vocational school………………………72

Figure 38. Scrap components at the school……………………………………………...72

Figure 39. Scrap metal found at the school………………………………………………73

Figure 40. Scrap Barrels…………………………………………………………………74

Figure 41. Scrap Wood…………………………………………………………………..74

Figure 42. Team members collecting gravel at the Choluteca River…………………….75

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Wind-powered machinery has been part of the daily lives of humans for many

centuries. Although they have evolved from grain grinders to wind generators, the basic

technology behind these machines has fundamentally remained unchanged. Recent

political events and the diminishing supplies of fossil fuels have led the modern-day

person to look at these ancient alternatives to aid in lowering energy costs. Companies in

developed countries offer commercially built generators for use at home and small

businesses, yet these would not be affordable in developing countries. The American

Wind Energy Association estimates that a small turbine can cost anywhere from $6,000 to

$22,000 installed, depending upon size, application and service agreements with the

manufacturer. According to income data from the World Bank and the United Nations

Development Programme, the average income around the world was an estimated $7,880

in 2002. Broken down into different continents, the average income vs. the cost of a wind

generator is shown in Figure 1.

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Figure 1. Average income by continent vs. the cost of wind generators

The realization of this economic gap has led me to investigate various options of

building wind generators and wind-powered machinery for developing countries, using

recycled and reusable materials, as these are plentifully available. Throughout the

investigation and research I have built various prototypes of wind generators to be able to

truly understand the complexity and the technology behind such machinery. This has led

me to learn about different motors, materials, wind data and the design and engineering

required to build and install a fully functional model.

Once completed, the generator schematic and basic concept was introduced in

Honduras where I conducted interviews and assessed various areas in search of locations

for future installments of wind generators. The interview data provided valuable

information and feedback from the customers about the impact that the introduction of a

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generator model would have on the area, not only to lower energy costs and introduce

energy where none is found, but to use these models as the basis of small businesses

which would economically boost communities.

The roles of design and engineering in developing countries have outstanding

potentials to introduce new technologies and build relationships with the users. As one of

the individuals interviewed in Honduras has explained, one of the most valuable things

they can learn from us, the engineers and designers, is learning about technologies first

hand. They then adapt the models to their needs and spread the knowledge and wealth to

their communities. This model does not have to be limited to Honduras, but any

developing country with eager individuals willing to learn and provide change to their

communities.

This investigation explains the process from beginning to end; the ideas behind the

wind generators all the way to the final wind generator model guideline to be

implemented in the city of Choluteca, Honduras in the future. A step by step look at the

methodology, literature review, prototype development, interviews and research in

Honduras, and final recommendations are all included.

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 History of Wind Power and Current Applications

The first known working example of a wind powered mill is the Persian wind

tunnel which was built in 9 CE. This was a vertical axis wind generator, which in

modern times, is not as popular as the horizontal axis wind generator. It was a two-story

mud-brick house with a vertical mill inside of it which was turned by wind coming in

from one side of the building and leaving through a hole in the other side. The English

were then the next pioneers in wind generation, as they were the ones to perfect the

horizontal axis wind generator, or HAWT, for short. Windmills were becoming more

popular during the 12th and 13th centuries, as their source of power was more favorable

than water for the water mills. “Windmills were cheaper to erect and could function

under different conditions than their water-powered predecessors, but the realization that

their source of power - the blowing air – was freely available to everyone was truly

unsettling. (Kealey, 8)” The one advantage of implementing wind mills was that peasants

needed less labor, and in some ways were becoming “equals” with the wealthy, since

they were now taking advantage of the available technology.

For many centuries, windmills were becoming common in small farms and

households as a standard for pumping water and milling grain. Their popularity began to

decrease when the industrial revolution required a larger amount of energy to power the

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large factories that were booming. This was the case until the 1970's when the world-

wide energy crisis sparked the interest of alternative and renewable energy, and wind

generators were becoming popular once again. Although wind power is available world-

wide, the expense of these systems is hindering their development in third world

countries. The American Wind Energy Association states that “small wind turbine can

cost anywhere from $6,000 - $12,000.” The World Bank has published the yearly income

for 2008 for the average citizen any where in the world, and that average is $7,800 per

year. This may be one of the factors that is currently hindering the implementation of

wind driven technology in developing countries.

One example of a successful implementation of wind powered generators in

developing countries is the generator built by William Kamkwamba in Malawi. This

generator was put together utilizing materials which were either scrap or inexpensive, and

put together by a teenager. However, the design is highly complex and it is complicated to

replace any of the existing components since the generator is custom-made. Other

examples of “home-made” generators exist, and the challenge is to find a design which

can be implemented by citizens of developing countries that don't have much experience

with such systems.

2.2 The Need for Wind Powered Technology

“For more than one third of the world's population the real energy crisis is a daily

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search to find firewood for cooking (A Multidisciplinary Approach to Renewable Energy

in Developing Countries, 1).” The book “Design for the other 90%” clearly states that

there is a correlation between the literacy rates in countries and the access these citizens

have to electricity and light after dark. Energy for developing countries would just

increase the quality of lives of their citizens.

Wind generators for water pumps are also another viable option that would

increase the quality of life for many communities world-wide. The lack of clean water

leads to diseases such as cholera, which can be prevented by consuming clean water. “For

some, the water crisis means having to walk long distances every day to fetch enough

drinking water – clean or unclean – just to get by. For others, it means suffering avoidable

malnutrition or disease cause by drought, flood or inadequate sanitation. Still others

experience it as a lack of funds, institutions or knowledge to solve local problems of

water use and allocation (Water – A Shared Responsibility, 1).”

2.3 Alternative Uses for Wind Powered Machinery

As well as wind generators, wind powered machinery in general can also be a

viable option for citizens of developing countries. Many tasks such as milling, grinding

grain, pumping water, yarn spinning, and sawing among others could benefit from wind

powered machines. As stated by Mark Denny in ‘Five Machines that Changed the

World,’ early waterwheels were used to “forge iron, full cloth, saw wood and stone, and

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perform metalworking and leather tanning (33).” Early waterwheels were also used as

lathes and potter wheels. Perhaps a more artistic approach to wind-powered machinery

may include a wind powered organ, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Wind-powered Organ (Usher,92)

One of the industries that could benefit from wind powered machinery is the

textile industry. As documented by W. English in his book ‘The Textile Industry – An

account of the early inventions of spinning, weaving and knitting machines,’ this industry

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is largely based on spinning wheels to power machines. Figure 3 is one of the many

examples of spinning and winding using wheels.

Figure 3. Spinning and Winding using the wheel (English, 3)

An industry which benefited from the invention of steam power was the

agricultural industry. Before the discovery, most of the machines were human or animal

powered. In rural areas where steam power or simply electricity might not be available,

these human or animal powered machines could be retrofitted to be run with wind power.

Percy w. Blandford’s book ‘Old Farm Tools and Machinery’ details some of these

machines which used to be powered by animals which includes a simple sugar cane

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juicer as well as a butter churn. Throughout these examples, one can really just begin to

imagine the types of applications that could be run by wind power.

2.4 Global Wind Speed Data

“If it can be accepted that reliable, proven technologies in this field already exist

and are commercially available, it is then necessary to consider where and how such

systems can make an impact on the development of under-developed areas. To begin

with, any country considering using wind electricity technologies must first evaluate its

own wind regime to discover whether there is sufficient wind energy resources to warrant

the installation of wind turbine generators (Kristofferson, 275).”

Two Stanford University students have conducted a world-wide study of the

average wind speed in locations throughout the globe. The study was conducted for a

height of 80 meters above the ground.

“Globally, ~13% of all reporting stations experience annual mean wind speeds ≥ 6.9 m/s

at 80 m (i.e., wind power class 3 or greater) and can therefore be considered suitable for

low-cost wind power generation. The global average 10-m wind speed over the ocean

from measurements is 6.64 m/s (class 6); that over land was 3.28 m/s (class 1). The

calculated 80-m values are 8.60 m/s (class 6) and 4.54 m/s (class 1) over ocean and land,

respectively. Over land, daytime wind speed averages obtained from soundings (4.96

m/s) are slightly larger than nighttime ones (4.85 m/s); nighttime wind speeds increase,

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on average, above daytime speeds above 120 m. Assuming that statistics generated from

all stations analyzed here are representative of the global distribution of winds, global

wind power generated at locations with mean annual wind speeds ≥ 6.9 m/s at 80 m is

found to be ~72 TW (~54,000 Mtoe) for the year 2000. Even if only ~20% of this power

could be captured, it could satisfy 100% of the world?s energy demand for all purposes

(6995-10177 Mtoe) and over seven times the world's electricity needs (1.6-1.8 TW)

(http://www.stanford.edu/group/efmh/winds/global_winds.html).”

An example of the maps generated by this study and the average wind speed plots can be

seen in the map of North America shown in Figure 4. There is a map for every continent

as well as some ocean locations which could be suitable for wind power.

Figure 4. Wind Speed Data in North America

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In order for a 14.5 meter diameter wind generator to produce 50,000 KW/Year, the

average wind speed for a 36 hour period must be 4.5 meters per second (Kristoferson,

279). This specific example could be applied in many of the locations plotted on the

maps. Turbines should be placed approximately 15 rotor diameters apart when installing

multiple ones on a farm.

Wind data for the city of Choluteca, Honduras is available in detail at

http://www.tutiempo.net/clima/Choluteca/2001/787240.htm where for several years daily

temperature and wind averages were recorded. This extremely valuable data shows that

Choluteca is a suitable area for small-scale wind powered machinery, as the minimum

suggested wind speed is of 15 km/hour or 9.5 mi/hour (Kristoferson, 279). The average

wind speed for the entire year of 2001 was 15.6 km/hour or about 10 mi/hour. Specific

data shows that during other non-hurricane season months such as January, the wind

speed average is also particularly high, set at 24 km/hour or 15 mi/hour.

2.5 The Design and Technology of Wind Generators

2.5.1 Renewable Energy

Renewable energy is energy that is harnessed from and “inexhaustible source,” for

example, solar, wind, falling water, ocean and river tides, biomass and geothermal

energy. This type of energy is kinetic energy, because it is energy that is already in

“motion.” The opposite, which is potential energy, is energy which requires a chemical

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reaction for conversion or is released by combustion (Smith, 2-3). Wind is a type of

“kinetic energy” which forms as a result of differential heating of the Earth's surface

(Smith, 15). The advantage of power generation from wind is that the source is virtually

inexhaustible and it produces no green house gases (Smith, 16).

2.5.2 Different types of wind generators

HAWT- Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine – The most popular type of wind

generator. VAWT- Vertical Axis Wind Turbine – Tend to not be as efficient as HAWT.

The angle in which the wind strikes the blade is not always optimum. In some cases, this

also means that start-up assistance is sometimes required (Supplement Energy for Rural

Development, 28-29).

2.5.3. Advantages of Wind Technology

Although there are some areas in the world which may not be able to benefit from

wind technology, due to the lack of sustained wind in certain areas, there is a huge

advantage for other groups of people. “Renewable, more so that alternative energy

development in non-industrialized third-world countries and more rural areas had the

potential to result in a more equitable distribution of the benefits of electricity use.

Renewable energy developed on a small scale can provide the localized energy needed to

provide power to people in less developed areas (Smith, 62).” The 'Supplement Energy

13

for Rural Development' also states that “low-technology advances that are now

applicable to developing countries are also described, including information on newer

'home-built' systems that can be constructed using locally available materials and labor

(27).” This highlights the advantage of having small, locally owned win generator

producers, as well as using materials which anyone could potentially acquire.

2.5.4 Disadvantages of Wind Technology

Some of the disadvantages of wind technology include the unavailability of

constant wind, as well as landscape considerations. There are some areas in which the

wind speed is not sufficient to maintain a wind generator producing enough energy. L.A.

Kristofferson states that “in such systems electricity consumption fluctuates constantly as

does the availability for wind energy. The degree of coincidence of supply and demand

can be calculated by statistical means and it has been found that electricity supply with

an acceptable degree of reliability cannot be solely based on wind (278).”

Some of the most recent controversies include the “unsightly” appearance of wind

generators, which is a purely subjective comment. These comments are being applied

mostly to wind farms and large energy producing wind generators; not as much for small-

scale wind generators which will serve underdeveloped communities. Another

controversy with wind generators includes the amount of noise some of these large

generators make, as well as interfering with the migration of birds.

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2.5.5 Materials for Blade Development

L.A. Kristofferson suggests that blades can be manufactured locally from

laminated wood, steel, plastics or combinations of these materials. Some of the other

components could potentially come from second-hand sources, or in some cases, be

made in small engineering workshops (280).

2.6 Economies in Developing Countries

When dealing with citizens of developing countries as the customers for small-

scale wind powered machinery, an investigation on how their economies work is vital.

Robert Neuwirth, who explored slum cities across the globe, has clearly outlines the

economies of these areas in his book 'Shadow Cities – a Billion Squatters, a New Urban

World.' Some of the topics explained in his book were also described by C.K. Prahalad in

his book 'The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid.' Neuwirth and Prahalad both

highlight the value of dealing with customers in slum-type areas, as these economies are

sometimes stronger than the economies of the surrounding “legal” establishments. In a

scenario where customers would be purchasing items to create their own wind-powered

machinery, Prahalad explains how customers might purchase piece by piece as money

becomes available to them, rather than purchasing the whole unit at once. These

customers are willing to borrow money as well if the need arises, and banks in these

15

areas are willing to lend money at low interest rates, which benefits both parties. This

principle was also highlighted by Nicholas P. Sullivan in the book 'You Can Hear Me

Now' which details the economical issues in Bangladesh, and how these were being

aided by Grameen Bank which allowed citizens to borrow micro-loans from the Bank.

Citizens of developing countries, some living in illegal establishments, are willing

to try and accept new technologies into their lives if it will help them grow, as detailed by

Neuwirth. The establishments are not to be taken for granted as they are one, willing to

change and adapt, and two, are a large portion of an economy waiting to be tapped into.

2.7 Materials Research in Developing Countries

It is important to take into account the local materials available in the target area,

because ass it is stated in Energy For Rural Development – Renewable Resources and

Alternative Technologies for Developing Countries, “In the United States, homemade

windmills were a common sight particularly in the semiarid Midwest, at the turn of the

century. They were generally built by people with limited economic means and little to

no access to the technological and industrial infrastructure that was already well on the

way to development in the United States by that time. Because they represent a

technology indigenous to the rural area, depending on inexpensive, locally available

materials, and are typical of the ingenuity and inventiveness of farmers the world over, it

may be useful to devote some space to their description; the technology remains

16

appropriate (117).” The following list contains materials which could potentially be used

as materials for building wind generators.

2.7.1 Vehicle Alternators and Radiator Fans

The used vehicle market is quite large in developing countries due to the fact that

the average citizen does not have enough money to purchase a new car every few years.

Therefore, the abundance of older disabled vehicles is quite large as well. “Autopartes –

Importaciones del Japon – Llantas y Vehiculos” sells new and used parts, vehicles and

tires. Certain stores like the “Distribuidor de Repuestos Japoneses” which sell

replacement parts might also be an alternative option if a used alternator or radiator fan is

not available. Although some of these might be contraband, which might deter potential

customers, a lot of the other materials available to the public are legitimate.

The benefits of purchasing items from these stores are that the local business

owners benefit from these transactions. Also, new business opportunities become

available, therefore not only benefiting the customers who get an inexpensive source of

power, but the business owners as well.

2.7.2 Vehicle Sheet Metal

A possible source of blades for the wind generators, which are reusable materials,

may include sheet metal vehicle components. Items like hoods, trunks and door panels

can be cut and shaped into blades which may then be assembled onto a supporting frame.

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Just like the vehicle alternators and radiator fans, some of these components can

be acquired from used car stores as well as some junk yards. If the user would like to

acquire all of the materials from the same source, used vehicle components may be one of

the best options.

2.8 Blade Design

Some of the main and most important components of a wind generator are the

blades. The size, weight, material, pitch and design of the blades are highly influential on

the power output of the generator. The aerodynamics of the airfoils play an important

role, and scientists and engineers have been debating upon the best shape of a blade for

maximum power output. There are many software programs available which help

optimize the general shape of the blades, but most have arrived at a few general

conclusions.

2.8.1 Power

First off, the one general equation to keep in mind which was developed

throughout decades of testing is how to obtain a number for the power output of a turbine

generator in a constant way (http://www.windpowerengineering.com/).

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P = ½ p AV3

Power = ½ x Air Density x Blade Area x Wind Velocity3

Power is measured in watts, air density is measured in kg/m3, blade area is measured in

m2, and wind velocity is measured in m/s. The density of air is approximately 1.2 kg/m3

at sea level when the temperature is 20 degrees Celsius.

However, German Physicist Albert Betz, who investigated the maximum power

output possible from any hydraulic wind turbine, has arrived at the following conclusion.

The maximum possible power output for any turbine is 16/27(P = ½ p AV3). This

equation is derived from Betz’ law, which states that it is possible to gain only up to

59.3% of power from any turbine (Hartwanger, 3).

2.8.2 Shape

Daniel Bernoulli, a Dutch-Swiss mathematician, has developed a principle for

fluid dynamics. This is the Bernoulli principle, which states that “we can reduce the

pressure in a fluid if the velocity (speed) of its flow is increased (Advanced Wind

Turbine Blade Design, 1).” The goal for a properly designed turbine blade is to maximize

the lift force while minimizing the drag force. “Real wind turbine blades and airplane

wings are shaped to make the air flow faster on one side and slower on the other. Since

the air is moving faster on the curved side of the blade or wing, that side has less pressure

19

than the flat side. With higher pressure on the flat side of the blade and lower pressure on

curved side, lift is created. The blade is pulled toward the area of low pressure—in the

direction of the lift force.” (See Figure 5)

Figure 5. Bernoulli’s Principle – Image from Advanced Wind Turbine Blade Design

Taking the Bernoulli Principle into account, another important factor to consider is

the overall shape of the blade from the hub towards the tip. The fastest point of the blade

will be the tip, no matter what shape they are, so it is important to make the tips as flat as

possible to reduce resistance as well as noise. The blades should have a high pitch near

the hub to improve torque and help start the rotation.

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As for size, L.A. Kristofferson has concluded that small turbines should be

between 0.5 and 5 meters, and will produce between 50 – 2000 Watts. Medium turbines

have a blade diameter that ranges from 7 – 17 meters, and produce between 10,000-

75,000 Watts. Large turbines have a diameter of 40 – 80 meters, and the power output

ranges from 600,000 – 4,000,000 Watts (272).

2.9 Motors

In small-scale wind generators, the main type of motor used is a permanent

magnet direct-current (DC) motor. In a permanent magnet motor, the internal

configuration is designed to harness the magnetic interaction between a current carrying

a conductor and an external magnetic field to generate rotational motion. As stated by

www.solarbotics.net, “the geometry of the brushes, commutator contacts, and rotor

winding are such that when power is applied, the polarities of the energized winding and

the stator magnet(s) are misaligned, and the rotor will rotate until it is almost aligned

with the stator field magnets. As the rotor reaches alignment, the brushes move to the

next winding. The rotation reverses the direction of the current through the winding

(rotor), leading to a ‘flip’ of the rotor’s magnetic field, driving it to continue rotating.”

Figure 6 shows a simple depiction of the technology behind a permanent magnet DC

motor.

21

Figure 6. The internal components of a permanent magnet DC motor

Permanent magnet DC motors are widely available as they are used for exercise

equipment, servos, and other types of applications. These motors must have a high output

current, low operating speed and higher working voltage. These characteristics will make

producing a higher amount of power at a lower RPM level possible. If the system is

charging a typical 12 Volt battery, then the motor must be able to produce 12 Volts or

more in order to keep the battery charged.

The other alternative to a permanent magnet motor is an alternator from a vehicle.

The main disadvantage to having a vehicle alternator is that these require extremely high

RPMs to generate any power. In this case, a simple gearing system must be put in place

in order to run at low RPMs and still generate sufficient power. An example of a wind

22

generator using a vehicle alternator is described in page 39 of the “Supplement Energy

for Rural Development.” In this example, a single-pulley 42 Amp Chrysler alternator is

used with an 8-foot diameter wind generator to produce 500 Watts/Year at an average

wind speed of 28 km/hour. The advantage to using vehicle alternators is that they are

readily available and are generally low-cost.

2.10 Power Supply

2.10.1 Inverters

An inverter is a mechanism that converts direct current (DC) to alternating current

(AC) (Cogdell, 306). This is opposite to a controlled rectifier, which converts AC into

DC. If a wind generator uses a permanent magnet DC motor to charge a battery, an

inverter is needed to utilize the stored power in the battery. Depending on the

application, inverters range in sizes. Therefore, the application must first be determined

in order to acquire an inexpensive inverter.

2.10.2 Batteries

There are a few different methods to store the energy produced by a wind

generator. The first one, which does not require batteries for storage, is called a grid-tie

connection. In this case the power supplied by the generator is tied directly onto the

power grid. If there is no grid available where the wind generator is placed, then the

23

power produced must be stored in order for it to be usable at a later point. “Batteries are

used extensively in the developing world, mainly for powering transistor radios and

torches, so this application of wind energy is of considerable importance in remote areas

(Kristofferson, 275). L.A. Kristofferson also notes that 12 Volt batteries, which are

rechargeable using wind generators, can be used to power fluorescent bulbs which are “6

times more efficient than tungsten filament lamps. Such lighting opens up a number of

opportunities in areas which normally have no lighting (276).”

Such batteries must be able to be recharged easily, so automotive batteries are not

extremely useful in this situation. The most common type of battery used for storing

power from a wind generator is a deep-cycle or marine battery. Deep cycle batteries are

designed to be discharged down as much as 80% time after time, and have much thicker

lead plates. The major difference between a true deep cycle battery and others is that the

plates are solid lead plates - not sponge. This gives less surface area, thus less "instant"

power like starting batteries need.

The following image, Figure 7, which can be found at

http://www.velacreations.com/makechispito.html provides a simple diagram of a basic

electrical system required to run a wind generator. This is an example of just one of the

many ways in which an electrical system can be run. The inverter, which is not pictured,

would be connected to the batteries, and to the AC application which will be utilizing the

stored energy.

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Figure 7. A common layout for a wind generator

25

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

The versatility of wind-powered machinery allows users to customize their own

by building them from resources which are readily available to them. This means that

there should be great input from the users and customers as to what the “final” product

should be. In this case, the research method should involve “Participatory Research” as

well as “Generative Design Research” which involves the users or customers who are

eventually going to be purchasing or using the product. Participatory research uses

researcher’s actions (such as focus groups, usability testing and interviews) to influence a

community and gather feedback, therefore improving the initial goals of the participants.

This is a way to guide users and ask the right questions to be able to stimulate their

thinking and evaluate their wants and needs. Generative design research, in the words of

Thomas Kuhn, “offers a paradigm shift for the process of design and the expression of

the process. For designers, it involves a reconsideration of the static artifact and the

actions that manipulate it. Conceptualism shift from the primacy of objects to envisaging

interacting components, systems and processes, which in turn generate new artifacts,

with special properties (McCormack, 1).”

There will also be a component of “User-Centered Design,” as usability testing

and human factors and ergonomics must be taken into account. User-centered design is,

as the title suggests, design that focuses on the wants and needs of the customers. This

26

involves specifying the context of use, the requirements of the users, and creating and

assessing design solutions all focused on interactions with the users. User-centered

design normally follows a set of steps to arrive at the final goal. These steps include the

analysis phase, design phase, implementation phase, and deployment phase. The analysis

phase deals with meeting the stakeholders, developing usability goals and objectives,

creating user profiles and creating user scenarios. The design phase includes

brainstorming and concept ideation, preliminary prototyping, conducting initial usability

tests, and creating design specifications. The implementation stage deals with heuristic

evaluations for further usability testing. In the deployment phase, the designer is highly

involved with getting user feedback and checking to make sure that customer goals were

met. Included in this phase is a refinement process, where user feedback is reapplied to

improve the existing concepts. All these stages can be revisited and revised during the

entire design process, as this should not be mistaken for a linear process.

The following diagram (see Figure 8) developed by Dr. Elizabeth Sanders, Ph.D.,

categorizes the various methods of conducting research, and which ones are appropriate

for certain specific areas.

27

Figure 8. Dr. Elizabeth Sander’s Diagram for Research Methods

As Ingvar Kampard states, “[the product] must reflect our way of thinking be

being as simple and straightforward as we are ourselves. It must be hard-wearing and

easy to live with. The products must be low priced with a meaning. We must not

compromise either functionality or technical quality. (8-9).” This is where usability must

be taken into account, so thorough testing of the product must be conducted with users in

order to gain knowledge and feedback.

3.2 Preliminary Research

The first component of the preliminary research includes secondary research, in

which components of the project are thoroughly analyzed in order to gain understanding

28

and knowledge of the topic. A literature review (see Chapter 2) was developed and

updated throughout the entire duration of the research process, as this solidifies the

background information needed to successfully carry-out the project goals. The literature

review includes summaries and explanations of topics related to the research of wind

generators. The topics are: windmill and wind generator history, the applications of wind

generators, cost comparisons, wind speed data, materials, blade design, alternative uses

for wind power and electrical components, among other topics.

The preliminary research also included building various prototypes in order to

apply the knowledge gained into a working model. These prototypes were evolutionary,

as failed components were improved and fixed in the newer models. Once the generator

was built and in working order, it was used on a regular basis to run small electrical

components such as a radio, some lamps and small power tools. An anemometer (see

Figure 9), commonly known as a wind-speed sensor, was installed in order to gain

knowledge about wind patterns in the area and the relationship between wind speed and

rotation of the wind generator.

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Figure 9. Anemometer (wind speed sensor)

3.3 Testing of the First Prototypes

Testing of the first prototypes was conducted in order to evaluate and compare a

few different criteria which aided in deciding which model would be best suited for

developing a guideline. These criteria include cost of the system, measured in U.S.

dollars, efficiency and power of the wind generator, measured in volts, and efficiency at

certain wind speeds, measured in kilometers/second. In terms of other wind powered

machines, most of them will be theoretical in design, yet containing research and

feedback from individuals originating from distinct countries, especially participants

from Choluteca, Honduras, where most of the participatory research was conducted.

These comparisons will help determine the best combination of materials in order to

advance with further research and final conclusions. Figures 10 and 11 show the initial

30

prototypes and some of the components which were modified throughout the research

process.

Figure 10. Prototype 1 Figure 11. Prototype 2

The main components that were evaluated and modified during the initial

prototype phase include the blades, the addition of the tail, the location of the generator

on the post, and some of the electrical components. These will be discussed in more

detail throughout the prototype chapter. Once all the components were in working order

and the wind generator was stable, the data was compiled and organized in order to

present it to research participants in the city of Choluteca, Honduras.

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3.4 On-Site Exploration: Choluteca, Honduras

A trip taken to Choluteca, Honduras in the spring of 2011 was used to conduct

field research in order to acquire information about the possibility of using locally-built

machinery in order to aid in every day activities. This trip was sponsored by ECOS

(Engineers for Community Service) at the Ohio State University, lead by Professors John

Merrill and Roger Dzwonczyk. The trip participants include Larry and Angie Overholt

who are Ohio State University alumni that have been living in Choluteca for the past 25

years. They have extensive knowledge of the area as well as daily activities of the locals

and ways in which they can be improved.

The main goal of traveling to Choluteca was to acquire information about the

community, their interests in alternative energy, their income levels and willingness to

operate small businesses. Interviews were conducted to eight participants, all who were

volunteers for this particular research. The blank questionnaire can be found in Appendix

A and the answers to the questions can be found in Appendix B. In addition to the

interviews, wind-speed data was collected over a period of five months in order to

validate the decision to build a model wind-generator in the Choluteca. The wind data

sheet can be found in Appendix C.

Some of the most relevant and outstanding results, which are detailed throughout

the text, include the willingness and excitement of the participants to learn about wind

generators and create business models. Participants also want to be able to use this data

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to teach others and have others create small businesses in the area, therefore stimulating

economic growth. Wind data also shows that wind generators are viable in the area of

Choluteca, which lies close to the ocean, and not necessarily an option in the northern

part of Catacamas, where wind speeds were low. Table 1 details wind speed data taken

throughout the span of 5 months, March through July 2011, in Choluteca.

Table 1: Combined Wind Speed Data from Choluteca, Honduras

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3.5 Guideline Development

After concluding the trip to Choluteca, Honduras, a guideline was created which

provides rules and recommendations for implementing a wind-generator at a vocational

school, “Escuela Vocacional Estados Unidos de America” in Choluteca. Locally available

materials, skills and crafts, and wind data were taken into consideration as these wind

generator designs will have to be adapted depending on the location and material

availability. Prototype data will also improve the information on the guideline, as issues

that came up during the testing process will be highlighted, as well as methods of

avoiding such problems. Some of these include the shape of the blades, the distance

between the blades and the post, and others regarding wiring and electrical components.

The reason for the development of a general guideline, as opposed to a step-by-

step plan, is to compensate for the fact that users can use scrap and recycled material for

wind generators. Due to this issue, the mention of a specific material would hinder the

development process, as users might not have access to specific components. They

might, however, have access to similar ones which will do the same job. This increases

the flexibility of the product, but at the same time it may confuse some who are not

completely familiar with the function of a certain component. Therefore, this issue might

be solved by listing the various materials that could be used to build a certain component

of the generator. By researching and inquiring about the materials available in the area,

this material listing has been made easier to compose.

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CHAPTER 4: PROTOTYPE DEVELOPMENT

4.1 Introduction

Throughout the entire duration of the study, three distinct prototypes were

developed. The first two were built for exploration of the components, including blade

shape, material selection, electrical components and general assembly. Once the second

prototype was working flawlessly, it was used as the basis for the introduction of the

project to participants in Choluteca, Honduras. With their feedback and input, the third

prototype was created. This prototype strategically uses recycled and re-usable

components as well as local materials widely found throughout Honduras. The

interaction with participants in Honduras as well as the materials research is detailed in

the following chapter. The third prototype will also be used as the basis for creating the

guideline that will be presented to the “Escuela Vocacional Estados Unidos de America”

in Choluteca.

4.2 First Prototype

In the fall of 2009, the first prototype was built. This prototype, as seen in Figure

12, was built in order to learn about all the components, how they interact together, and

to work on the assembly details. The first prototypes were built in Marysville, OH where

the wind consistently comes from the west. Because of this, the wind generator was static

and pointed west at all times. Although this didn’t have an impact at the beginning, every

35

once in a while storms would come from other cardinal directions, and many

opportunities to generate electricity would be lost. This was one of the first setbacks

observed of the initial prototype.

Figure 12. Initial Prototype and Illustration of the Assembly

The post is a regular 4”x 4” standard piece of construction lumber that can be

found at many hardware stores in the country. The length chosen was 8 feet, as this

would make the generator accessible for monitoring and maintenance. The post was

placed in a hole in the ground that was about 2 feet deep, as this is the frost line for the

area. The hole was then filled with ‘QuickCrete,’ a quick drying cement. Three guy-wires

36

were installed to prevent the post from shaking too much when winds were high. An ‘L’

bracket was then placed at the top of the post which would serve as the connecting point

between the motor and the post. Once these components were in place, the generator was

attached to the post.

The generator itself is composed of a treadmill motor and PVC blades made from

a single 4” pipe which were attached to the motor with steel screws. The motor, seen in

Figure 13, is a permanent magnet DC motor purchased from E-bay and manufactured by

Turdan Industry Co., Ltd. It is a 1.5 HP, 10 AMP motor, able to produce up to 110 Volts

at 4800 RPM. The motor has a built in fan at the back, with a purpose of maintaining the

motor at a cool operating temperature. The motor also has hub at the front which is used

as the main attachment point for the blades.

Figure 13. Permanent Magnet DC Motor from Turdan Industry Co., Ltd.

37

The blades are composed of a standard 4-inch diameter PVC pipe with a length of

2 feet. These pipes can be purchased at most hardware stores in the United States as well

as other countries such as Honduras. The standard thickness of one of these pipes is

around one quarter of an inch. The pipe was split into three equal sections using a small

hand saw as seen in Figure 14. These were then shaped into blades by first drawing a

diagonal line, as seen in Figure 14, that went from 1.5 inches from the bottom edge on

the left side, to approximately .25 inches from the top edge on the right side of the pipe.

Figure 14. PVC pipe cut into thirds

The blades were then cut into their final shapes, once again with the use of a hand

saw, as seen in Figure 15. The goal of cutting the small section towards the right is to

simple have more room when attaching the blades to the hub of the motor. The blades are

38

then drilled at the one shorter end in order to be able to attach these to the hub with steel

screws. The location of the holes is determined by the optimum angle at which the wind

is going to hit the blades as seen in section 2.8.2 of the literature review. The blades were

then painted with spray paint. The goal of the paint is to preserve the integrity of the

PVC, as weather conditions are subject to damage the material if left untreated. The paint

used was Krylon ® brand, a paint that is specially formulated for outdoor plastics.

Figure 15. The blades cut into their final shapes

The next step was to drill holes in the hub of the motor. These holes have to match

with the holes that are drilled on the blades. Once completed, the blades were attached

onto the hub using a screwdriver and steel screws as seen in Figure 16.

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Figure 16. Attaching the blades to the motor

Once completed, the final step was to attach the generator to the post. This was

done using 2 bolts whose thread matched that of the existing holes on the motor. Figure

17 shows the generator mounted on top of the pole using the ‘L’ bracket. The wires on

this prototype were not connected to the electrical system yet, as these were just used to

connect to a multi-meter to check for voltage.

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Figure 17. Generator mounted onto the post using the ‘L’ bracket

4.3 Analysis of the First Prototype

4.3.1General Assessment

The first prototype was successful in many ways. Not only was it the first step to a

completed model, it was also used as a learning tool. Although it did generate electricity,

some design flaws were discovered, especially once the first strong winds of the season

arrived. The blades were destroyed during a storm due to their proximity to the post. The

lack of a tail on this model made it generate less electricity therefore that was the first

41

upgrade made to the following system.

4.3.2 Blade Assessment

The placement of the generator on the post caused the blades of the initial

prototype to be closer to the post than they should have been. For the first few months

this caused no issues, as wind speeds did not become excessive. A storm in December of

2009, with strong winds coming from the west, caused the blades to bend backwards and

rub against the post. At one point the wind was so strong that the blades didn’t just rub on

the post, they went past the edge of the post and snapped. This meant that if PVC blades

were to be used once again for the following prototypes, they had to be placed farther

away from the post to overcome the bending factor. The high winds and the vibration of

the blades rubbing against the post also caused one of the fasteners to come loose, as

seen in Figure 18. Figure 19 shows blade paint which has rubbed off onto the post.

42

Figure 18. The damage done to the generator because of high winds

Figure 19. The paint of the blades rubbed-off onto the post – image digitally enhanced

43

4.4 Second Prototype

The second prototype, as seen in Figure 20, has been updated to include a tail

which allows the blades to be pointed towards the direction of the wind at all times. The

other major improvement made to the generator was to move the entire unit farther away

from the post to allow more flexibility of the blades under high winds. Although the

second prototype was not fully connected to the electrical system, voltages were still

measured with a multimeter in order to assess power output. The reason for why this unit

was not connected to the electrical system is explained further in this section.

Figure 20. Second Prototype

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4.4.1 Second Prototype Tail

A tail was constructed for the second prototype in order to maximize the amount

of direct wind hitting the blades. The first attempt at creating a tail was not as successful

as the second attempt, due to the shape and material choice of the support. Figure 21

shows the first attempt at the tail, where the fin was too heavy and the materials chosen

for the support were bending too much. The bending of the tail caused awkward

vibrations which also led to fasteners coming loose.

Figure 21. The first attempt at a tail

An “L” shape extruded piece of aluminum was then used to create a more robust

tail, as seen in Figure 22. This tail has proven to be successful, as it minimizes any

horizontal bending and does not lead to vibrations. Another “L” shaped piece was also

attached towards the front of the tail to be used as a mounting point for the generator. The

45

fasteners were coated with ‘Loctite’ in order to prevent them from coming loose.

Figure 22. The upgraded tail support made from “L” shaped aluminum

4.4.2 The Rotation Mechanism

In order to allow for rotation along the vertical axis, a rotational mechanism had to

be put in place. Due to the post being a solid piece of wood, the generator had to be

placed on a separate mechanism for optimum rotation. Therefore, it is recommended that

posts be hollow and perhaps made from metal if a separate rotation mechanism can’t be

46

made. In this case, as seen in Figure 22, the rotational mechanism was composed of two

separate parts. The bottom support was machined from brass and the inner bushing was

machined from stainless steel. Since the hardness levels of these two metals are different,

these materials actually worked well together. Figure 23 shows the machined

components as they were when taken apart.

Figure 23. The brass and stainless steel rotational components

The reason why this rotational component was not ideal for this type of post was

the fact that it would not allow of the electrical wires to rotate smoothly without

wrapping around the post. If the wind would change directions constantly, the electrical

wires would get tangled around the post, therefore damaging the system. After further

considerations, a new rotational system was implemented.

The new rotational system, as seen in Figure 24, consists of a support mount

placed at the side of the post. This support mount (square stock) allows for a hollow

circular pipe to be placed inside it. This hollow circular pipe is ideal for rotation as it

47

provides a smooth surface as well as a hollow center to allow for wires to be placed

inside. This would prevent wires from tangling inside.

Figure 24. The new support mount vs. the old one

Once the mount was in place, the entire wind generator assembly was placed

inside the circular pipe. The circular pipe was then securely attached to the post using a

bracket and long screws that go all the way through the post. This new rotational system

works well, all the way from low, calm winds to strong winds that change direction often.

Once this was completed, the next step was to wire the system.

4.5 Electrical System

The last system to be installed was the electrical system which is used to charge a

48

battery. The system consists of 2 main wires that transmit the DC power from the motor,

a charge controller, a deep cycle marine battery, diversion loads, an inverter, a couple of

switches, a fuse, a diode, and a grounding rod. Figure 25 shows the complete setup of the

electrical system.

Figure 25. The electrical system

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4.5.1 The Charge Controller

The main function of the charge controller is to make sure the battery is charged

properly and to shut down, or divert power from the system when the battery is fully

charged. Various types of charge controllers are available, so it is important to follow the

manufacturer’s directions when installing the charge controller. The one installed for the

system is a Xantrex C35 Charge/Load Controller, as seen in Figure 26.

Figure 26. Xantrex C35 Charge/Load Controller

Due to the distance of about 30 feet from the generator to the charge controller,

the recommended wiring size for the system was 14 gauge wire. If the distance is shorter,

50

one can install smaller wire. The reason for installing larger diameter wire is to prevent

voltage drop over longer distances. The manual of the charge controller contained the

appropriate and recommended wiring sizes depending on certain distances. The wires

must also be ground using a grounding rod. These are also available at most hardware

stores. All the negative wires of the system (shown as black wires on the diagram) must

be connected to the grounding rod.

4.5.2 The Battery

The recommended battery for any wind-powered or solar-powered system is a

deep cycle battery. The reason these batteries are optimal for these types of applications

is that they are able to discharge to quite a low voltage and recharge without any major

issues. Normal car batteries, on the other hand, do not last long if they are charged and

discharged constantly. These deep-cycle batteries are available in most hardware stores in

the United States, as well as some battery specialty stores in other countries. These

batteries come standard as12V or 24V and can be wired in series if a larger storage

system is required.

It is important, especially right after installing the system, to check the battery

constantly. One must monitor the voltage of the battery to make sure the system is

charging everything properly. Volt meters are available, but a simple multi-meter does the

job as well. One can also install an amp-meter to make sure the current is flowing from

the generator to the battery.

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4.5.3 The Inverter

The inverter is one of the most important components of the system, as it allows

regular AC components to run off the battery. The inverter converts the DC power of the

battery to AC. There are various different types of inverters on the market, and it is

important to size these according to what components will be plugged into the system.

The inverters are usually plugged directly to the battery and come equipped with

electrical outlets similar to those found in homes.

The inverter in this system is a Chicago Electric 400 Watt continuous power/ 800

Watt peak inverter as seen in Figure 27. This inverter is ideal for small electronics such

as lamps, radios and small power tools. Larger applications such as large electrical power

tools, small appliances and large lamps may require a higher wattage inverter as well as a

bigger battery supply. Some inverters are also equipped with an alarm that turns on when

the battery voltage is running low. This prevents the battery from completely discharging

and potentially being ruined.

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Figure 27. The inverter on top of the battery

4.5.4 The Diversion Loads

Depending on the type of charge controller, diversion loads are necessary to divert

excess power to a source. This is important because if a diversion load is not present, it

might cause the charge controller and the battery to overheat. Diversion loads come in

different forms and may range from simple resistors to water and air heaters. Depending

on the location and availability of these components, one can chose on or the other, but a

diversion load must be present.

For this system, the diversion loads used are resistors as seen in Figure 28. These

can also be used as air heaters, as they get warm when excess power is diverted to them.

It is important to size the diversion loads properly, as these are the ones who divert the

excess power during high winds. At this time, the generator could be working at its

53

maximum potential, therefore, the diversion loads must exceed the maximum possible

wattage of the generator.

Figure 28. The Diversion Loads

In order to calculate the maximum Wattage of the system, the output of the motor

must be taken into account. This specific motor is capable of producing 1.5 HP, or

1,118.5 Watts. The conversion factor is 1 HP is equal to 746 Watts. According to Betz’s

law (as shown in the chapter 2), the maximum possible output of a turbine is

approximately 60%. This means that the diversion load must exceed 60% of 1,118.5

which is 671.1. These specific diversion loads are 300 Watts each; therefore, this system

requires 3 of them in order to exceed 671.1 Watts. These were wired in parallel, meaning

that all positives are wired together and all negatives are wired together. Figure 29 shows

the diversion loads wired and mounted onto a wall. The backing behind the diversion

loads is a thin sheet of aluminum which reflects the heat given off the diversion loads and

prevents the wall from getting too hot.

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Figure 29. Diversion loads wired in parallel

4.5.5 Switches, Fuses and Diodes

Other smaller, yet important components of the electrical system include fuses,

diodes and switches. Two electrical on/off switches should be placed on the positive

wires leading to the battery. These are precautionary switches and should be turned off

when plugging and unplugging any wires. These switches can also be turned off if there

is a wind storm approaching while the battery is already fully charged and one does not

need the extra heat of the diversion loads.

Fuses are also precautionary components, just like the switches. A fuse is meant to

blow when the current going through the system exceeds the maximum current that it

55

requires to function. In the case of this system, the amperage rating for the motor is 10

amps. Therefore, a 10 amp fuse can be placed in the positive line that leads from the

generator to the battery. If the current is too high, the fuse will simply blow and prevent

the electrical charging components of getting ruined.

A diode must also be placed in the positive line going from the generator to the

battery. A diode allows current to only flow in one direction. In this case we want the

current to flow from the generator to the battery, and not in the opposite direction. If the

diode is not in place, the battery will power the generator when the generator is not

spinning due to calm winds. This will drain the battery in just a few hours.

4.6 Summary of Prototype Development

Prototype development was an essential component of the entire research process

and development of a final guideline. The experience gained from research, design,

implementation, revision and testing was extremely beneficial. Although components

failed along the way, these failures allowed for revisions to be made in order to design

the best possible solutions. These revisions, which included the addition of a tail, as well

as increasing the distance from the blades to the pole, allowed for the second prototype to

be flawlessly running for over a year. Testing the prototypes for extended periods of time

also guarantees that the new designs are appropriate for various weather patterns.

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Modularity was also an important factor in the designs. By making the blades

modular, I was able to change them when they first snapped after an intense wind storm.

This is essential in areas such as Honduras where they experience hurricane-type winds a

few times a year. By allowing blades to be modular, if they are to snap with strong winds,

the customer can change them and not have to spend a lot of money. Other components,

such as the tail are also modular for the same reason. If one component fails, it is easy

and affordable to be replaced. Even the motor, which could be a permanent magnet DC

motor or a vehicle alternator, could also be replaced if damage were to occur. Once the

second prototype was completed and thoroughly tested, the requirements and data from

Choluteca, Honduras were taken into account before completing the final guideline.

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CHAPTER 5: FIELD RESEARCH IN CHOLUTECA, HONDURAS

5.1 Introduction

Field research was conducted in the city of Choluteca, Honduras in order to build

a wind generator guideline that would be specific to the area. The reason why Choluteca

was chosen was based on various factors. The director of the First-Year Engineering

Programs at OSU, Dr. John Merrill, PhD., has been traveling to Honduras with a group

of students every year for the past few years. Most of the projects being implemented by

the groups have been engineering related, so this trip seemed like a good fit for some

field research. The group has been in touch with a few OSU alumni, Larry and Angie

Overholt, who have been living there for the past 25 years. Larry Overholt directs a

school in Choluteca called “Escuela Vocacional Estados Unidos de America” which is a

vocational school whose mission is to educate students in the fields of automotive

mechanics, refrigeration, air conditioning, sewing and computation. Having spoken to

Larry at an assessment meeting in 2010, it was clear that there was an interest in

installing a wind generator at the school to serve as a teaching tool for students as well as

lowering electricity costs. The goals of the trip were to acquire data about local materials

in the area, inquire about the general opinion of citizens about the project, gather wind

data and assess the school which would be the primary location of the wind generator.

The trip took place between March 19 and March 26 of 2011.

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Choluteca is a medium-sized city in the Southern part of Honduras. With a

population of around 100,000, the city mainly supports itself through agriculture.

Hurricane Mitch, which hit in 1998, affected Choluteca immensely as the city received

enormous amounts of rainfall. According to the Inter-American Development Bank,

Choluteca received the equivalent of 212 days of rain in just a few days. This impacted

agriculture as well as the general economy of the population. Many homes and

businesses were destroyed by the waters of the Choluteca River, so many of these had to

be rebuilt. This low income area suffered a great deal from this natural disaster. Figure 30

shows a map of the area as well as the location of Choluteca within Honduras.

Figure 30. Map of Choluteca

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5.2 Escuela Vocacional Estados Unidos de America

5.2.1 Introduction to the school

The ‘Escuela Vocacional Estados Unidos de America’ is the school run by Larry

Overholt in the outskirts of Choluteca. The main areas taught at the school are

automotive mechanics, refrigeration, air conditioning, sewing and computation. Future

areas include aquaponics and perhaps wind generation. Aquaponics was one of the

projects that Dr. Merrill’s group set up in Choluteca during the March 2011 trip along

with setting up the computers for the courses. The goal of the school is to prepare

students to work in areas that are in high demand. Larry’s wish is that some of the

students even go as far as create their own businesses related to their fields of study.

The school campus is fairly open and is composed of various one-level buildings

spread out on grassy fields as seen in Figure 31. There are approximately 100 students

enrolled at the school, with class sizes ranging between 20 and 30 students each. There is

no running city water, as this proves to be an expensive luxury that the school can’t

afford at the moment. Electricity is somewhat reliable, but power shortages occur every

once in a while. Some of the buildings on the property, like the tool storage

area/maintenance workshop, are not equipped with electricity at all, so most of the work

must be done during the day and at a different location.

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Figure 31. One of the buildings at the school

5.2.2 Aquaponics System

One of the goals of the trip was to install an aquaponics system at the vocational

school. Aquaponics is a system of at least 2 different tanks, one for plants and the other

for fish. Some of the water from the fish tank is pumped into the plant tank, and the

plants consume the effluents from the fish water and clean it up. This water is then sent

back to the fish tank and this cycle occurs various times per day. Larry requested this

project because he sees it as a great business potential in the area. He wanted this system

installed at the school so students could learn from it and eventually begin producing

their own. The goal of the aquaponics system is to provide a protein source (fish) and a

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vegetable source at a small scale so families could support themselves. Whatever is left

after harvesting every week could be sold through a small business.

The team had to plan this system with sustainability and local materials in mind.

This was a good experience for the wind generator research project as we learned about

materials that were available as well as local skills. The system was set up to run on solar

panels and a battery, as electricity might be expensive or not even available in some

areas. One of Larry’s goals is to have a wind generator working on the model as well, as

this provides another source of power that people could use to power their systems. The

setup of the aquaponics system, as seen in Figure 32, was completed during the trip in a

timely manner. Figure 33 explains the connections of the electrical system and how the

solar panels are working with the other components in order to power the system. A

manual backup pump was installed on the side of the system in case the solar pump fails.

This redundant system is important in an environment that includes fish, as they would

not be able to survive for too long if the water in the tank is not aerated a few times per

day. The team got some updates a few months later from Larry who reported that the

system was running smoothly and that many students at the school had taken an interest

in the technology.

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Figure 32. The aquaponics system powered by solar panels

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Figure 33. The aquaponics power system

Some of the conclusions gathered from this experience proved to be extremely

helpful while continuing to conduct field research. The most important of those was to

talk to the customer, who was Larry, in order to provide him with a system that he asked

for, instead of us just providing something that we think they would want. The other

important aspect of this project was to teach someone at the school about the system so

they would be able to maintain it. The team worked closely with Chacho, an employee of

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the school, who is skilled in many areas including electrical work, maintenance and

general construction. We set up the system with his help so he would know exactly what

the system is supposed to look like. This was also important as he took ownership of the

project and would soon become the expert. By doing this, the team made sure to have

someone local who would teach the students about the system and perhaps spread the

technology through word-of-mouth.

5.2.3 Assessment of the School for the possible location of a Wind Generator

The physical location of the school is ideal for a wind generator as it is built

beside an open field. This allows for a steady, unobstructed breeze coming from one side

which would be ideal to power a wind generator. A couple of areas would benefit greatly

from having a wind generator, according to Larry. One of the buildings, which is the

primary candidate for a wind generator, is the tool storage/maintenance building. This

building does not have any power whatsoever, and the maintenance crew is not able to do

anything after dark. This building, as seen in Figure 34, is right beside an open field, so

wind would hit the generator without any obstructions. The goal of the generator would

be to power some small lights as well as small power tools such as drills.

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Figure 34. The tool storage building

Other buildings that Larry requested be analyzed include the food stand and the

automotive mechanics building. The reason why he requested the food stand to be

analyzed is because this stand is run independently by some local women and their

electric bill is always high. Some of the items they run at the stand include a microwave,

a couple of beverage refrigerators, and some fryers. The downside to this is that a small-

scale wind generator would not be able to power any of these appliances; therefore this

building will not be taken into consideration for the first generator.

The automotive mechanics building, on the other hand, would be a good candidate

for the wind generator. Larry would like to power some lights in the building, so a small

generator would be ideal for this. His other reason for why this building would be ideal is

that he perceived the automotive mechanics students as ideal candidates for wanting to

learn about wind generators. The only reason against placing the first one on this

building is that it already has electricity; therefore the generators would only be there to

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supplement. Therefore, it has been decided, with the help of Larry, that the ideal location

for the first generator would be the tool storage building.

One of the other reasons as to why Larry would like to install a wind generator at

the school is because one of the maintenance workers, Chacho, is a skilled electrician and

a big influence in the community. He understands the technology behind the system, so

he would be able to promote the idea of wind generators. Another maintenance worker,

Eber, is a skilled welder, therefore, between the two of them, they would be able to teach

and spread the information to their local communities. This would make the project

extremely sustainable, as someone local would be able to work with new customers or

business owners.

5.3 Wind Data in Choluteca

In order to validate the location as a potential candidate for a wind generator,

extensive wind data was gathered over a period of five months. An anemometer, or wind-

speed sensor, was installed at Larry and Angie’s home in Choluteca. The anemometer, as

seen in Figure 35, has been placed at the top of a water tower which sits at a height of

approximately 6 meters, or 20 feet. A wireless transmitter communicates wind data to a

portable LCD screen which can be read on a daily basis and reset easily. Angie has

collected data about the maximum wind speed on a given day as well as the average wind

speed that day.

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Figure 35. Installing the anemometer

Ideal wind gust speeds for the prototype generators have been around 10 km/hr.

This speed allows for the generator to begin spinning and continuously generate enough

DC current to charge the battery. Higher wind speeds, which usually become gusty, are

ideal for getting the generator started, and then the generator can spin at wind speeds that

are as low as 7 km/hr. The following tables show the wind data collected over the months

of March – July 2011. Wind data was not collected on a daily basis, but it was spread out

over the five months. The first table shows the average daily wind speeds in kilometers

per hour, and the second table shows the maximum wind gusts corresponding to the same

days as the average wind speeds, also in kilometers per hour.

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Table 2. Average Wind Speeds in Choluteca from March – July 2011

Table 3. Maximum Wind Speed Gusts in Choluteca from March - July 2011

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The climate in Choluteca follows a fairly consistent pattern in terms of the

seasons. The dry season, which runs from November to April, is fairly calm and

extremely hot. The wet season which starts in May and ends in October is fairly hot and

humid, and tends to be varied due to the hurricane season. This is one of the reasons why

wind data was collected over a period of five months, just to make sure data was

gathered from both dry and wet seasons. The collected wind data, along with the specific

dates in which the measurements were taken, can be found in Appendix C.

5.4 Materials Research in Choluteca

An assessment of materials found in Choluteca was conducted in order to find a

listing of both new and recyclable materials which could be used to build wind-powered

machinery. A visit to a local hardware store revealed that many of the new materials sold

at that store were the same ones that are available at any major hardware store in the

United States. Local street markets were also a good place to find new material at a lower

cost that some of the stores. A trip taken to a solar equipment store, SOLAIRES, also

revealed that many of the renewable resource equipment is also available, although at an

extremely high cost. Other electrical components were also found at another store, for

example many of the electronics required to operate renewable energy equipment.

Observations and interviews about recyclable materials also revealed some interesting

options.

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One of the local hardware stores in Choluteca, Ferromax, is equipped with

standard construction components as well as small hardware items. Common roofing

materials in Choluteca include metallic laminate roofing, which could be an ideal

candidate for blade material. This roofing material, as seen in Figure 36, comes standard

in sheets with a width of 4 feet and length of 6, 8, 10 or 12 feet. Other building materials

found at the store include standard pieces of construction lumber as well as PVC pipes

and fasteners. Wiring can also be found at this store, as well as the electronics equipment

store.

Figure 36. Assorted roofing materials found at Ferromax

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Discarded, reusable equipment can be found in many locations around the city as

well as the country. Large automotive junkyards are spread out throughout the country,

and these contain anything from simple steel panels to the more sophisticated powertrain

equipment. These junk yards are ideal for finding sheet metal ideal for blades and other

components. Alternators can also be found in these junkyards, which can be used as the

main generator component. Other components which could be used to construct a tail

vane or other smaller components could also be found at the local junkyards.

At the vocational school there were also many discarded and scrap materials

which could be used on the wind generator. These components were once used as

teaching aids, but have been abandoned and left outside. Some of these old vehicles, as

seen in Figure 37, could be parted out and used on the project. The curiosity about the

vehicle on the left shown on Figure 37, is that the radiator fan is pointed towards the

empty field which lies in the direction from where the wind comes from. This fan keeps

spinning all the time, yet is not being used to power anything. According to Larry, these

vehicles were purchased at a junk yard or from local individuals for a fairly low price.

The rest of the scrap materials found at the school, which are shown in Figures 38 and

39, can also be used as small components of wind-powered machinery.

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Figure 37. The junk yard vehicles sitting at the vocational school

Figure 38. Scrap components at the school

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Figure 39. Scrap metal found at the school

Some of the scrap materials found at the school, which included some old white

boards, were used in the aquaponics project. The team needed to construct a base for the

solar panels, so we used a circular saw and cut part of the white board. The team also

needed to construct a box for the electrical components; so once again, a circular saw

was used to cut pieces from the white board and miscellaneous fasteners were used to put

it together. Other scrap materials found at the school and at Larry’s home were also used

to build the main structure of the aquaponics system. One of the components of the

aquaponics system, which was gravel, had to be collected at the Choluteca River, so the

team once again used scrap materials to construct sifters used to separate the small

gravel. Figures 40 and 41 show scrap materials which were found at the school used to

build the fish and plant basins, as well as the structure for the entire system. Figure 42

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shows members of the team down by the Cholueca River sifting for gravel using

structures made from scrap material. This proves the versatility of scrap materials found

around the area and how they can be adapted for various projects. Other components

such as deep cycle marine batteries and charge controllers are available at local

electronics shops. Batteries were also available at the SOLAIRES solar panel shop.

Wiring, fuses, grounding rods and diodes were all available at the local hardware store.

Figure 40. Scrap Barrels Figure 41. Scrap Wood

Approximately 75 percent of the entire system was made using recycled or found

materials. This includes wood supports, fish basin, plant basins, fasteners, gravel, battery,

siphoning system, manual pump components and hoses. The team had to purchase the

solar panel system, timer and electrical pump.

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Figure 42. Team members collecting gravel at the Choluteca River

The interview data about materials research confirmed the findings from the

observations. Five individuals were interviewed in Choluteca, and their responses, which

are found in Appendix B, reveal that local scrap materials are widely available

throughout the area. They mention junk yards as well as construction sites as areas in

which to find materials. They also mentioned large productions of wooden planks, which

is one of the main industries of the area. A few of them also mentioned that biking was an

important part of transportation in the area, and that many old bicycle components are to

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be found. They also mentioned that new replacement components for bicycles are widely

available, so these could definitely be an option for construction materials. Biking is a

large component of transportation in the area, as it is relatively inexpensive. The

topography of the city of Choluteca is perfect for biking as it is fairly flat, so many locals

prefer it as a mode of transportation.

5.5 Choluteca Interviews

5.5.1 Introduction

Five participants were interviews in Choluteca about their opinions and to gather

feedback about wind generators. The fully transcribed and translated interviews can be

found in Appendix B. An additional three participants were interviewed in the

northeastern city of Catacamas. The idea of the interviews was to learn about the local

skills, income levels, opinions about wind generators, and possibility of implementing

small businesses catering to wind generator customers. These were qualitative questions

as opposed to quantitative ones because the opinions and concerns of the locals would be

better captured if they were able to expand their answers.

The ages and professions of the interviewees varied widely, which provided

interesting data in terms of their opinions and knowledge about the area. The professions

of the participants include: agronomist, handyman/welder, industrial mechanics teacher,

cleaning person/night-watch person/office assistant, electrical technician, business

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administration, agriculture mechanics, and missionary/administrator. Of these

participants, a few were business owners themselves, so they were inclined to support the

idea of a wind generator business in the area. Of the ones who were not business owners,

their opinions were still positive when it came to the idea of a small business. All of the

participants support the idea of implementing a small-scale wind generator at the school

to serve as a teaching aid. They see great potential in the underdeveloped project in

Choluteca which would definitely improve the quality of life of individuals in their

communities.

5.5.2 Interview Results

In general, participants were excited to be asked their opinions and feedback about

wind generators. The third question of the interview, after the questions about age and

profession revealed little information about potential projects. The question was “which

daily activities are the ones that take the longest to complete?” Most of the activities

which took the longest were related to time-management issues, most of them which

would not be improved by the implementation of a wind generator or a wind-powered

machine.

The fourth question, “do you have any hobbies, for example wood working,

ceramics, etc.” revealed some interesting information. Some of the participants were

keen wood-workers and knew much information about lumber available throughout the

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area. Another potential useful skill was welding. One of the participants was a

professional welder and suggested ways in which this skill could be useful when

installing a wind generator. Another participant, who is a professional electrical

technician, would have no problems connecting a wind generator, as this is his area of

expertise. Many of the participants were used to building furniture as well as other

household items. They expressed great interest in mechanical components as well, which

would definitely be a useful skill in this area.

The fifth question, “what recyclable or scrap materials are plentiful in this area”

had many different answers. A majority of the participants mentioned plastic as one of

the main recyclable components. Most of these came in the form of plastic soda bottles,

some of these which were repurposed as garden fences and flower pots. Other answers

include bicycle components, automotive components and construction scraps. Cooking

oils and other food scraps were plentiful in the area as well. One of the other major

recyclable materials is wood, especially in the northeastern part of the country where

wood is still plentiful.

Te sixth question asked, “What naturally found materials are local to the area, for

example pine wood, ceramics, etc?” Most of the answers included wood and agricultural

food items. Other materials mentioned were also clay, gravel and other geological items,

but mainly wood. The area is big into agriculture and they have many shrimp and tilapia

farms. Sugar cane and melon farms are also a large source of income from the area, as

these are then exported to other countries.

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The seventh question was “What are the biggest industries in the area?” Once

again, these were mostly related to agriculture. The lumber industry is also large in the

area along with coffee. Some of the smaller industries produce many steel-related items,

such as nails and other fasteners. Most of the other industries were related to dairy

production, soy and other basic grains.

The eighth and ninth questions were about owning a business and wanting to own

one in the future. Most of the participants who did not own businesses would like to be

business owners in the future. Many of these businesses were micro-businesses, such as

participant # 5 who owned a gravel-transporting company. They see great benefit in

micro-businesses as these can provide steady sources of income. One of the wishes of

some of the participants is to be able to learn about a certain system, such as aquaponics

or wind generation and teach it to others so they can create small businesses.

The tenth question was related specifically to prototype # 2. After a thorough

explanation and images shown about the system, participants were asked to voice their

opinions about the wind generator. All of the participants had positive remarks about the

wind generator and thought it would be a great idea to implement one at the school. A

few of the participants expressed their interest in being active participants of the project

when the wind generator is installed at the school. One of the participants, who was also

active during the implementation of the aquaponics system, expressed great interesting in

building these projects and systems with us, as this is was the best way for him to learn

about the details of the electrical components. This way, we made sure that customers

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took ownership of the projects and were excited about continuing to maintain them.

Since the trip, Larry has mentioned that students at the school were extremely curious

about the aquaponics system and that two of the maintenance workers at the school, who

were also participants in the interview process, made sure to build a proper concrete pad

for the system and built a fence around the system to prevent curious passer-bys from

adjusting the system.

The last question asked was about the viability of the project for the area. Most of

the participants thought that pricing would not be a deterrent, as this would be a small

investment that would pay-off in the long run. One of the participants was so enthusiastic

about the system that he said that the investment was small in comparison to the

possibilities that a project of this magnitude would bring. Only one of the participants

said that she would not be able to afford the system and that she wouldn’t want one for

her home, as her family is extremely poor and she has many other needs. When told that

this system could potentially eliminate her electric bills if she invested at the beginning

of the project, she still said she didn’t have the capital to afford the system. The rest of

the participants expressed their interests in having a system like this at their homes or

businesses. The participants who were interviewed in Catacamas expressed their

concerns that in the area there would not be enough wind to generate electricity. They

did, however, point out that the surrounding hills would be ideal as there are always high

winds up at the crests of the hills and mountains. Since Catacamas lies in a valley and is

not close to the coast, the environment in this area was extremely different that the

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coastal and flat city of Choluteca.

5.6 Summary of the Field Research conducted in Honduras

The one-week immersion trip in Honduras was a great learning experience. Not

only was the team able to meet the customer in person, but an extensive amount of data

was gathered about future projects in the area. Potential customers voiced their opinions

about wind generators and the potential of these as business opportunities for the

community. Materials research was extremely successful, as all materials used to build a

wind generator were found locally in the city. These materials are not all necessarily new,

but they are recycled and reusable materials which can lower the cost of the system and

make it more sustainable.

The possible location of a wind generator was also assessed, which provided

valuable data in terms of creating a guideline that fits certain criteria. The vocational

school would be an ideal candidate for the system as it would allow students to learn

about the system and expand their knowledge into potential business ideas. The collected

wind data proves that Choluteca is a good location for small-scale wind generators. Larry

Overholt has also been a great resource as well as the primary customer for the wind

generator.

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CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK

6.1 Guideline Development

6.1.1 Introduction

The completed guideline, which can be found in Appendix D, is the culmination

of the entire research process, design implementation, testing and revision that has taken

place over the past two years. Initial prototype development and testing, which took

place in Marysville, OH, was part of the learning phase. Various designs were tested in

order to find an adequate solution to the initial problem of designing a low-cost wind

generator for developing countries that was constructed from mostly recycled and

reusable materials. Although this concept can be adapted by users for any part of the

world, the specific model in the guideline was tailored to Choluteca, Honduras.

Participants were interviewed in Choluteca in order to assess the possibility of

implementing a wind generator at a local vocational school, the Escuela Vocacional

Estados Unidos de America. Wind data collected over five months in Choluteca has

revealed that this location is ideal for a small-scale wind generator. Materials data

collected in the area has also revealed some interesting patterns, which have all been

taken into account while developing the final guideline. Locally available materials, new

and recycled, have all been considered in order to lower the costs of constructing and

installing a wind generator.

The wind generator is to be installed at the vocational school in spring of 2012, by

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a group of Ohio State University students along with students from the school itself. This

will be a learning experience for both groups of students as well as an added benefit to

the school by acquiring a new source of electrical power.

6.1.2 Materials Selection on the Guideline

After extensive analysis of the materials available in Choluteca, Honduras, it has

been decided that the most suitable materials for the wind generator are recycled and

reusable components. Since interview data and observations have revealed that new and

used automotive components are widely available in local junk yards, the motor of the

wind generator will be an alternator. Although permanent magnet motors from exercise

equipment might be available in the capital city of Tegucigalpa, vehicle alternators would

be available locally and at a lower cost for the consumer. Sheet metal from the junk yards

can also be used to create blades for the generator. Other components, such as metallic

sheets used for roofing can also be used for blades. These are available at local hardware

and construction stores as well as scrap material found at construction sites.

Other components which are widely available in Choluteca come from

inexpensive modes of transportation. Since bicycles are a low-cost form of

transportation, replacement parts are available in many areas around the city. Therefore,

the frame, or “hub” for the blades can be a bicycle wheel. The design of bicycle wheels

allows blades to be attached easily and firmly as well as evenly spaced. Rear wheels,

which include at least one or more gears, are perfect for attaching bicycle chains as part

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of the drive-train needed in order to run the alternator. By using bicycle components for

the wind generator, the customers would be able to replace components as needed.

Other components which are needed as part of the electrical system can also be

found around Choluteca. Deep-cycle marine batteries are available at selected stores.

Although the wind generators can also use normal car batteries, it is not recommended as

their recharge cycles are not optimized for extensive charge and discharge cycles. Other

wiring components, inverters, and charge controllers are also available in hardware stores

around the area.

A complete schematic, similar to the one of the second prototype, has been

included in the guideline. The labeling on the schematic uses internationally recognized

symbols, SI units (Système International d'unités), in order to avoid language confusion.

The guideline also provides labeling in English, which will also be translated into

Spanish in the future before providing the guideline to users in Choluteca.

6.2 Learning Outcomes

The entire research process has provided me with valuable hands-on experience.

Not only was I able to research, design and test wind generator prototypes, but I was able

to interact with actual customers in a developing country in order to gain feedback for the

product. This feedback was taken into account in order to develop a tailored guideline.

Constant communication with the customers has also been great help, as this guarantees

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that the guideline will be used the following year to install a wind generator. By listening

to the voice of the customer I was able to design, with their help, the perfect solution to

satisfy their requirements. By integrating design and engineering principles, the research

process was a success. Constant revision and testing were key components to creating a

successful final model. The failure of components, although frustrating at times, was

actually beneficial in the long run. The failures revealed design flaws which were later

fixed and re-tested.

Field research conducted in Choluteca, Honduras was extremely valuable as I was

able to learn about the culture and their views on wind generators. I was impressed at

their interest in gaining knowledge, not only about how wind generators work, but how

they can use this knowledge to spread the product throughout their communities and

eventually enhance the quality of life of individuals. Once the generator gets installed at

the school, participants will ask to help with the installation, as users will then have

ownership in the product and will most likely be inclined to maintain it if they are a part

of the process.

Specific design research principles were used in order to gather comprehensive

data. Participatory research, which suggests participant involvement in order to improve

a product, was used in Choluteca, Honduras. In this case, interviews were conducted to

eight participants, all of which provided valuable data used for the final guideline. Some

of the interviews yielded data about materials, others about the viability of the project in

the area, others about business opportunities which could improve the economy of the

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community, and others about personal opinions about installing generators at their own

homes. The interviews were some of the most valuable components of this research

process, as these allowed participants to voice their opinions and sparked dialogue

between myself and the participants.

User-centered design was also a major part of the design process. Although the

initial prototypes were mostly produced in Ohio, they were later used as the basis for the

creation of the final guideline. During the analysis phases, existing designs were taken

into account and modified to fit the basic design schematic. After testing and modifying

the existing design, a final prototype was deployed. These modifications included the

addition of a tail vane, the positioning of the assembly on the main post, and the addition

of a diode in the electrical system to allow current to flow in only one direction. This

design was then used as the benchmark to gather data in Honduras, and interview and

general observation results were used to modify this design using participant suggestions.

These suggestions included the use of bicycle components as the main blade-frame, and

the use of vehicle alternators as the main generators. Other suggestions were to use

different materials such as metal and recycled plastic for some of the components like

blades. The interview data as well as general observation data was extremely valuable

and one of the main reasons why it was important to travel to Honduras and speak

directly to the potential customers. Although a final prototype has not yet been built in

Choluteca, this same design process will be applied in the future in order to provide the

most efficient and appropriate designs for the area.

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6.3 Future Work

The first item which will have to be created in the future is the Spanish version of

the guideline. Once completed, this will be sent to Larry Overholt who will be in charge

of gathering the components over the next few months. One of the participants in the

study, Chacho, has specifically asked me to send him constant updates about

components, as he would like to be in charge of gathering these before students arrive in

the spring of 2012 in order to install the generator. A qualified electrical technician,

Chacho is capable of gathering the correct components.

Future work also includes the creation of an entirely diagram-based guideline

which can be used anywhere in the world. Collaboration with visual communication and

technical experts will have to be sought after, as the assembly process must be

understood by anyone who cannot read. Other suggestions include teaching an expert in a

certain area, and having him or her teach participants in their communities through

practice.

Currently, weekly meetings with Dr. Merrill and Professor Dzwonczyk, who lead

the groups down to Choluteca, have been taking place over the past few months and will

continue throughout the school year. This will guarantee that the installment of the

generator takes place and that constant communication with the customer is always

taking place. Since a group of students goes to Honduras every year, this would be a

good opportunity to check on the system and make sure it is still working. Larry

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Overholt has also stated interest in having students lead workshops related to wind

generators and other renewable energy sources so the students at the vocational school

can continue learning about different technologies.

The most important future work is to maintain contact with Larry Overholt and

other customers who have shown interest in wind generators. Although the final wind

generator guideline is specifically tailored towards Choluteca, other guidelines could also

be developed in the future for different areas of Honduras, or different countries

altogether. This guideline can be modified and adapted depending on material availability

in the area and application use.

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REFERENCES

“Advanced Wind Turbine Blade Design.” Advanced Wind Turbine Blade Design - Physics of Wind Turbine Blades and How to Build Your Own. Www.kidwind.org. Web. 22 Mar. 2010. <http://www.kidwind.org/PDFs/SUPPORT_AdvancedBlades.pdf>. Blandford, Percy W. Old Farm Tools and Machinery: an Illustrated History. Fort Lauderdale, FL: Gale Research, 1976. “Clima En Choluteca Durante El Año 2001 - Datos Climáticos Históricos Tu Tiempo.” El Tiempo - Previsión Meteorológica Tu Tiempo. Web. 06 Jan. 2011. <http://www.tutiempo.net/clima/Choluteca/2001/787240.htm>. Cogdell, J. R. Foundations of Electric Power. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999. “DC Motors -- Principles of Operation.” Solarbotics.net -- Home Page. Web. 25 Jan. 2010. <http://www.solarbotics.net/starting/200111_dcmotor/200111_dcmotor2.html>. Denny, Mark. Ingenium: Five Machines That Changed the World. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 2007 Diver, Steve. "Aquaponics—Integration of Hydroponics with Aquaculture." 2006. Web. 20 Dec. 2010. <http://www.attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/PDF/aquaponic.pdf>. English, W. The Textile Industry: an Account of the Early Inventions of Spinning, Weaving and Knitting Machines. London: Longmans, 1969. Kealey, Edward J. Harvesting the air windmill pioneers in twelfth-century England. Berkeley: University of California, 1987 Koerner, Brendan I. "Power to The People." Wired Apr. 2009: 76-87 Kristoferson, Lars A. Renewable energy technologies their applications in developing countries. Oxford [Oxfordshire]: Pergamon, 1986 "Farming Wind." Johns Hopkins Engineering -The Magazine of the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering Apr. 2011Green, W. S. Human factors in product design current practice and future trends. London: Taylor and Francis, 1999

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“Global wind power at 80 m.” Stanford University. Web. 21 Nov. 2009. <http://www.stanford.edu/group/efmh/winds/global_winds.html> Hartwanger, David. 3D Modelling of a Wind Turbine Using CFD. Proc. of NAFEMS 2008, United Kingdom Hills, Richard Leslie. Power from wind a history of windmill technology. Cambridge [England]: Cambridge UP, 1994 Hippel, Eric Von. The Sources of Innovation. New York: Oxford UP, 1988 “Income and Poverty 2005.” Http://earthtrends.wri.org/pdf_library/data_tables/ecn3_2005.pdf. Web. Ingvar, Kampard. “The Testament of a Furniture Dealer.” 2007. Web. 8 Oct. 2009. http://www.emu.dk/erhverv/merkantil_caseeksamen/doc/ikea/english_testament_2007.pdf Jordan, Patrick W. Introduction to Usability. London: Taylor & Francis, 1998 McCormack, J., Dorin, A. and Innocent, T. (2004) ‘Generative Design: a paradigm for design research’ in Redmond, J. et. al. (eds) Proceedings of Futureground, Design Research Society, Melbourne. Multidisciplinary approach to renewable energy in developing countries. Columbus, Ohio: Tropical Renewable Resources Program, Ohio State University, Horizons, Inc., 1987 Neuwirth, Robert. Shadow Cities: a Billion Squatters, a New Urban World. New York: Routledge, 2005 Papanek, Victor J. Design for the real world human ecology and social change. Chicago, Ill: Academy Chicago, 1985 Powell, F. E. Windmills and wind motors. Bradley, IL: Lindsay Publications, 1985 Prahalad, C. K. The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Wharton School Pub., 2006

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Rubin, Jeffrey, and Dana Chisnell. Handbook of Usability Testing How to Plan, Design, and Conduct Effective Tests. New York: Wiley, 2008 Sanders, Elizabeth. "Research Methods." The Ohio State University, Columbus. 15 Jan. 2010. Lecture Shah, Anup. “Poverty Facts and Stats — Global Issues.” Global Issues : Social, Political, Economic and Environmental Issues That Affect Us All — Global Issues. 20 Sept. 2010. Web. 07 June 2011. <http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats>. “Small Wind.” American Wind Energy Association. Web. 27 Nov. 2009. <http://www.awea.org/smallwind/toolbox2/factsheet_econ_of_smallwind.html>. Smith, Cynthia E. Design for the Other 90%. Minneapolis: Editions Assouline, 2007 Smith, Zachary A., and Katarina D. Taylor. Renewable and Alternative Energy Resources. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2008 Sørensen, Bent. Renewable Energy Conversion, Transmission, and Storage. New York: Academic, 2007 Sørensen, Bent. Renewable energy its physics, engineering, use, environmental impacts, economy, and planning aspects. Amsterdam: Elsevier Academic, 2004 Sullivan, Nicholas P. You Can Hear Me Now: How Microloans and Cell Phones Are Connecting the World's Poor to the Global Economy. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2007 Supplement Energy for Rural Development – Renewable Resources and Alternative Technology for Developing Countries. Advisory Committee on Technology Innovation; Board on Science and Technology for International Development; Commission on International Relations; National Research Council. ©1981 National Academy Press, Washington DC “The Physics and Economics of Wind Turbines : Wind Power Design, Wind Turbine Construction, Renewable Energy News | Windpower Engineering.” Windpower Engineering Wind Power Design | Construction | Maintenance Resource : Wind Power Design, Wind Turbine Construction, Renewable Energy News | Windpower Engineering. Web. 22 Mar. 2010. <http://www.windpowerengineering.com/policy/the-physics-and-economics-of-wind-turbines/>.

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Thomas, Losordo M., Masser P. Michael, and Rakocy E. James. "Recirculating Aquaculture Tank Production Systems: Aquaponics—Integrating Fish and Plant Culture." Nov. 2006. Web. 20 Dec. 2010. <http://www.aces.edu/dept/fisheries/aquaculture/documents/309884-SRAC454.pdf>.

Usher, Abbott Payson. A History of Mechanical Inventions,. New York [etc.: McGraw-Hill Book, 1929. “Vela Creations - Chispito How to.” Vela Creations - HOME. Web. 23 Mar. 2009. <http://www.velacreations.com/makechispito.html>. Water - A Shared Responsibility - World Water Development Report. Rep. no. 2. United Nations, 2006. “What Is User-Centered Design: About Usability: UPA Resources.” UPA - The Usability Professionals' Association. Web. 16 May 2011. <http://www.upassoc.org/usability_resources/about_usability/what_is_ucd.html>. William Kamkwamba, author, "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind," and Malawi Windmill Maker. Web. 2 Oct. 2009. <http://williamkamkwamba.typepad.com/>. “World-Wide Wind Energy Resource Distribution Estimates.” Global Energy Network Institute. Web. 10 Oct. 2009. <http://www.geni.org/globalenergy/library/renewable-energy-resources/world/sources_world/World_Wind_Lg_Map_files/World.Wind.Lg.jpg>.

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APPENDIX A: SURVEY CONDUCTED IN CHOLUTECA, HONDURAS

Encuesta para residentes de Choluteca, Honduras (Survey for the residents of Choluteca, Honduras) 1) Edad – Por favor circule una opciόn (Age – Please circle an option) a) 18-25 b) 26-35 c) 36-45 d) 46-55 e) 55 + 2) ¿Cual es su profesiόn? (What is your profession?) _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ 3) ¿Cuáles son las actividades diarias que le toma más tiempo en completar? (Which daily activities are the ones that take the longest to complete?) _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ 4) ¿Usted tiene algun pasatiempo, por ejemplo, trabajos en madera, cerámica, etc.? (Do you have any hobbies, for example, wood working, ceramics, etc.?) _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________

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5) ¿Qué materiales reciclables o descartables abundan en éste area? (What recyclable or scrap materials are plentiful in this area?) _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ 6) ¿Qué materiales naturales son indígenas al area, por ejemplo, madera de pino, barro, etc)? (What naturally found materials are local to the area, for example, pine wood, ceramics clay, etc?) _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ 7) ¿Cuáles son las industrias más grandes del area? (What are the biggest industries in the area? _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ 8) ¿Usted es dueño de un negocio? (Are you a business owner?) Si No 9) ¿Si respondiό “No” a la pregunta anteriόr, le gustaría tener un negocio algun día? (If you answered “No” to the previous question, would you like to own a business someday?) Si No

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10) ¿Qué piensa usted, o cual es su opiniόn, sobre el modelo de turbine de viento que le presento aquí? (What do you think, or what is your opinion, about the wind generator model shown here?

__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ 11) ¿Usted cree que es una opciόn viable para el area, y por qué? (Do you think it’s a viable option for the area, and why?) ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________

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APPENDIX B: SURVEY ANSWERS

1) Edad – Por favor circule una opciόn (Age – Please circle an option) a) 18-25 x b) 26-35 x x c) 36-45 x x x d) 46-55 x e) 55 + x 2) ¿Cual es su profesiόn? (What is your profession?) 1) Agronomist 2) Handyman and Welder 3) Industrial Mechanics Teacher 4) Cleaning Lady, Nightly watch-person, Office assistant 5) Electrical Technician 6) Business Administration 7) Agriculture Mechanics 8) Administrator, Missionary

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Interviews Subject 1 3) ¿Cuáles son las actividades diarias que le toma más tiempo en completar? (Which daily activities are the ones that take the longest to complete?) “For us at the house, of course lights, and we have computers, so, I don’t know if we’re talking about anything powerful enough to run a computer. Of course air conditioners I think would probably be out of range. Of course we have some other tools, some times drills and things like that; even if we could use it to charge our battery operated drills (L.O.).” - “I spoke to you about how reliable power is over here, but I guess in your home you consider it reliable enough (M.S.)?” - “Yes (L.O.)” - “But it’s just the cost that’s the issue, right (M.S.)?” - “Yeah, we really don’t have any problems with electricity. It will go out during the rainy season – sporadically – maybe once every couple of weeks (L.O.)” 2:06 4) ¿Usted tiene algun pasatiempo, por ejemplo, trabajos en madera, cerámica, etc.? (Do you have any hobbies, for example, wood working, ceramics, etc.?) - “There are not many hobbies, they play soccer, watch TV, they go fishing. (L.O.)” - “What kinds of materials do people use for building, for example wood, or what do people use for making furniture, etc, - what is the most common? (M.S.)” - “Wood is hard to get available, there is some wood, you can still get lumber, but more [furniture] is being made up from metal, metal tubing. There is a lot of furniture that is just metal tubing. They are pretty good at welding (L.O.).” 3:11 5) ¿Qué materiales reciclables abundan en éste area? (What recyclable materials are plentiful in this area?) - “A lot of plastic. Plastic Coke bottles. (L.O.)” - “What about old car components like the one you have in the back [of the school]. Are those readily available? (M.S.)” - “Yeah, they are readily available. There are also a lot of bicycles around, you can get parts easily (L.O.)” 3:59 6) ¿Qué materiales naturales son indígenas al area, por ejemplo, madera de pino, barro, etc)? (What naturally found materials are local to the area, for example, pine wood, ceramics clay, etc?) -“Lots of rock, sand, gravel, some ceramic-type stuff. (L.O.)” -“Do they produce anything with plastic here, or maybe PVC pipes, etc.(M.S.)?”

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-“It’s all imported as far as I know. It is readily available for purchase. The only thing they make locally is barbed wire.(L.O.)” 7) ¿Cuáles son las industrias más grandes del area? (What are the biggest industries in the area? -“Mostly shrimp farming, there’s some agriculture, horticulture, things like ocra are exported, there’s a lot of melons: watermelons, cantaloupe. That’s about it.(L.O.)” -“Ok, so mostly food related (M.S.)?” -“Yeah (L.O.).” 8) ¿Usted es dueño de un negocio? (Are you a business owner?) Si No -“No, we are here to help start up businesses. We’ve only been involved in helping other with their businesses – we’re more facilitators (L.O.).” 9) ¿Si respondiό “No” a la pregunta anteriόr, le gustaría tener un negocio algun día? (If you answered “No” to the previous question, would you like to own a business someday?) Si No 10) ¿Qué piensa usted, o cual es su opiniόn, sobre el modelo de turbine de viento que le presento aquí? (What do you think, or what is your opinion, about the wind generator model shown here? -“There are parts here that are readily available to build something like that. (L.O.)” -“What is your opinion then, in terms of feasibility (M.S.)?” -“ No problem, parts would be easy to get a hold of (L.O.)” -“So in terms of the vocational school, what would you say would be the best use for one- in terms of supplementing energy costs as well as using it as a teaching aid (M.S.)?” - “All of the students would be interested in learning about something like this, especially since they are auto-mechanics students. They would love to be able to make something like that, and you know, it’s not directly in their area, but they are all mechanically inclined. The refrigeration students would also like to do something like that. It would be a good project to just show them some innovation types of things they can do, stimulate them even in their own areas. Maybe to power their shops and other things like that. Of course here for the school there’s a bunch of different things we can use the windmill for: aquaponics projects, even for the lady that has the little snack shop, her electricity is real

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high, we could do something like that to cut her costs. She would really be thrilled with that (L.O.).” -“What types of things does she run specifically (M.S.)?” -“She runs a microwaves, coolers for drinks, and she has a fryer too (L.O.).” 11) ¿Usted cree que es una opciόn viable para el area, y por qué? (Do you think it’s a viable option for the area, and why?) -“Yeah, it is definitely an option, no doubt (L.O.).” -“What do you think a good price point would be, and perhaps how many years it would take to pay off something like that (M.S.)?” -“Well, I’m not sure. Electricity [cost] is high for people down here, so if it’s something that would over a couple of years reduce their costs – if it’s cost effective – I don’t think there’s any problem for an investment. A couple hundred dollars, I don’t think is out of range. Especially if they can make it out of scrap things, I don’t think it would be out of range (L.O.).” -“Well this is the one I built and cost me about $350. Would you say that around $400 would still be ok (M.S.)?” -“Yeah, no problem (L.O.).” -“So, what I would like to do as part of my thesis research is to do an assessment of the area, and then maybe in the next year or two have an actual model built over here (M.S.)” -“That’s something that could end up turning into a small business (L.O.)” -“Yeah, absolutely. Especially what I’m thinking is that this could work as a model for teaching, and at the same time it would be helping you out with your energy costs (M.S.).” -“Yeah, there are a lot of places where all they run is just a few light bulbs out in the village, so that would easily supply them (L.O).” -“Yeah, absolutely (M.S.).”

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Subject 2 3) ¿Cuáles son las actividades diarias que le toma más tiempo en completar? (Which daily activities are the ones that take the longest to complete?) - “Bueno, tenemos diferentes areas, por que a veces somos personal de mantenimiento, en cuanto a lo que es el centro y tambien la casa Misionera. Estamos hacienda tambien el mantenimiento de jardineria, los peces, todo ese tipo de trabajo. Son todas la cosas que realizamos aqui con Don Lorenzo (H.E.).” - Well, we have different areas that we work in. Sometimes we are maintenance personnel. We work here at the school as well as at the missionary house. We do gardening and landscape work as well as take care of the fish (aquaponics), all that type of work. That’s usually what we work on here with Larry. 4) ¿Usted tiene algun pasatiempo, por ejemplo, trabajos en madera, cerámica, etc.? (Do you have any hobbies, for example, wood working, ceramics, etc.?) - “No, por el momento no. Solamente estoy asignado aqui en el trabajo (H.E).” - No, not at the moment. I’ve been assigned to work here and that’s all I do. 5) ¿Qué materiales reciclables abundan en éste area? (What recyclable materials are plentiful in this area?) - “Lo que es plastico (H.E.).” - “Muy bien. Hay algun ejemplo especifico de lo que abunda con el plastico (M.S.)?” - “En realidad es plastico en general. Hay bolsas, botellas, envases de fresco. Todo ese tipo de cosas es lo que mas se ve aqui (H.E.).” - Everything plastic. - Ok, are there any specific examples of plastic items? - Well, everything plastic in general. There are lots of bags, bottles, soda bottles. All those are types of things we see mostly around here. 6) ¿Qué materiales naturales son indígenas al area, por ejemplo, madera de pino, barro, etc)? (What naturally found materials are local to the area, for example, pine wood, ceramics clay, etc?) - “Es variado, en partes hay mas pino, en partes hay mas tierra, barro, y en partes hay mas tierra para abono para hacer cieno (H.E.).”

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- It varies. In some areas there is more pine, in some areas more mud, and then in other areas there is a lot of fertile soil for compost and fertilizer. 7) ¿Cuáles son las industrias más grandes del area? (What are the biggest industries in the area? - “Ferreterias. Las que son mas grandes tambien son los ‘Car-Wash,’ lo que son ferreterias, camaroneras, y meloneras. Esas son las mayors industrias que hay aqui en la zona. Son industrias muy grandes, especialmente las industrias que son de melon y el cultivo de camarones es grande (H.E.).” - Hardware stores. Some of the biggest ones also include Car-Wash places, then come hardware stores, shrimp farms and melon farms. Those are really the biggest industries in the area. They are extremely large, especially the melon and shrimp industries. 8) ¿Usted es dueño de un negocio? (Are you a business owner?) Si No 9) ¿Si respondiό “No” a la pregunta anteriόr, le gustaría tener un negocio algun día? (If you answered “No” to the previous question, would you like to own a business someday?) Si No -“Nunca he puesto yo la mirada en un solo negocio. Si la verdad que para que uno saliera delante, pues seria mejor la administracion de cualquier negocio que venga. Y como dije, nunca he puesto la mirada en un solo negocio. Si fueran variados, seria mejor (H.E.).” -I never really thought about just one specific business. In reality, I believe that in order for someone to make it to the top, it would have to be business administration. As I said, I never really thought about a specific one, but if the businesses were varied, that would be better. 10) ¿Qué piensa usted, o cual es su opiniόn, sobre el modelo de turbine de viento que le presento aquí? (What do you think, or what is your opinion, about the wind generator model shown here?

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-“Mi opinion: excelente. Por que seria algo, un proyecto, que vendria a generar empleo, que es una de las cosas, y la otra seria generar tiempo para la persona para trabajar, con un proyecto como estos. Yo, con Don Lorenzo, platicamos sobre esto, y yo dije que seria excelente un proyecto de esto. Nosotros trabajamos en areas cristianas en muchos lugares, y que seria mejor que nosotros aprendamos de ustedes y despues poder llevar un proyecto de estos. Que sucederia, que en los lugares donde no hay luz en Honduras, seria excelente sacar energia de una cosa de estas. Para mi, crea que es la mejor informacion que podriamos tener. Por que no muy facil vienen aqui a Honduras a darnos charlas sobre un proyecto de esto. Para mi seria provechoso (H.E.).” - My opinion: excellent. This would be something, a project, that would first, generate jobs, and then the other would be to generate time for a person to work. I’ve spoken to Larry about a project like this before, and I told him it would be an excellent idea. We work in many Christian areas in many places, and what we really want is to be able to learn from you, and be able to teach about these projects in these areas. What would happen, is that in many areas here in Honduras where there is no electricity – it would be an excellent opportunity to generate power from something like this. For me, that would be the best information we could get. The problem is that it appears to be difficult for people to come to Honduras to give us a chat/workshop about a project like this. For me, this would be extremely beneficial. 11) ¿Usted cree que es una opciόn viable para el area, y por qué? (Do you think it’s a viable option for the area, and why?) - “Si, muy excelente. Esto se interesaria a unas mismas empresas (H.E.).” - “Y cuanto cree usted que una persona podria inverter en algo asi? Para su hogar, o para un negocio (M.S.)?” - “ Bueno, es primera vez que escucho una pregunta sobre esto, y no le puedo dar un numero exacto, ni aproximarme, por que primeramente hay que ver el aprendizaje, verdad, y despues llevarlo a la practica, y de ahi sacar numeros para la inversion que uno ha hecho. Mi respuesta seria sobre esto – si yo le digo que puede gastar por ejemplo 1000, no lo se – puede ser que sea mas o sea menos. Pero si, lo que yo digo que seria una cosa para saber es al momento de llevarlo a la practica, saber que es lo que gasta, cuanto gasta, sacar numeros, y asi uno puede salir adelante (H.E.).” - “El que yo tengo aqui mas o menos me salio 350 dolares. Por lo menos Don Lorenzo dice que no es mucho para hacer una inversion como esta. Entonces si fuera mas o menos unos 350 o 400 dolares, Usted comparia uno (M.S.)?” - “Si, excelente. Seria excelente por que dejaria de percivir un gasto cada vez, y seria tener un solo gasto y solo el mantenimiento que yo lo hago. Y seria un aprendizaje enorme para uno, por que a traves de eso, en el momento de la instalacion, al momento de ese tramite, uno tiene que estar ahi aprendiendo. Eso quiere decir que la inversion, en realidad no seria una inversion, si no seria algo provechoso para mi. Esa inversion seria

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lo minimo para lo que uno puede hacer (H.E.).” -Yes, it would be excellent. I believe some businesses would also be interested. - And in terms of pricing, what amount of money would you believe a person would invest in something like this. It can be in either a home, or maybe a business? - Well, it’s the first time I heard a question about price, so I can’t really give you an exact amount, not even an estimate. First there is going to be learning involved, and then take this idea into practice, and then maybe after that we get an idea about numbers for the investment. Mi answer to that would be that if for example, I would be willing to spend 1000, I don’t know if that is too high or too low, it could be more than that or less. It would be beneficial, at the time of investing and at the time of taking it into practice, to know exactly how much it costs and how much it can generate, and then one can go forward with something like this. - That is a good point. So, as an example, the one that I have here that I built and installed at home was around $350. Larry seems to believe that 350 is not much for an investment like this. So if it were around that number, would you personally be interested in investing in a generator? - Yes, that would be excellent. It would be excellent because I could stop thinking about the monthly bills. I would just have one payment, and then I would take care of the maintenance. It would be a great learning tool, and especially once someone gets a generator installed, at that moment, one should be learning about it as well. That means that to me, that investment is not really an investment – it would be more of a benefit to me. That investment is the minimum part of what one can do with something like this.

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Subject 3 3) ¿Cuáles son las actividades diarias que le toma más tiempo en completar? (Which daily activities are the ones that take the longest to complete?) - “Bueno, estando en la casa, mas que todo el studio, por que de aqui voy a la Universidad, entonces es lo que me toma mayor tiempo (K.S.).” - “Y en cuanto al trabajo, que es lo que le toma mas tiempo (M.S.)?” - “ La enseñanza (K.S.).” -Well, at home it’s just pretty much studying. From here, I go to the University, so that’s what takes the longest. - What about here at work, what takes the longest? - Teaching. 4) ¿Usted tiene algun pasatiempo, por ejemplo, trabajos en madera, cerámica, etc.? (Do you have any hobbies, for example, wood working, ceramics, etc.?) - “No, en realidad no. A veces no mas cuando salgo de la Universidad voy a correr y hacer ejercicios, pero en realidad no. Trabajo no mas (K.S.).” - No, not really. Sometimes after I leave the University I go running, and maybe exercising, but I don’t really have a hobby. It’s just mostly work. 5) ¿Qué materiales reciclables abundan en éste area? (What recyclable materials are plentiful in this area?) - “Mas que todo estamos hablando de aceites. Aceites que se pueden utilizar para curar madera y todo eso (K.S.).” - More than anything we’re talking about oils. Oils that can be used to cure wood and other things like that. 6) ¿Qué materiales naturales son indígenas al area, por ejemplo, madera de pino, barro, etc)? (What naturally found materials are local to the area, for example, pine wood, ceramics clay, etc?) - “Madera mas que todo. Madera para embarcar (K.S.).” - Wood, more than anything else. Wood that is used for shipping.

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7) ¿Cuáles son las industrias más grandes del area? (What are the biggest industries in the area? - “Los mas grandes por aqui serian los talleres tecnicos de mecanica (K.S.).” - “Y en cuanto a la agricultura, por ejemplo, cuales serian las industrias mas grandes (M.S.)?” - “En agricultura, estamos hablando de Agrolibano, que es uno de los productores mas grandes de melons (K.S.).” - The largest here would be mechanical shops. - What about agriculture, for example, which are the largest industries in that area? - In agriculture, I would have to say ‘Agrolibano’ which is one of the largest melon producers. 8) ¿Usted es dueño de un negocio? (Are you a business owner?) Si No 9) ¿Si respondiό “No” a la pregunta anteriόr, le gustaría tener un negocio algun día? (If you answered “No” to the previous question, would you like to own a business someday?) Si No -“Si, me gustaria tener un taller, y una casa de respuestos donde se puede vender repuestos de vehiculos (K.S.).” -Yeah, I would like to have an auto shop, and an auto store where I would sell replacement parts. 10) ¿Qué piensa usted, o cual es su opiniόn, sobre el modelo de turbine de viento que le presento aquí? (What do you think, or what is your opinion, about the wind generator model shown here? - “Seria como innovar, traer algo nuevo y que es facil de hacer, y que puede traer mucho ahorro de energia (K.S.).” - It would really be something innovative and easy to do, and it would really be a great way to save on energy costs.

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11) ¿Usted cree que es una opciόn viable para el area, y por qué? (Do you think it’s a viable option for the area, and why?) - “Uno de los problemas de aqui que encontramos es que la gente no cuida. Entonces, no estarian pendientes de hacer el mantenimiento. Requeriria mas tiempo, y creo que a la gente le parece mas facil tomar no mas la corriente. Otro problema aqui es que la gente que consume poca energia, casi no paga. Entonces el gobierno le subside la electricidad. Para lo hogares, no se, bueno seria conveniente, pero el problema aqui es la cultura, que no se sabe valorar, o apreciar lo que se puede hacer (K.S.).” - “Y cree entonces que para un negocio si funcionaria (M.S.)?” -“Si, yo creo que estaria bien (K.S.).” -Well, one of the biggest problems we find around here is that people don’t take care of things. In that case, they really wouldn’t be aware of maintenance. It would require more time, and for some people it’s just easier to plug in directly to the existing power outlets. Another problem here is that for those who use very little energy, they really don’t pay very much. The government subsidizes the costs. So for some homes, I’m not really sure if would be convenient. The problem here is the culture – they don’t seem to value that is truly possible. - So what about for businesses, do you think it would work there? - Yes, for businesses I do believe it would be alright.

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Subject 4 3) ¿Cuáles son las actividades diarias que le toma más tiempo en completar? (Which daily activities are the ones that take the longest to complete?) -“Cuidar, es lo que me toma mas tiempo. Yo cuido durante el dia. Entonces yo vengo temprano asi me encargo de asear, y despues de eso estar pendiente de cuidar (M.A.S).” -“Y en su hogar, cuales son las actividades que le toma mas tiempo (M.S.)?” -“Ahi, bueno, estar pendiente de mi hijo que va al colegio. Es el unico (M.A.S.).” -Watching [the school] is what takes the most time. I watch during the day. That means that I come in early, I make sure that everything is clear, and then the rest of the day I’m aware and watching what is going on here. -What about at home, which activities take the longest? -Well there, I really just make sure my son goes to school. He’s the only one. 4) ¿Usted tiene algun pasatiempo, por ejemplo, trabajos en madera, cerámica, etc.? (Do you have any hobbies, for example, wood working, ceramics, etc.?) - “Tejer no puedo por que no miro, no tengo lentes, pero a mi me gusta costurar. Me pongo a hacer mis trabajitos (M.A.S.).” -Well, knitting I can’t really do because I can’t see very well, but I do like to sew. Every once in a while I have some small things I work on. 5) ¿Qué materiales reciclables abundan en éste area? (What recyclable materials are plentiful in this area?) - “Botellas plasticas, y tambien lo que sale de la cocina, conchas de huevos, de lo que se pela de las verduras, esas clases de cosas (M.A.S.).” - Mostly just plastic bottles and also stuff from the kitchen like egg shells, scraps from when you peal vegetables, those kinds of things. 6) ¿Qué materiales naturales son indígenas al area, por ejemplo, madera de pino, barro, etc)? (What naturally found materials are local to the area, for example, pine wood, ceramics clay, etc?) - “Mas pino que todo, por que el cedro ya esta casi escaso por aqui (M.A.S.).” -More pine than anything else. Cedar is mostly depleted and hard to find.

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7) ¿Cuáles son las industrias más grandes del area? (What are the biggest industries in the area? -“El agua, por que es la que mas no da a todos (M.A.S.).” -Mostly water, because that company is the one that we all consume from. 8) ¿Usted es dueño de un negocio? (Are you a business owner?) Si No 9) ¿Si respondiό “No” a la pregunta anteriόr, le gustaría tener un negocio algun día? (If you answered “No” to the previous question, would you like to own a business someday?) Si No -“Mire, como mi casa esta ahi cerca de la calle, al frente piensan hacer un parque. Entonces a mi me gustaria, como mi hija vive conmigo, me gustaria que ahi hubiera algo. Agua, algo de frescos, algo asi (M.A.S.).” -Well you see, my house is really close to a main road, and in front of that they are planning on building a park. And what I would like to do with my daughter, who lives with me, would be to open a small store that sells water and some refreshments. 10) ¿Qué piensa usted, o cual es su opiniόn, sobre el modelo de turbine de viento que le presento aquí? (What do you think, or what is your opinion, about the wind generator model shown here? -“Si, es un proyecto importante porque Don Lorenzo no tiene ayuda del gobierno. A pesar de que el esta sacando a bastantes alumnos adelante que benefician a su familia y a sus padres y no le pagan nada aqui. A mi me gustaria que entre mas y que el tuviera mas ayuda por que es un beneficio para todos los que trabajamos aqui tambien (M.A.S.).” -“Entonces le pareceria una buena idea (M.S.)?” -“Si (M.A.S.).” - Yes, I think it’s an important projects because Larry has no help from the government. Even though he helps a lot of students going forward, and this in turn benefits their families and their parents – Larry doesn’t receive any pay for that. I would like, more

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than anything, for him to have more help because this is also a benefit for all of us who work here. - So you would think this is a good idea? - Yes. 11) ¿Usted cree que es una opciόn viable para el area, y por qué? (Do you think it’s a viable option for the area, and why?) -“A nosotros no, somos muy pobres. A mi me sale bastante la luz, pero tengo que estar conforme (M.A.S.).” -“Y por ejemplo, que pensaria si Usted puede invertir un pequeño costo por un año, y despues ya no tiene que pagar mas electricidad. Es algo que Usted lo haria, o depende de otros factores (M.S.)?” -“Bueno depende de hasta cuando estaria trabajando yo. Este es mi unico ingreso y tengo un hijo en el colegio, entonces tengo ese gasto. Un vez que el este trabajando entonces ya tendriamos dos entradas (M.A.S.).” -“O sea que todo depende, en realidad (M.S.).” -“Si, todo depende (M.A.S.)!” -Well for us probably not, we’re really poor. Electricity is really expensive for me, so I have to think about my spending. - So for example, what would you think about having to make a one time investment for about a year, and then you would not have to pay for electricity any more. Would that be something that you would do, or does that depend on different factors? - Well it depends on how long I decide to work. Right now this is my only source of income and I have a son at school, so I have to pay those bills. Maybe once he begins to work and we have two different sources of income. - So it really does depend then? -Yes, it all depends!

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Subject 5 3) ¿Cuáles son las actividades diarias que le toma más tiempo en completar? (Which daily activities are the ones that take the longest to complete?) -“Para mi lo prioritario es que no me gusta faltar ningun dia a la Iglesia, y claro, tambien cumplir como jefe de hogar. Tambien me gusta dedicar tiempo para hablar con mi familia por las noches y tambien a veces salgo para compartir tiempo con mis amigos y mis hermanos (J.D.).” - For me the priority is to not miss going to Church on a daily basis, as well as perform my duties as the man of the house. I also like to dedicate time to talk to my family every night, and then sometimes spend time with my friends and my brothers. 4) ¿Usted tiene algun pasatiempo, por ejemplo, trabajos en madera, cerámica, etc.? (Do you have any hobbies, for example, wood working, ceramics, etc.?) -“Mi pasion es la electricidad, pero yo hago trabajos multiples. Hago trabajos de fontaneria, de albañileria, de carpinteria. No soy experto, pero puedo trabajar en muchas areas (J.D.).” - My passion is really electricity, but I do multiple jobs. I work with plumbing, I’m a handyman, and I also do some wood-working. I’m not an expert, but I can work in many areas. 5) ¿Qué materiales reciclables abundan en éste area? (What recyclable materials are plentiful in this area?) -“Bueno aqui en nuestro pais, lo que veo que mas se esta reciclando es el plastico. Creo que mas que todo por el medio ambiente es que estan reciclando todo el plastico (J.D.).” -“Hay algun otro [material] que se ve un poco menos que el plastico (M.S.)?” - “Bueno hay algunas otras cosas como vidrio que para la gente eso es un peligro, que no tenemos algo como para reciclarlo, pero seria bueno (J.D.).” -Well here in our country, a lot of what we see getting recycled is plastic. I think that a lot of it has to do with the environment. - Is there any other material that gets recycled, maybe a bit less than glass? - Well there are other things like glass, that for some people it just becomes really dangerous, and we don’t really have a way to recycle it around here, but that would be nice. 6) ¿Qué materiales naturales son indígenas al area, por ejemplo, madera de pino,

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barro, etc)? (What naturally found materials are local to the area, for example, pine wood, ceramics clay, etc?) -“Tenemos madera de cedro, tiene lindo color esa madera, y tambien tenemos madera de pino que es la mas comercial. Ultimamente estamos restrinjidos con el tipo de madera de color. La mano del hombre ha destruido tanto que esta en peligro de extincion (J.D.).” - We have cedar, that wood has a really nice color, and then we have mostly pine which is more for commercial use. Lately there have been many restrictions to using colored wood. Man has destroyed so much, that these woods are close to becoming extinct. 7) ¿Cuáles son las industrias más grandes del area? (What are the biggest industries in the area? -“Tenemos algunas empresas como ‘Trefica,’ que esta empresa nos proporciona los clavos, todos los derivados del hierro, mallas de ciclon, grapas, todo eso. Pero tambien tenemos otra empresa grande y que nos ha dado resultado, ‘Ferromax,’ que nos da los materiales como el alucin, y otras cosas variadas (J.D.).” -We have a few companies, like ‘Trefica.’ This company supplies us with nails, a lot of iron tools and things like that, nets, staples, all that kind of stuff. There is also another company that has worked out well in the area, and that is ‘Ferromax’ which provides aluzinc (aluminum and zinc) and other various things. 8) ¿Usted es dueño de un negocio? (Are you a business owner?) Si No -“Si, yo tengo una micro-empresa que ya la tengo por muchos años y halamos arena, piedra, grava, y me ha dado buenos resulados. One of the reasons it’s because it’s a personal company (J.D.).” - Yeah, I have what you would call a micro-business, and I’ve had it for many years. We transport rocks, gravel and sand, and it has given me good results. Mostly because it’s a personal company. 9) ¿Si respondiό “No” a la pregunta anteriόr, le gustaría tener un negocio algun día? (If you answered “No” to the previous question, would you like to own a business someday?) Si No

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-“Y algun dia le gustaria tener algun otro negicio (M.S.)?” -“Claro que si. Uno de los negicios que a mi me encantaria, al principio lo dije, me apaciona trabajar con electricidad. Yo creo que si montaria una empresa, me gustaria tener una empresa para darle servicio a la comunidad (J.D.).” - And one day would you like to own another business? - Yes, of course. One of the businesses that I would like to have, and I said this at the beginning, would be to work with electricity. If I were to start a business, I would like to have a business that helps out by providing a service to the community. 10) ¿Qué piensa usted, o cual es su opiniόn, sobre el modelo de turbine de viento que le presento aquí? (What do you think, or what is your opinion, about the wind generator model shown here? -“Si, yo creo que si vamos a un junker y conseguimos un alternador de segunda mano y podemos hacer algo asi. O sea que lo que tenemos aqui es hacer algo con cualquier material que encontramos en un area. (J.D.).” -“Si, exactamente. Y que pensaria de poner un modelo aqui en la escuela (M.S.)?” -“Seria exelente. A mi me encantaria. Esto tambien hay que estudiar donde hay corrientes de aire, verdad (J.D.)?” -“Si, a mi por el momento me parece que aqui estaria bien, no (M.S.)?” -“Bueno aqui si, mas que en Choluteca (J.D).” -“Y mas o menos si esto costaria entre 350 – 400 dolares, piensa que estaria bien para el area (M.S.)?” - “Yo creo que aqui bajaria mas el costo por que por ejemplo este tubo es de cuanto pulgadas (J.D.)?” -“ Cuatro pulgadas y mide dos pies de largo (M.S.).” -“ Yo creo que se puede llegar a hacer con menos (de $350) aqui (J.D.).” - “Hay unos modelos que yo vi que se hacen con los aros de las bicicletas, y ahi se ponen las aspas tambien, y esas se pueden hacer de metal, de madera (M.S.).” -“Por el tiempo no pudieron hacer un modelo de bicicleta por que Don Lorenzo me habia dicho a mi de conseguir unos machos viejos de bicicleta, pero yo creo que es una bendicion (J.D.).” -Yeah, I think we would just go to a junkyard and get some used alternators and then we can build something like that. We just have to get whatever materials we can and just work with that. -Yes, exactly. And what would you think about putting a model like that here at the school? - It would be excellent. I would like that. We also have to study where the wind currents are for that, right?

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- Yes, and up to now it looks like this place is ideal. - Yes, here [at the school] really, more than in Choluteca (city). - And if this were to cost between 350 and 400 dollars, would you think this would be ok for the area? - Yeah, I think we could make it even cheaper than that. - There are some models which I have seen that are made from bicycle wheels and then you just attach the blades to that, and those can be made from any material we find around here. - I think Larry was wanting to build something like that previously, but we just don’t have the time right now (with you). He told me to get some old bike parts.. but really I think this would be a blessing. 11) ¿Usted cree que es una opciόn viable para el area, y por qué? (Do you think it’s a viable option for the area, and why?) -“Yo pienso que por ejemplo mas que todo la gente de las comunidades que no tienen acceso, que no les llega la electricidad. Yo creo que la gente de las comunidades se conformarian que esto produciera si quiera luz para talves un foco, o un televisor, o si conecta el televisor, desconecta el foco. Pero creo que esto seria exelente (J.D.).” - I think that overall this would really benefit the communities that don’t have access to electricity. I think that they would be ok with something like this to just power a light bulb, or maybe a small TV, and if needed you can unplug the light bulb in order to use the TV. Overall yes, I think this would be excellent.

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Subject 6 3) ¿Cuáles son las actividades diarias que le toma más tiempo en completar? (Which daily activities are the ones that take the longest to complete?) -“Bueno creo que en el hogar es apoyar mas que todo a la familia, a los hijos, bañarlos, arreglarlos un poco, y tambien el ambiente para que se duerman – eso es aqui en a casa. Luego aqui en el trabajo es mas que todo coordinar las actividades, afirmar que las cosas esten saliendo cada dia como fueron planeadas, reviser nuestros calendarios de actividades, revision de presupuestos, contestar correos electronicos, y algunas citas. Algo que me lleva bastante tiempo, y lo viste aqui, es la gestion. La gestion de fondos, y el tipo de actividades que hemos hecho hoy. He dedicado mi tiempo para que de una manera u otra estar cerca de Ustedes, entonces esa es una de las actividades a las que mas tiempo dedico. Y luego, soy maestro tambien, llevo una clase para los muchachos, dos secciones. Tambien participo en las actividades espirituales de la institucion, y algo que tambien me toma bastante tiempo es estar al dia con el mantenimiento del lugar, y me gusta que todo se vea bien (C.M.).” - Well I think that at home it’s really just a matter of supporting the family, the kids, to bathe them and to make sure they’re clean, and also make sure the environment is right so they can sleep easily – so that’s mostly what I do at home. Here at work I really just need to coordinate activities, make sure that everything is going as planned, revise our calendars, revise our budget, answer e-mails, and then just some appointments. Something that really takes up some of my time is the budget plan. Other than that, just planning some of the activities that we did today with your group. Then I’m also a teacher, I have two different sections. Finally, I also attend the spiritual activities in which we participate as an institution. Something else that does take up a lot of my time is the maintenance of the school and I make sure that the place is always looking nice. 4) ¿Usted tiene algun pasatiempo, por ejemplo, trabajos en madera, cerámica, etc.? (Do you have any hobbies, for example, wood working, ceramics, etc.?) -“Mas que todo, deportes. Mas que todo futbol y otros ejercicios cardio-vasculares (C.M.).” - More than anything, just sports. Mainly soccer and some other cardiovascular exercises. 5) ¿Qué materiales reciclables abundan en éste area? (What recyclable materials are plentiful in this area?) -“Bueno, tenemos bastante movimiento de plastico. No tenemos un sistema, por cierto,

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de reciclaje efectivo. Luego tenemos la idea de poner biodigestores, que se podria hacer mucho con eso, algo para la reutilizacion. Tenemos madera, como aqui todos los pisos son de madera tambien, y papel (C.M.).” - Well right now we really have a lot of plastic. We don’t really have a good method, or an effective method, for recycling. Then we have the idea of putting biodigesters, which is something we can really do a lot with, especially in the area of re-using something. Then we also have a lot of wood, as here most of the floors are made using wood, and the last thing would be paper. 6) ¿Qué materiales naturales son indígenas al area, por ejemplo, madera de pino, barro, etc)? (What naturally found materials are local to the area, for example, pine wood, ceramics clay, etc?) -“Bueno en cuanto a recursos, lo que tenemos aqui es un rio. Eso nos ayuda aqui con la planta hidroelectrica. Luego tambien hay unos arboles de caoba que estar por aqui, tenemos algunas vegas de los rios que estan bastante fertiles tambien (C.M.)” - In terms of natural resources, the biggest one right here is the river. That helps us a lot with the hydroelectric plant. Then we also have some ‘caoba’ trees around here, and then some of the river banks are pretty fertile, so that helps. 7) ¿Cuáles son las industrias más grandes del area? (What are the biggest industries in the area? -“La industria agricola. Es lo mas importante de la zona. Realmente ese tipo de industrializacion no hay mucho en esta zona (C.M.).” - The biggest industry here is agriculture. Here in this area there really hasn’t been ‘industrialization.’ 8) ¿Usted es dueño de un negocio? (Are you a business owner?) Si No -“Personalmente si. Tenemos dos negocios, el primero es de fotografia profesional, y el otro es de consultorias organizacionales (C.M.).” -Peronally, yes. We have two businesses, the first is professional photography, and the second one is organizational consultation.

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9) ¿Si respondiό “No” a la pregunta anteriόr, le gustaría tener un negocio algun día? (If you answered “No” to the previous question, would you like to own a business someday?) Si No -“Si, me gustaria tener un restaurante, y tambien un hotel (C.M.).” -Yes, one day I would like to have a restaurant, and also a hotel. 10) ¿Qué piensa usted, o cual es su opiniόn, sobre el modelo de turbine de viento que le presento aquí? (What do you think, or what is your opinion, about the wind generator model shown here? -“Me interesa muchisimo. O sea, yo creo que si no lo puedo utilizar para todas las operaciones, siempre estaria bien como para la luz. Iluminacion, por ejemplo, como para las noches, y a veces pienso que para que gastar energia en las lamparas para el jardin. Yo creo que seria muy interesante para algunas cosas. Me parece interesante tambien como para modelo educativo, asi que como experiencia, y tambien como alternativa. Para estar en concordancia con el mundo de hoy yo creo que hay que tener algunas de estas cosas (C.M.).” -I’m really interested. I think that if I can’t use it for all the operations here at the school, I would at least be able to use it for lights. Lighting, for example, especially at night. Then something I think, why are we wasting so much energy on lighting for the garden. I think one of these things would be really interesting. I would also find it interesting as en educational model, mostly for the experience, and also as another alternative. In order to be up-to-date with today’s world, I think we have to have something like this over here. 11) ¿Usted cree que es una opciόn viable para el area, y por qué? (Do you think it’s a viable option for the area, and why?) -“Si, yo creo que depende tambien del servicio que se puede dar. Por ejemplo que capacidad tiene este (C.M.)?” -“En realidad depende del tamaño del motor, en cuanto a las baterias, esto se puede a ser a cualquier escala, a cualquier tamaño que se necesite. Si un hogar solo necesita dos focus, entonces en realidad no es mucho. Yo creo que un pequeño televisor o una radio tampoco es mucho, pero se puede ir agrandando (M.S.).” -“Si, yo creo que se necesita entonces algo asi. Todos nos estamos quejando del precio de la energia electrica, de los precios de los combustibles, entonces yo creo que si uno puede comprar un modelo que sea sostenible, por que el problema muchas veces de estos

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modelos es que cuando uno los compra, si se dañan, nadie los repara, o sencillamente a veces el costo o beneficio no es realmente atractivo. Entonces finalmente uno dice que para que compro yo esto si el beneficio es minimo. Yo creo que si la gente esta bien informada, y la gente tambien determina cuales son sus necesidades, y se pueden calzar, verdad, la oferta y la demanda, yo creo que la energia limpia segue y seguira siendo un tema (C.M.).” -“Si, yo creo que es uno de los problemas mas grandes, por que cuando a mi me empezo a interesar todo lo de la energia del viento, busque las maquinas comerciales, y eran demasiado caras. Y es verdad, que si se arruina algo, en realidad se arruina todo. Entonces, yo trate de que todo sea modular por que si se arruina algo, se puede cambiar solamente esa parte, y bueno, hacerlo lo mas simple posible. No es lo mas atractivo, pero funciona (M.S.).” -“Eso si, es correcto. Cuando puede generar con esto (C.M.)?” -“Esto puede generar 400 vateos. Esto lo utilize ahora generalmente en mi garaje, entonces ahora puedo conectar la radio, o un taladro, u otro tipo de maquinaria pequeña (M.S.).” -“Exelente (C.M.).” -“Y bueno, en cuando a Catacamas, ahora seria solamente ver cual es la velocidad del viento, y bueno, seria en realidad ver la posibilidad de poner aqui un modelo (M.S).” -“ Si, a mi en realidad me interesa mucho. En Honduras hay proyectos de estos, pero solamente la gente de mucho poder economico tiene acceso a estas cosas. Entonces lo que puede suceder es que el modelo suyo derrepente pueda servir como inspiracion para que algun muchacho diseñe un modelo que pueda servir para aqui en Honduras, no se, ultilizando algun tipo de arbol, o algun tipo de bambu que hay mucho en la zona. Entonces si, yo creo que seria muy interesante si es algo que se puede hacer (C.M.).” -“Si, es justamente lo que vimos tambien con Larry, por que pusimos un sistema de acuaponia. Y, no se si Usted conoce a Chacho ahi. El estuvo hablando del modelo de acuaponia que pusimos ahi, y el mismo nos dijo ‘Bueno, a mi me gusta trabajar en madera, o sea que en ves de este material para esta parte, yo lo haria de madera.’ O sea que nuestro modelo esta ahi solamente, como Usted dijo, para inspiracion y despues cada uno ve que es lo que se puede utilizar (M.S.).” -“Si, creame que si se puede hacer algo, nosotros estariamos muy interesados, y como le digo, yo quiero que la escuela sea como un centro educativo para las ciencias, o sea que estaria bien (C.M.).” - Yeah, I think it would definitely work, also depending on what services it can provide. For example, what is the capacity of this one? - Well really it will always depend on the size of the motor as well as the baterias. This can certainly be scalable to whatever size is needed. For example, if a home one needs to power two lightbulbs, well then there’s really not much power required. You could possibly even hook up a small TV or a radio, but you can keep scaling it as large as

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needed. - Yes, then I think there is definitely a need for something like that. We are all always complaining about the price of electricity, the price of fuel, so if someone could one day purchase something like that, as long as it’s sustainable, it will be ok. The problem we have here is that sometimes these models are purchased, and then if there is some problem, no one is there to fix them, or sometimes the return on the investment is just not really attractive. So then one will simply say, why would I purchase this if the benefit is really small. I think that if people are well informed, and people really tenermine what their needs are, anything can be tailored to the needs. It’s all about supply and demand, and I think clean energy is, and will always be on everyone’s minds. - Yes, I think that is one of the biggest problems. When I was first looking into wind generators, y started looking at what was commercially available and they were really expensive. And it’s true, if something breaks down, then sometimes the whole system is compromised. That’s why I tried to make everything modular, because if something breaks down, I could simply just change the part that was ruined. I also tried to make everything as simple as possible. It’s not always attractive, but it works. - Yes, that is correct. So how much can you generate with this? - Right now I can power anything up to 400 Watts. I mainly just use it in my garage, so now I can plug in the radio, or a drill, or other small tools. - Excellent. - And well here in Catacamas, it would just be a matter of making sure that there is enough constant wind, and it would be a good possibility to see if in the future we can put a model over here. - Yes, I would really be interested in something like that. You see, in Honduras there are lots of projects like this, but they are only affordable by people who are a lot wealthier than the rest. So this way, the model that you have here can really serve as an inspiration so that some day some guy is going to look at it and develop something that can really work here in Honduras. I don’t know, maybe use some existing trees, or bamboo, which is available throughout the area. So yes, I would really be interested in something like that. - Yes, that is exactly what we were talking about with Larry, because we just installed an aquaponics system. I don’t know if you know Chacho. We were talking about the model with him and he told us that he likes to work with wood, so he said that instead of using this certain material for this part, he would make it out of wood. So this way, out model is really there, as you said, for inspirational purposes and then anyone can figure out which materials are best to use for their own situations. - Yes, believe me that if there is a possibility of doing something like that over here, we would be really interested. Like I said, I want the school here to be an educational center, especially for sciences, so something like this would be good.

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Subject 7 3) ¿Cuáles son las actividades diarias que le toma más tiempo en completar? (Which daily activities are the ones that take the longest to complete?) -“Estamos fraccionados en estaciones. Por ejemplo, en la epoca de Mayo nosotros arrancamos con lo que es la siembra del maiz, y esta orientado a lo que es el ganado de leche. Para la temporada de Agosto esta lo que es la recoleccion. Junio para nosotros es el levantamiendo de pastos para heno. Estos son los meses mas congestionados para nosotros. De ahi entramos a Septiembre que es nuestro mes de postrera – este es nuestro segundo cultivo. Estamos saliendo hasta casi fines de Octubre o Noviembre. Luego pasamos ya a lo que es el verano donde toca la alimentacion del ganado. Esta es nuestra estacion seca que va desde enero, hasta a veces febrero, depende del esquema climatologico. Despues nos vamos a mediados o finales de Mayo con alimentacion mecanica. O sea mas o menos por el momento estamos casi a 1000 cabezas en la finca. Y despues esta lo de los cerdos que en realidad son rutinas de todos los dias. Cerdos para nosotros son actividades normales. Estos no se salen de eventualidades. Entonces es bastante rutinario. Nosotros queremos alcanzar, en algunos proyectos que tenemos, llegar a 6,000 cerdos y sacrificar 30 semanales, que es lo que hacemos nosotros. Hemos cambiado de la monta natural a la inseminacion, y todos esos procesos. Estamos ordeñando 170 cabezas de ganado. Estos son procesos que comienzan a las 10 de la mañana y terminan a las 6. Y el segundo ordeño comienza a las 2 de la tarde y termina a las 6. Y todo esto es un sistema de semi-pastoreo por que el ganado viene para un dieta aca. Entonces esas son las actividades mas o menos. Tambien esta la parte de taller, que nosotros hacemos todo nuestro mantenimiento, verdad, y tratamos de hacer todo en la finca, pues eso nos complica las cosas por que estamos en el ultimo pedacito de concreto de este pais. Entonces tenemos estas desventajas, pero mantenemos igual todo a flote (M.F.).” -We work by seasons around here. In may we plant maize, and all that is geared towards the cattle and the milk production. During August is when we collect all that. June, for us, is the time that we prepare fertilizer. These are really the busiest months for us. Then we have September, and that’s when we have the second harvest. We work with that until about end of October to November. Then we get into summer which is really when we focus on the feed for the cattle. This is the dry season, from about January – February, depending on the weather. Then during May we focus on mechanical feeding. We have about 1000 head of cattle in the farm. Then we also have the pigs, which really, this is just routine work. One of the plans for the area is to end up having 6,000 pigs at some point, and then butcher about 30 of them per week. We’ve switched over from natural procreation to insemination. Then we go to the milk production. We milk around 170

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cows every day. These processes start in 2 shifts. One starts at 10 in the morning and ends at 6 in the afternoon, and then the other one is from 2 – 6 in the afternoon. This whole system is semi-pasteurized. Then there is the whole workshop area. We try to do all the maintenance here, because we’re the “last piece of concrete on this side of the country” so things can get complicated. So we have some disadvantages, but we manage our own. 4) ¿Usted tiene algun pasatiempo, por ejemplo, trabajos en madera, cerámica, etc.? (Do you have any hobbies, for example, wood working, ceramics, etc.?) -“Si, si tenemos mucho de esto, especialmente en la parte mecanica (M.F.).” -Yes, we do have a lot of things like that, especially in the mechanical part. 5) ¿Qué materiales reciclables abundan en éste area? (What recyclable materials are plentiful in this area?) -“Los deshechos de ganado y de cerdo. Esos son los mas grandes que tenemos (M.F.).” -Most of it has to do with the waste that comes from the cattle and the pigs. 6) ¿Qué materiales naturales son indígenas al area, por ejemplo, madera de pino, barro, etc)? (What naturally found materials are local to the area, for example, pine wood, ceramics clay, etc?) -“Arcilla. Tenemos bancos de arcilla y tambien limo fuerte. Nuestros suelos en esas caracteristicas son franco-aseosos (M.F.).” -We have a lot of pottery clay around. Our grounds also have a high content of lime(calcium). 7) ¿Cuáles son las industrias más grandes del area? (What are the biggest industries in the area? -“La leche. La leche, y la carne y los granos basicos. El maiz, soya, sorbo, y estos estan orientados, el maiz blanco para el consumo humano, y la soya y el sorbo para el consumo animal. Estos con los mas grandes. La region esta muy centralizada en estas tres areas (M.F.).” - Milk. Milk, beef, and the basic grains. We have corn, soy and ‘sorbo’, and these are oriented the following way: white corn for human consumption, and soy and ‘sorbo’ for animal consumption. These are the largest ones. The region is highly centralizes in these three areas.

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8) ¿Usted es dueño de un negocio? (Are you a business owner?) Si No -“Tengo una farmacia. Es una cadena en el pais, y formo parte de ese grupo en Catacamas. Tambien tengo una empesa de mecanizacion agricola con especializacion en granos (M.F.).” - I have a pharmacy. It’s a chain store in the country, and I form part of that group here in Catacamas. I also have an agriculturas mechanization company that specializes in grain. 9) ¿Si respondiό “No” a la pregunta anteriόr, le gustaría tener un negocio algun día? (If you answered “No” to the previous question, would you like to own a business someday?) Si No -“Queremos impulzar en las mieles. Estoy explorando la idea de exporter miel a España desde aqui en Catacamas. Entonces hemos estado trabajando en los permisos y mandamos unas 14 muestras al area de Barcelona para que sean probadas por que hay ciertos requerimientos. En realidad aqui hay como mucho que hacer. La madera no se esta trabajando como se debe, entonces estas son unas industrias que florecen con un buen mercado, y tambien los lacteos. De las empresas que hay, solo uno o dos porciento exportan a Estados Unidos. Entonces no hay una medida. Es tener los recursos, por que la material prima existe (M.F.).” - We want to start with honey. I’ve been exploring the idea of exporting honey to Spain from Catacamas. We’ve been working on the paperwork and permits and we have sent about 14 samples to the area of Barcelona so they can get sampled since there are certain requirements that need to be taken into account. There’s a lot of stuff to do around here. Wood is not being worked as it should, and these are industries that can flourish with a good market, as well as milk. From the milk companies, only about 1-2 percent export to the United Stated. So there’s really no way of measuring. We have the resources here, because the raw materials exist. 10) ¿Qué piensa usted, o cual es su opiniόn, sobre el modelo de turbine de viento que le presento aquí? (What do you think, or what is your opinion, about the wind generator model shown here? -“Tendriamos que hacer primero mediciones de viento. Hay lugares aqui donde se

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tenemos recursos. Hay algunos puntos altos que si, podria ser una opcion. Yo conozco ese sistema en bastante profuncidad por que yo trabaje en Costa Rica con esto solo que con reactores grandes. Pero si, es una idea interesante y una tecnologia que debemos buscar cada vez mas. En Honduras ya hay proyectos grandes de esto, especialmente el de cerro de Yula que por el momento se esta manejando seriamente. Pero si, hay bastantes alternativas y tenemos puntos bastante altos, especialmente en esta zona de aqui (M.F.).” -“Si, aqui la verdad que no se siente mucho el viento, pero cuando estuvimos en Choluteca se sentia bastante bien (M.S.).” - “Si, por la cercania del mar (M.F.).” -We would really have to take a look at wind measurements. We have areas here where there are resources. There are some high sports around here, which would definitely be an option. I know this system very well because I worked in Costa Rica with this, especially in larger systems. But yes, this is a very interesting idea and a technology that we need to keep looking into more and more. In Honduras there are some large-scale projects with things like this, especially around ‘Cerro de Yula.’ But yes, there are many high points here that we need to look into, especially around this area. -Yes, you can’t really feel the wind here, but when we were in Choluteca it was extremely windy. - Yes, mostly due to the fact that it is by the ocean. 11) ¿Usted cree que es una opciόn viable para el area, y por qué? (Do you think it’s a viable option for the area, and why?) -“Es accesible, es muy accessible. La factura de una vivienda de la clase media, de unas 3 o 4 personas es mas o menos 1000 lempiras. Si va a invertir 300 dolares, entonces lo paga.” -It’s accessible, it’s very accessible. The energy bill for a middle class family of about 3 – 4 people is about 1000 lempiras ($55) per month. If you are going to invest about 300 dollars, then this gets paid off easily.

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Subject 8 3) ¿Cuáles son las actividades diarias que le toma más tiempo en completar? (Which daily activities are the ones that take the longest to complete?) -“For me personally would be just answering e-mails and stuff like that. Just office work (T.H.).” -“What about at home, anything that comes to mind (M.S.)?” -“We do a lot of traveling. It’s part of my job, so that takes up a lot of time. Just getting from one place to the other. I make my way around from here up to the Mexican border, up to Texas, so that takes up a lot of time (T.H.).” -“How long is the drive up there (M.S.)?” -“It’s usually about three days – of course I have people that I see along the way, but it’s still a long time (T.H.).” 4) ¿Usted tiene algun pasatiempo, por ejemplo, trabajos en madera, cerámica, etc.? (Do you have any hobbies, for example, wood working, ceramics, etc.?) -“Reading (T.H.)”. 5) ¿Qué materiales reciclables abundan en éste area? (What recyclable materials are plentiful in this area?) -“We have a lot of scrap metal. We have down by the shop a lot of old equipment, so that sort of thing. Other than that, we have a lot of wood over at the vocational school that we’ve gotten from the river bottom. Trees that have fallen over, so we have our own little saw-mill. So we have a lot of that around. Other than that, I don’t really know too much about scrap stuff, I don’t know if there is much of anything else (T.H.).” 6) ¿Qué materiales naturales son indígenas al area, por ejemplo, madera de pino, barro, etc)? (What naturally found materials are local to the area, for example, pine wood, ceramics clay, etc?) -“We do have a lot of wood from the trees that have fallen over by the river. There’s plenty of wood. As far as clay, we have a fair amount here that is used for making adobes. That’s mostly what we have around here and there’s plenty of that (T.H.).” 7) ¿Cuáles son las industrias más grandes del area? (What are the biggest industries in the area? -“Cattle is the biggest industry, other than narcotrafficking (laughter), you don’t want to

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get involved in that. Lumber would also be a big one in this area, and next to that would be coffee production (T.H.).” 8) ¿Usted es dueño de un negocio? (Are you a business owner?) Si No 9) ¿Si respondiό “No” a la pregunta anteriόr, le gustaría tener un negocio algun día? (If you answered “No” to the previous question, would you like to own a business someday?) Si No -“Well it’s tough because in the organization, we’re not really allowed to participate in any outside businesses. I would like to have my own business. I do have some property in the States that is used for personal businesses purposed, but other than that, I can’t really do anything over here (T.H.).” -“So if you weren’t restricted by the organization, what would your business be (M.S.)?” -“Well due to the nature of the school, I guess we do run the place like a business, and I am involved in that. But on a personal level, probably coffee. I do have some coffee up in the mountains that I mess around with – I guess you could consider that more of a hobby, but that is one of my interests (T.H.).” 10) ¿Qué piensa usted, o cual es su opiniόn, sobre el modelo de turbine de viento que le presento aquí? (What do you think, or what is your opinion, about the wind generator model shown here? -“I think it would be good. I know Honduras is starting to look into wind generation and they do have some wind turbines just south of the capital city. As a matter of fact you guys probably drove by them – you wouldn’t have seen them because they’re off the road quite a ways, but I know they are generating interest. Here in this area, I don’t know if we have enough wind, at certain times of the year we do have enough wind, but there’s other times that it’s pretty still. The place where I would think would be good for wind generation is out on the eastern part of Honduras, in La Mosquitia area, that’s very primitive. They have very little access to electricity and most of it right now is being generated by diesel. It is right by the coast, where the capital city of that area is, and at least the time I was out there the wind was always blowing, just coming off the ocean, so that would be a good possibility. And well, in this area – maybe (T.H.).”

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11) ¿Usted cree que es una opciόn viable para el area, y por qué? (Do you think it’s a viable option for the area, and why?) -“I think at that price [350 dollars] it would definitely be a possility. At that price, some times people buy a battery to run their televisions or radio, maybe a light bulb or something like that. Then every weekend they put it on the back of a bicycle and ride it into town, hook it up somewhere and get it charged. So by the time you add up all the costs, this size of battery is going to end up costing around 300 dollars anyway. So, if they could get something like that for around 350 dollars, and it works and there’s enough wind, then I do think it would be a good possibility (T.H.).”

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APPENDIX C: WIND DATA SHEETS

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APPENDIX D: WIND GENERATOR GUIDELINE

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Guideline for Building and Installing a Wind Generator

Miriam R. Simon

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Introduction

What is the purpose of this guideline? The purpose of this guideline is to teach about the fundamentals of building and installing wind generators using recycled and reusable materials. Thorough research and hands-on prototype testing has taken place for the past few years in order to provide the best tips for an inexpensive, yet productive wind generator. This guideline is aimed at users who wish to install a small-scale, horizontal-axis wind generator to store energy in a battery bank for use at their homes or businesses. Although this guideline is aimed at users in developing countries, this guideline can be used by anyone willing to learn about the technology.

What is a wind generator? A wind generator is a machine dedicated to generating electrical power with the help of kinetic energy from the wind. Traditional wind generators follow a certain model, which is a set of blades or a propeller attached to a motor which acts as a generator. The most common types of wind generators include the Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbine (Figure 1) and the Vertical-Axis Wind Turbine (Figure 2).

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Figure 1 – HAWT Figure 2- VAWT

Where is the energy stored? Wind generators are usually hooked up to one of two places. They can be connected to the existing power grid or they can be connected to a battery bank. When the generators are connected to the grid, the users usually have an agreement with the electrical company in order to sell back the excess energy that their generator produced. When they are connected to a battery bank, the users connect electrical components directly to the bank, usually with an inverter. The excess energy produced while connected to a battery bank must be diverted using a diversion load.

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Components and Assembly

This chapter explains each of the components and assembly of the following diagram in detail.

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Location of the Generator The generator should be placed on a relatively high spot (more that 2 meters), trying to avoid any blockage by buildings or trees. Make sure that you will be able to access the generator for maintenance purposes. The ideal post should be cylindrical and hollow, as this will make it easier for you to mount the generator. If not, an additional cylindrical component should be attached to another pole. Depending on your location and weather conditions, you will have to find out how deep you will need to dig in order to place the pole in the ground. Once the pole is in the ground, you may add guy-wires to assure stability. Another option is to attach the generator to an existing roof-top. You will have to find the best way to maintain stability of the pole in this situation. Before starting to build your generator, you should find the ideal location and build around that. The Generator Assembly

The generator assembly is composed of a motor, blades, and a tail.

Blades

Motor Tail

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The Motor Ideally, the motor for a small-scale wind generator that will be storing energy in a battery should be a permanent magnet DC (Direct Current) motor. The reason for this is that a DC motor can charge a battery without the need of converting from AC (Alternating Current) to DC. If a permanent magnet DC motor is not available, a vehicle alternator, which includes a rectifier, can be used to charge a battery. The rectifier, which comes installed in most alternators, converts from AC to DC. Permanents magnet DC motors can be found in various applications, including treadmills and old printer drive motors. An example of a permanent magnet DC motor can be seen in Figure 3. AC motors are found in many applications as well, such as vehicle alternators (Figure 4). Although not as ideal as a permanent magnet DC motor because it needs to spin at a higher RPM (revolutions per minute), these are widely available and tend to be less expensive.

Figure 3: Permanent magnet DC motor Figure 4: Alternator Sizing the Motor The size of the motor depends on what applications you wish to run. If you are going to be charging a battery and using some small light bulbs and other small appliances, you don’t need a very powerful motor. If you wish to power multiple components at the same time, you may need a larger motor that also requires a larger blade length. A general rule to follow is to have a motor that returns 1 Volt for every 25-35 RPM (revolutions per minute) and can handle at least 10 Amps. If the Volt to RPM ratio is more like 1 Volt for every 40 + RPM, one can simply produce a gear ratio between the blades and the motor in order to produce more voltage at a lower RPM.

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The Blades The blades of the wind generator are one of the most essential components. Therefore, careful consideration should be taken when deciding what type of materials will be used, as well as the final shape. Since our goal is to use recycled and reusable materials, as well as making this project affordable, we will use a bicycle wheel as a frame. Most front wheels are similar to the one seen in Figure 5. They don’t have a gear system attached to them because they just roll with the help of the power provided from the pedals to the rear wheel through a chain. Therefore, if we want to use a front wheel as the blade frame, we will have to attach the gear system from the pedals, as seen in Figure 6, in order to be able to transfer power from the wind to the motor.

Figure 5: Front Wheel Figure 6: Pedal Gear Assembly The point is to somehow attach the gear assembly to the wheel axis, as seen in Figure 7. If you won’t be adding a flywheel to your generator, you can use the rear wheel as the blade frame; otherwise, you should use the front wheel and leave the rear one for the flywheel. For now, just make sure the gear can attach to the axis, but it doesn’t have to be attached permanently until after assembling the tail support system.

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Figure 7: Gear assembly attached to bike wheel The next step is to create some blades and attach them to the wheel. Blades can be made from many different materials, such as PVC, old sheet metal from scrap yards or roofing material, etc. The point is that there is enough material that you can make all the blades look and weigh the same. Blades that are made from PVC are usually better for hubs that are not made from bike wheels. If you are not using a bike wheel, you can make blades like the ones on Figure 8. If you are using a bike frame, the first thing you may want to do is make some mock blades using cardboard and fit them to your wheel, so then once you make the real blades, you will know exactly what shape you will need to cut them. One of the mockup blades can be seen in Figure 9.

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Figure 8: PVC blades made for a wind generator without a bike frame hub

Figure 9: A mock cardboard blade on a bike frame

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Once you know the approximate size of the blades, you can make these from sheet metal or some other material that is stiff enough to handle strong winds. These can be attached using rivets or other metallic fasteners, such as the ones used in Figure 10.

Figure 10: Blades attached to a bike wheel using rivets Since bicycle wheels have different spoke patterns, you will have to use your best judgment in order to create the best blades that suit your model. Not all spokes must be used to support the blades. You can choose to only place blades once every two spokes, just like Figure 11.

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Figure 11: Blade pattern on a bike wheel

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Tail and Generator Support The next component is the tail and generator support. There are many different ways of designing and building a tail and generator support, and it will all depend on the materials that are available. The tail is an important component as it allows for the generator to face the direction of the wind at all times. This increases the generator’s efficiency and power output, as opposed to the version without the tail. The basic concept of the tail and generator support is to create a surface which will hold the generator and at the same time, be able to rotate along the main vertical axis, in this case, the post. Figures 12 and 13 show the entire tail assembly, and a possible configuration of components.

Figure 12: Entire generator and tail assembly

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Figure 13: Entire generator and tail assembly

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Building the Generator and Tail Support The tail support consists of two L-shaped pieces of metal (one longer one for the tail support and one shorter one for the generator support), the tail vane component, a bushing, and a pole insert. These can be attached to each other either by using fasteners or by welding. Figure 14 shows the entire tail assembly complete, and the following images are a step-by-step process for assembling the tail.

Figure 14: Tail assembly components

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Figure 15: Exploded View of Tail Support Assemble the “Tail Support L-Piece” and the “Generator Support L-Piece” by first drilling matching holes on both surfaces that will be touching. Then insert bolts through the holes, insert a washer at the end of each bolt and tighten with a nut. If available, use ‘Loctite’ before fastening, as this will ensure that bolts do not come loose.

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Figure 16: Assembled Tail Support The larger diameter holes on both L-pieces are made for the wires to go through. The smaller diameter holes on the Generator Support L-piece are used to attach the generator/alternator the assembly. Some motors may have specific holes that could be used to assemble the components; otherwise, a custom bracket may have to be constructed in order to attach the generator to the support piece. Next, we attach the tail vane to the assembly. The process is similar to attaching the L-pieces. You just need some fasteners, such as bolts, washers and nuts. Figure 17 shows the exploded view, while Figure 18 shows the tail assembled to the support.

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Figure 17: Exploded View of Tail Figure 18: Assembled View of Tail The next step is to attach the bushing to the pole insert. You can use old pipe fittings, or make custom made parts. The best way to assemble these pieces is to weld them together. If a welder is not available, you can use fasteners. Figure 19 shows the exploded view of the bushing and pipe insert. Once these two get assembled together, they are to be assembled to the tail support as seen in Figure 20. These can be welded on to the support or attached with fasteners.

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Figure 19: Exploded view of Tail Support, Bushing, and Pipe Insert

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Figure 20: Complete Tail Assembly Blade Assembly Support The next step is to assemble the supports for the blade assembly. These can be made from square-stock or a similar scrap material. Holes should be drilled to allow for the axis of the blade assembly to go through the supports. These can either be welded on to the existing tail support or they can be assembled with fasteners. The supports should ideally be placed at both ends of the generator support L-piece. Figure 21 shows a possible configuration for the blade assembly supports.

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Figure 21: Blade Assembly Supports attached to the Tail Assembly Now the generator, blade and tail support component is complete.

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Attaching the generator to the Support Assembly The next step is to attach the generator to the tail support system. Some motors have holes already drilled on the bottom; therefore, the holes drilled on the Generator Support L-piece must match those holes. Once these are completed, you can attach the motor using bolts that fit those specific holes. If the motor does not have any holes, you can create a bracket that holds the motor down to the Generator Support L-piece. Make sure that the gear or hub of the motor is pointing towards the front of the assembly. Also, make sure you can get the wires through the holes, as these will have to be connected to longer wires later on. Figure 22 shows a possible configuration of the generator/motor attached to the support system.

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Figure 22: Generator mounted into the tail support system

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Attaching the Blade Assembly to the Support System The blade assembly, which includes the wheel, blades, horizontal axis shaft, gear, and chain or belt, should all be assembled together using the tail support as a basis. It is recommended that the axis be held in place by fasteners, as it may be necessary to take the assembly off for maintenance. The first step is to insert the horizontal shaft of the blade assembly through the support holes. Keep in mind that the gear must be placed in between the two vertical supports, so these two steps must happen simultaneously, as shows on Figure 23. Washers have also been placed on each side of the vertical supports to the fasteners don’t rub against the supports. *If using a belt instead of a chain, you must also place the belt into the assembly during this step. If using a chain, it can be added on later, assuming you have a chain-breaker/pin removal tool.

Figure 23: The blades and gear ready for assembly onto the main support

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Once completed, make sure to line up the fastener holes of the horizontal shaft so you can place one fastener on each side of the vertical supports. Also, make sure the gear on the blade shaft is aligned with the gear on the generator/alternator. The gear must then be fixed to the horizontal axis using a fastener. Figures 24 and 25 show two views of the assembly as it should be once these steps are completed.

Figure 24: Assembled shaft, gear and washers

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Figure 25: Assembled shaft, gear and washers The next step is to add the fasteners at each side of the vertical supports as shown in Figures 26 and 27.

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Figure 26: Fasteners for the horizontal axis

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Figure 27: Fasteners for the horizontal axis assembled The next step is to assemble the chain onto the gears. The chain shouldn’t be too tight or too loose. Make sure it can wiggle a little from side to side, but make sure that it won’t fall off the gears. Figure 28 shows a representation of the chain on the gears.

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Figure 28: The chain gets assembled onto the gears Just to make sure everything is working correctly, you may spin the blades by hand and make sure that the gears are both turning. If you want to check for power transmission, you may use a multimeter and check for voltage on the generator’s wires. Now the entire generator, blades, and tail assembly is complete. The next step is to mount the assembly onto the pole and connect the wires. After that, the next steps will include wiring the entire system so the generator is ready to use.

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Make sure the wiring is long enough to go from the generator to where you will store your charge controller. The sizing of the wire will depend on the specifications of your charge controller, so please read those instructions carefully. Remember that DC voltage drops as you increase the distance, so make sure your charge controller and battery are not too far away from the generator. Once you insert the wiring through the main pole as seen in Figure 29, make sure you solder it or use proper electrical connections to attach is to the generator wires. Make sure these wires are accessible, as you may need to separate them for maintenance. Once connected, make sure you wrap the connections with electrical tape or heat-shrink tubing. Then, lower the generator assembly onto the pole as seen in Figure 30.

Figure 29: Wiring through main pole

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Figure 30: The completed generator assembly lowered onto the pole At the bottom of the pole, make sure there is a hole for both wires to go through as seen in Figure 31. These wires can be placed into a small trench on the ground and covered with soil or rocks, depending on your specific situation.

Figure 31: Bottom of the pole with wires

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The Electrical System The electrical system is what transmits power from the generator to some kind of storage system. This makes the power generated from the wind usable to the customer. Figure 32 shows the entire electrical system. Remember that the configuration of the system will depend on the specific requirements of the charge controller. Please read those directions carefully. This specific diagram is meant for a Xantrex C35 Charge Controller.

Figure 32: The electrical system configuration for Xantrex C35 Charge Controller

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For this specific setup you will need the following: 1 Charge Controller – Make sure this charge controller is specifically made for wind generators and not just solar panels 2 electrical switches – They will be placed on the positive (red) wires that lead to the battery. These are precautionary and should be turned off when one is maintaining the electrical system. 1 fuse- (Amperage should be similar to the maximum output of your motor) 1 Diode- (Amperage should be similar to the maximum output of your motor) 1 Inverter – The inverter is one of the most important components of the system, as it allows regular AC components to run off the battery. The inverter converts the DC power of the battery to AC. There are various different types of inverters on the market, and it is important to size these according to what components will be plugged into the system. The inverters are usually plugged directly to the battery and come equipped with electrical outlets similar to those found in homes. Diversion Loads - Depending on the type of charge controller, diversion loads are necessary to divert excess power to a source. This is important because if a diversion load is not present, it might cause the charge controller and the battery to overheat. Diversion loads come in different forms and may range from simple resistors to water and air heaters. Depending on the location and availability of these components, one can chose on or the other, but a diversion load must be present. Battery - The recommended battery for any wind-powered or solar-powered system is a deep cycle battery. The reason these batteries are optimal for these types of applications is that they are able to discharge to quite a low voltage and recharge without any major issues. Normal car batteries, on the other hand, do not last long if they are charged and discharged constantly. These deep-cycle batteries are available in most hardware stores in the United States, as well as some battery specialty stores in other countries. These batteries come standard as12V or 24V and can be wired in series if a larger storage system is required. Wiring – The gauge of the wires should be specified in the charge controller manual. Remember that the farther away your electrical system has to travel, the more voltage drop you will have. Size wires appropriately to your situation. Always use a red wire for your positive leads and black wires for your negative leads. This will avoid confusion and will assure consistency. Grounding Rod – A grounding rod must be connected to the negative wires of the charge controller and the battery. Various grounding rods are available, so make sure you choose the appropriate one for your area. This rod must be placed completely underground.

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The first step should be to find an appropriate spot for your charge controller and your battery. These should be away from water and should also have adequate ventilation available. Once you find a spot, you can mount the charge controller to a wall. This will make it easier to cut the wires to the correct length once everything is set up. Then, make sure you have enough wire to go from the generator to the battery. These ends can be connected directly to the battery using the battery’s attachment points, or you can connect them with alligator clips, as seen in Figure 33. For now, just make sure you have enough wire to make it from the generator to the battery. These will be connected at a later moment.

Figure 33: Alligator Clips Next, you will connect a switch, the fuse, and the diode to the positive (red) wire that will be connected from the generator directly to the battery, as seen in Figure 34.

Figure 34: Positive wire connection from generator to the battery

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The order of these connections in important, so make sure you follow the order on the diagram. Next, you will install the switch on the positive (red) wire that will go from the battery to the charge controller, as seen in Figure 35.

Figure 35: Installing the switch on the positive wire going from the battery to the charge controller Now that all the switches, the fuse and the diode are in place, the diversion loads must be connected to the charge controller. Figures 36 shows a possible configuration for the diversion loads which will once again, depend on the specifications of your charge controller and the output of your system. You may connect both positive and negative wires for the diversion loads.

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Figure 36: The diversion loads connected to the charge controller Other than the wires from the inverter, all the positive (red) wires should all be ready now. The next step is to connect all the negative (black) wires. These do not require any switches. Make sure you have enough wire going from the negative wire of the generator to the battery. This end can once again be connected using an alligator clip, but make sure it is a different color, as seen in Figure 37.

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Figure 37: The alligator clip for the negative wire from the generator to the battery Now you can connect the negative wires (ground wires) that go from the charge controller and battery to the grounding rod, as seen in Figure 38.

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Figure 38: Ground wires connected from the charge controller and the battery to the grounding rod Now you can also connect the negative wire that goes from the charge controller to the battery, as shows in Figure 38. Once all these negative wires have been connected, you can connect the generator negative wire to the battery. *Make sure to ALWAYS connect the negative wires first as this will prevent any sparks in the system. When disconnecting wires, ALWAYS make sure to disconnect the negatives last. A possible configuration may look like Figure 39. This is the interior of the charge controller with all the wires connected. Make sure to follow their connection procedures, as they may vary from this guideline.

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Figure 39: The interior of the charge controller with all the wires connected. Now you can connect the positive (red) wire from the generator to the battery. Now you can connect the inverter to the battery as well, as shown in Figure 38. The system is now completely connected. Now you can turn the switches on and make sure the charge controller is working properly. Figure 40 shows the connections on the battery.

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Figure 40: All the wiring connected to the battery Using the inverter, you can now connect regular house-hold items and make sure the system is working. Figure 41 shows a lamp connected to the inverter which is being powered by energy stored in the battery using the wind generator.

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Figure 41: A lamp being used to test the system Now that the system is completed, make sure to monitor it on a weekly basis. Make sure the battery is maintaining charge and that the connections have not come loose.