1. Bringing Light to the Edge of the World: blueEnergy's Adventures Building Micro Wind Turbines on the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua

2. Background Products and Services Nuts and Bolts of the Turbine
A Look at a Typical System
Customers
Get Involved and Contact

3. Where?

4. Background What is blueEnergy and what does it do?
Family history in Nicaragua
Interest in wind power
blueEnergy the idea: MIT Development Entrepreneurship class
Birth of blueEnergy: a 501(c)3 public charity with a twist
Where we stand today
Where we are headed

5. The blueEnergy Approach
Focus on building lasting, local solution:
Use appropriate technology
Build local capacity
Long-term commitment
Understanding and respect for local way of life
blueEnergy’s systems are implemented using a variety of models, each of which can be characterized along the following dimensions: Location (urban, semi-urban, rural), constituency served (private, public), ownership (blueEnergy, private, public), management/operation (blueEnergy, private, public), and physical configuration (battery charging station, fixed battery bank, dual-use).

6. The blueEnergy Turbine
Base design from Hugh Piggott of Scoraig Wind Electric; school of “heavy metal”
Designed from the ground up for ease of construction, robustness and optimized for energy production in low winds
Axial-flux alternator vs. more common radial-flux designs
Ease of construction -> ease of maintenance -> low-cost over lifetime

7. Products and Services Background Nuts and Bolts of the Turbine
A Look at a Typical System
Customers
Get Involved and Contact

8. blueEnergy Products

9. blueEnergy Services

10. Key Points
Isolation: A brief history of the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua
blueEnergy is nonprofit with a focus on sustainability not on maximizing sales
On a technical note: The difference between power (W or kW) and energy (Wh or kWh):
Power: The rate of doing some useful work. It is an instantaneous measurement; by analogy, can be thought of as water flow rate into a storage tank.
Energy: The amount of power expended (or generated) over a period of time, i.e Energy = Power x Time; by analogy, can be thought of as amount of water stored given a specific flow rate over a specified time period.

11. Nuts and Bolts of the Turbine
Background
Products and Services
Nuts and Bolts of the Turbine
A Look at a Typical System
Customers
Get Involved and Contact

12. The Nuts & Bolts of the Wind Turbine
Blade Rotor

13. The Nuts & Bolts of the Wind Turbine
Alternator

14. The Nuts & Bolts of the Wind Turbine
Body and Tail

15. The Nuts & Bolts of the Wind Turbine
Tower

16. A Look at a Typical System
Background
Products and Services
Nuts and Bolts of the Turbine
A Look at a Typical System
Customers
Get Involved and Contact

17. A Typical blueEnergy System

18. A Typical blueEnergy System
Wind Turbine and Tower
12 ft diameter rotor (6 ft blades), 3-phase, 24 V wind turbine
ft tilt-up tower; lattice towers only used in cases where space is limited because of high cost
Anchors for guy wires are a mix of rebar mesh, metal bar, concrete and dirt and are generally 6 ft deep, 2 ft across, 4 ft wide

19. A Typical blueEnergy System
Power Center
System regulation, energy storage and energy conversion
Community charging station vs. fixed battery bank
PV modules generally integrated into power center structure

20. A Typical blueEnergy System
Power Center
Charge controller - BRAIN
Batteries - HEART
Breakers and dump load - SECURITY

21. A Typical blueEnergy System
Household
Not physically tied to power center due to cost of distribution lines over great distances
Home electrification kits available from blueEnergy through micro-loan program in partnership with ADEPHCA
Users carry batteries to charging station and charge them for a fee

22. A Typical Energy System: Cost
Fixed System
Charging Station
Home Electrification
12 ft diameter, 24 V turbine (rated 1 kW at 12 $1, ft tilt-up $1,500
N/A
100 W solar $700
60 A capacity charge $250
10 A, for low voltage $25
440 AH (x8 Trojan T-105, 220 AH, 6 $1,200
105 AH Trojan 27 $110
2,400 W, 24 V (Xantrex $1,000
$500 (breakers, wiring, etc)
$45
$1,500
$10
$500
$2,500 (5 year operator training and servicing agreement: site visits every 6 $250 per visit)
$2 per charge
$11,150 (does not include tax)
$8,950 (does not include tax)
$200 + charging fee (does not include tax)
Misc. Parts
Installation
Transport
Service
TOTAL

23. A Typical Energy System: Cost Comparison

24. A Typical Energy System: Power Curve

25. A Typical Energy System: Wind Resource
Monthly variations: August, September, November are low months; December, January, February are high months
Site variations: Wind resource is highly site-dependent; a study should be performed at each site where a considerable energy system investment is to be made
Power in wind is related to cube of wind speed => doubling of wind speed means eight times the available power

26. ~ 3,200 Wh February is an above average wind month
A Typical Energy System: Energy Production
Energy Production for blueEnergy 12 ft Turbine 60 ft height) - February 2 to February 23, 2007
NOTE: Data was not collected on February 5, 12, 18, 19
February is an above average wind month
Average per day turbine production over the year:
~ 3,200 Wh
100 W solar panel will add ~ 350 Wh per day
Average total daily energy production of
3,550 kWh

27. A Typical Energy System: Energy Use
As shown in the previous slide, a typical system produces 3,550 watt-hours of energy per day on average.
Assuming a 90% Charge/Discharge Efficiency, What Can You Do With 3,195 watt-hours of Energy?
You could run a light (15 W) or a radio (15 W) for 213 hours
You could run a light (15 W) and a radio (15 W) or a small
high-efficiency refrigerator (30 W) for 106 hours
You could run a laptop (40 W) or a small television (40 W) for
80 hours
You could run 3 lights (45 W), a radio (15 W), a laptop (40
W) and a small high-efficiency freezer (30 W) for 24 hours -
i.e. all day

28. Customers Nuts and Bolts of the Turbine Background
Products and Services
Nuts and Bolts of the Turbine
A Look at a Typical System
Customers
Get Involved and Contact

29. Potential Customers
Rural communities beyond the reach of the electrical grid and semi-urban communities with unreliable electrical grid
Development organizations that need energy for their projects but don’t have expertise or capacity in this area: FISE, FADCANIC, Catholic Church
Health organizations that need energy for their rural health clinics but have no expertise or capacity in this area: WHO / OPS, MINSA
Small business owners that require backup or primary power
Individuals

30. Current Project Sites

31. Get Involved and Contact
Background
Products and Services
Nuts and Bolts of the Turbine
A Look at a Typical System
Customers
Get Involved and Contact

32. Donate (http://www.blueenergygroup.org/MainPages/Donate.html)
Get Involved
Volunteer (
Tell Your Friends, Family, and Colleagues About blueEnergy
Donate (
Attend a Turbine Building Workshop (

33. Mathias Craig, Executive Director
Contact Us
Special thanks to Steve Weis and Google for inviting me here today
For more information and to help support our important work, please visit:
Mathias Craig, Executive Director
San Francisco, California, United States
Tel: +1 (202)
Fax: +1 (801)
Watch for us on CNN Heroes airing in mid-July!