Fortis

Wind Turbines and Generators

Fortis wind turbines are a world leader in the design and manufacturing of high performance stand-alone and grid-connected wind turbines in the range from 100 Watt up to 20kW. They have over twenty-five years of experience in providing innovative solutions for the use of wind energy. Various sizes of wind turbines are available and for all weather conditions and applications.

Wind Generator Model and Power Ratings

Model: Espada; Rating: 800W

Model: Passant; Rating: 1.4KW

Model: Alize; Rating: 10KW

Model: Montana; Rating: 5KW

Click image for more details and technical specifications

Main Features

• Over 25 years experience in wind energy
• 5 years warranty
• Over 6000 wind turbines installed world wide
• Average lifetime wind turbine is 20 years
• Maintenance free
• Low cut-in wind speed
• High performance/price ratio
• Approved power curves
• Epoxy, glass and carbon fibre rotor blades
• Permanent magnet generators with Ne-Fe-Br magnets
• Direct Drive
• Automatic furling safety system
• Electric brake switch
• Applications: from Tropical to Artic conditions and from Coastal area's to Inland conditions

The Fortis Technology

No trouble hardware means that we supply a complete working turbine, including foundation and the electrical connections. Fortis wind turbines consist of:

• the turbine itself;
• a pole, this can be a lattice tower, a guyed wire pole or a free standing one;
• the foundation;
• electric cables to the voltage regulator;
• voltage regulator;
• electricity converter; this can be an inverter to
• feed the electricity into the grid, or a battery
• charging device with a 230V output.

Battery charge regulator

The essential functions of a charge regulator are:
Preventing overcharging of the battery: If a wind turbine system or wind/photovoltaic hybrid system supply more current than can be absorbed by the battery at that moment, the charging current is reduced by the charging regu1ator. The excess current is transferred to a dump load, which can be utilised for heating air or by means of a special heater, for water heating. A reduced charging current remains to compensate the self-discharge of the battery. The fu11 charging current is automatically switched on again when the battery voltage drops.

Preventing over-discharging of the battery: If the consumer discharges the battery to a grate extend and the so-cal1ed over-discharge limit is reached, the load on the battery has to be disconnected. A low-voltage alarm or automatic load rejection mechanism can be insta1led in the charge regulator. As soon as the battery resumes the reset threshold, the load is switched on again.

The battery charge regulator is a key component and should always be incorporated as an essential element in a wind turbine system or wind/photovoltaic hybrid systems. All charge regulators can be used for 12, 24, 48 or 120 V installations. Other voltages are available as option. Overcharging and over-discharging both damage the battery and reduce its service life considerably. Incorporating a matching charge regulator reduces the need for constant checks of the battery charge level by the user of a wind turbine or hybrid system.

Rotor blades
All wind turbines are equipped with standard rotor blades made of fibre-glass reinforced epoxy. Production of the rotor blades is based on a patented production method known as press winding. The b1ades are produced in one piece, as opposed to two pieces glued together. The leading edge is treated with a specia1 coating to protect it against erosion.

Permanent magnet generator:
Construction: The PMG-generator is constructed from standard motor parts in a fully enclosed housing, without fan or fan cover. The bearings are standard bal1 bearings with metal sea1ing and lifelong lubrication. The PMG generator pole wheel is made up from Neodinium (NE-Fe-Br) magnets glued on the surface of the pole wheel. Neodinium magnets have the highest energy rates of permanent magnets. Small magnets give a high-energy output of the generator. In this way the construction of the rotor wheel is strong and reliable. Only the stator has copper windings. For efficiency, the winding is three-phase, and class F insulation with special protection is used.

Description of PM generator

• - Brushless multi-pole synchronous generator
• - Permanent magnetised pole wheel.
• - Protection IP54 for Espada and Passaat - Aluminium housing for Espada and Passat.
• - Steel housing for Montana and Alize - Stainless steel shaft

Using a special stator and winding design, the magnetic bonding of the pole wheel is virtually eliminated and the torque is practical1y dependent on bearing friction only. The magnetic materials used for the pole wheel will keep the field strength permanently present. This means that the electrica1 characteristics are similar to those of tachometer generator. The electrical current generated by the PMG-generator is therefore very suitable for battery charging, electrical heating, water pumping and other such applications.

Hinged vane safety system
The function of the safety system with an inclined hinged vane is to limit the rotational speed of the rotor and to limit the axia1 forces acting upon the rotor. This is accomplished by the rotor gradually being turned out of the wind with increasing wind speed. As the vane remains more or less para11el to the wind, this turning of the head implies that the vane is turned around its inclined hinge, thereby moving upwards. The vane a1ways inc1ines towards its lowest position, however providing the moments that balance the moment of the rotor. In the static ana1ysis presented here the position of rotor, tail and vane are stable at every wind speed, i.e. the moments around the hinge axis and around the vertical axis of the rotor head are in balance.

Hinge axis: the aerodynamic forces on the tail vane plus the weight of the tail together yield an oblique downward force. The tail vane will move under the inf1uence of this downward force until the force points in the vane, due to the aerodynamic forces, is kept in balance by the moment caused by the weight of the vane and tail. Vertical axis: the aerodynamic forces on the tail vane exert a moment around the vertical which is ba1anced by the moment of the aerodynamic forces on ~ the rotor. With increasing wind speed the aerodynamic forces on the rotor. Increase, turning the rotor further out of the wind and forcing the tail vane further from its lowest position.

Fig. The behaviour of the inclined hinged safety system with increasing wind speed. The yawed position at V=0 shows that the hinge axis in this case possesses a pre-set angle . This pre-set angle of yaw causes the rotor to face the wind perpendicularly at the design speed Vd. The wind turbine is seen from above.