Renewable Energy 36 (2011) 2128e2138

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Renewable Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/renene

Small wind turbines with timber blades for developing countries: Materials choice, development, installation and experiences
Leon Mishnaevsky Jr. a, *, Peter Freere b, Rakesh Sinha b, Parash Acharya b, Rakesh Shrestha c, Pushkar Manandhar d
a

Materials Research Division, Ris National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy, Technical University of Denmark, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark Kathmandu Alternative Power and Energy Group Ltd. (KAPEG), Bhatti Danda, P.O. Box 25060 Ktm, Dhulikhel, Nepal International Institute of Management, Energy and Environment Management, University of Flensburg, Germany d Practical Action Nepal, Pandol Marga, Lazimpat, P.O. Box 15135, Kathmandu, Nepal
b c

a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history: Received 8 June 2010 Accepted 29 January 2011 Available online 23 February 2011 Keywords: Wind turbines Wooden blades Materials testing Coating Renewable energy in developing countries

a b s t r a c t
The low cost wind turbines with timber blades represent a good solution for the decentralized energy production in off-grid regions of developing countries. This paper summarizes the results of investigations on the mechanical testing and choice of timber for wind blades, testing of different coatings and blades as well as installation and practical experience with wooden wind turbines in Nepal. The recommendations on the optimal choice of Nepali timber and coatings for low cost wind blades are summarized. The timber wood blades were designed and tested. On the basis of the recommendations, the wind turbines with timber (lakuri) wind blades were produced, and tested. The turbines with timber wind blades were installed on several locations around Nepal, and their usability was studied. It was demonstrated that the appropriate choice of timber and coatings ensures necessary reliability of the blades and turbines. It was further demonstrated that the low cost wind turbines with timber blades represent a promising and viable option for the decentralized energy production in developing countries, which also opens new areas for businesses. 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction The population in many developing countries is distributed over large areas, with long distances between small villages or farms. Given the low energy consumption in the remote villages and small energy markets, it is in many cases impracticable to use the traditional technologies of energy supply, e.g. grid extension. The possible alternative, as stand-alone diesel generators, which rely on imported fuel, can be also inefcient due to high costs of transportation of fuel (especially in mountainous and remote regions) and potential dependency of the external supply. A good solution for the quest of developing countries and their poor regions for decentralized energy sources, allowing the energetic independence of the countries and regions, is based on small wind turbines [1]. However, the introduction of wind energy in developing countries should not lead to the situation when the dependency of the country on external energy and fuel supply, or

* Corresponding author. E-mail address: lemi@risoe.dtu.dk (L. Mishnaevsky). 0960-1481/$ e see front matter 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.renene.2011.01.034

transportation is replaced by the new dependency, on expensive materials and equipment, very special know-how and development aid. Thus, the wind turbines for developing countries should be inexpensive in production and in service, reliable and durable, and producible locally, from local materials and with the use of the local equipment. In order to reduce the costs of the wind turbines, and to make wind energy more attractive for developing countries, natural, locally available materials, notably wood, can be used to produce parts of the wind turbines instead of conventional, rather expensive composite materials [2e6]. In order to explore the applicability and efciency of wood as the material for wind blades, a Danish-Nepalese collaborative research project on Development of wind energy technologies in Nepal on the basis of natural materials was initiated and funded by the Danida program. The results of the research carried out in the framework of this project, including the results of comprehensive program of investigations for the choice of timber and coating for low cost wind turbines, their testing and the practical experiences with the design of the turbines and their installation in Nepal, are summarized below.

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2. Which timber sorts can be used for wind blades? testing results The choice of appropriate materials for wind blades requires comprehensive studies, including the analysis of market availability, prices, mechanical testing, fatigue testing, testing of coatings. The mechanical strength, hardness and fatigue behavior are among the most relevant parameters for the estimation of the suitability of the wood material for the use as a wind blade material [1]. They characterize the effects on centrifugal force on the blades (mechanical strength), the effect of wind gusts on the blades and precession as the wind turbine turns to face the wind (fatigue lifetime) and the blade integrity, as it determines the minimum distance required between the blades and the tower (stiffness). First, the list of practically and economically available timber sorts which have a potential to be used for wind turbines was made (the numbers in the brackets show the botanical name of the timber, average time to grow, in years, and the price on the market in Nepal, in EUR/m3): uttish (botanical name: Alnus nepalensis, 8e15 yrs, 90), lakuri (Fraxinus oribunda, 15e20 yrs, 125), saur (Betula alnoides, 15e20 yrs, 70), tuni (Tuna Ciliata, 15e20 yrs, 210), pine (Pinus roxburghii, 20e30 yrs, 200), sisau (Dalbergia sissoo, 15e50 yrs, 850), okhar (Juglans regia, 30e40 yrs, 710), sal (Shorea robusta, 100e200, 590) [8,9]. For the selected timbers, laboratory investigations of the elastic properties, density, stiffness, breaking strength, strain before failure, hardness, fatigue behavior and microstructures were carried out [7,8].

2.1. Testing equipment The mechanical and fatigue testing of materials which have a potential to be used for the parts are relatively straightforward in Western countries (the nearest materials testing laboratory is usually just a phone call away), but are much more difcult in a third world country. Yet, the problem of the material choice and development should preferably be solved on-site when a technology for third world is developed, and not outsourced to the West. At the initial stage of the project, a series of testing machine were developed specially with view the producibility and usability in developing country conditions, produced and installed at the Kathmandu Alternative Power and Energy Group in Nepal. The machines included static and fatigue four point exural bending test rig to determine mechanical, strength and fatigue properties and a Brinells hardness tester. The details of the test machine design are presented in [1]. 2.2. Density of timber [8] The density of timber determines its weights, and is therefore important for starting as the system depends on aerodynamic torque. In our experiments, the densities of timber were measured at 6e18% moisture content. It was observed that uttish has the lowest density of 408 17% kg/m3 followed by tuni, okhar, pine, lakuri, saur, sisau and sal. Pine, lakuri and okhar have similar density ranging from 616 kg/m3 to 624 kg/m3. Pine has a large variation in density of 20% followed by uttish with 15%, whereas sisau and okhar have the least variation of 3%.

Fig. 1. Column chart for relative values of Young moduli, breaking strain and Brinell hardness (normalized by the average values of all the parameters of all the types of timber) (a) and hardness tester (b).

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2.3. Mechanical properties and strength Using the four point bending test rig and a Brinells hardness tester, we analyzed the strength, and mechanical properties of different timber sorts [8]. Fig. 1a shows the column chart summarizing the results of experiments in relative values (the Young modulus, breaking strain and average hardness were normalized by the average values over all considered types of timber). Lakuri, sisau and pine have the highest values of Young modulae (24.07, 12.37 and 25.94 GPa, respectively), while the average breaking strain is highest for lakuri (3.18%) and sisau (2.43%).

Lakuri shows the highest value of Young moduli of up to 24 GPa, but also with the largest variations between samples. This indicates that to obtain stiff pieces of lakuri, the pieces should be specially selected. Pine has a maximum breaking strength of 87.51 MPa with an average of 59 57%MPa, and lakuri has the maximum value of 70.66 MPa with an average value of 55 26% MPa. Okhar, saur, sal and sisau have breaking strengths greater than 40 MPa. There is no correlation between breaking stress and breaking strain of the timber. Pine and lakuri have the largest breaking strain of up to 4.5%, although the minimum for the same type of timber is at 0.5% for

Fig. 2. Distribution of Youngs Modulus at different region of lakuri (a) and salla (b and c) and their variation with moisture content.

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pine and 1.7% for lakuri. Other timbers, eg. sal, have a smaller range of breaking strain. Thus, one can conclude that sal might be the best choice with view on consistency, but the optimal choice of good parts of pine or lakuri ensures the better results. It was further observed in the experiments that the minimum Young moduli for all the species of timber appear to be approximately linear with respect to timber density [6]. The elastic moduli of timber are inuenced rst of all by the orientation and ber alignment of the samples and (as secondary effect) by the density. Specimens from lakuri, okhar, saal, sisau and saur undergo plastic deformation before breaking, and it might make the impending failure of a blade obvious before it happens, as shown by [4]. Uttish, pine and tuni fail by brittle fracture, which gives no warning [4]. 2.4. Variations of mechanical properties inside the wood In order to analyze variations of the wood properties in the same tree section, we tested the samples in different regions of trees. The timber was cut down into small pieces, and the stress strain analysis of lakuri and salla samples was preformed. Fig. 2 shows the distribution of Youngs modulus within the sample of lakuri and salla, and at different moisture content. It was observed that the value of Youngs modulus increases with increasing the distance from the core of timber. 2.5. Effect of the moisture content Further, the samples from different regions and with different moisture contents were tested. It was observed that the value of Youngs modulus increases with decrease in moisture content. The effect of variation of Young modulus on the outer region is significant with respect to moisture content (35e60% variation in Young modulus with variation of 59e70% in moisture content), and is greater that that from the samples at inner region (3e8% variation in Young modulus with variation of 59e70% decrement in moisture content). After the decreasing the moisture content in sample, we couldnt notice any signicant decrease in the dimensions. 2.6. Hardness The hardness of the timber relates the ability of wind turbine blades to resist the impact from insects, dust, rain and hail etc. The impact resistance will also be affected by the coating applied to the blades. In order to sustain yawing (which is the highest ultimate bending moments for many small wind turbines [1]), the material for small wind turbine blades design needs to be stiff enough to resist bending and avoid hitting the tower. Fig. 1 shows also normalized (by the average value over all the timbers considered) values of Brinell hardness for different timbers. The minimum Brinell hardness values are (in increasing order) as follows:for pine (14.92, range of variation 11.31), lakuri (15.28, range 3.63), saur (20.31, range 5.38), okhar (26.36, range 15.09), sisau (58.67, range 17.94), sal (65.78, range 66.51). While the average and maximum value of minimum hardness value of pine is slightly greater than that of lakuri, lakuri has a greater minimum value of hardness with less range of variation than pine. 2.7. Fatigue strength Samples were subjected to cyclic loading and the analysis of fatigue effect was carried out. Fatigue tests of all 8 timber samples were performed (at 6 Hz frequency of the machine) adjusting the displacements according to their average breaking values. Fatigue tests was carried out in such a way that, when the wood had

relaxed, displacement was increased after around 1.7e5 number of cycles, the displacement of fatigue sample was increased from 10 mm to 15 mm and then fatigue testing continued till breakage. Initially 60% of the average breaking displacement was chosen for the tests. When the samples were subject to 10 mm displacement cyclic loading, the load tends to decrease exponentially from 700 N and nally rest at level of 450 N. Fig. 3 shows the graph of load(N) vs number of cycle for pine wood samples. It was observed that hardwood like Sisau and Sal (which have good breaking strength) do not show but high fatigue life as they easily break when at 10 mm displacement value, whereas timbers like lakuri and pine have high fatigue life even at 10e15 mm displacement value. Other samples as Okhar and Uttish show good fatigue life only when run at less than 8 mm displacement and similar was the case with other two timber samples of Tuni and Saur. The timber sample which has the longer fatigue life when run at the higher displacement is suited most for the wind turbine blade construction (Fig. 4). Summarizing the results, one can state that lakuri and pine (if properly chosen) can be considered as the best option for the strong and stiff wind blades. 3. Environmental load protection and choice of coatings The timber wind turbines are exposed to environmental loadings, temperature variations, rain, sun, etc., and these loadings can cause bending and cracking [2]. In order to ensure required durability, protective coatings should be applied. In this section, we report the results of testing of different, locally available coatings and suggest some recommendations on their choice. A weathering test station has been setup at the KAPEG ofce, Dhulikhel. Different kinds of coatings available in Nepal were identied and tested, in particular: varnish (4 layers, tough wood polyurethane clear wood nish-asian paints), black japan (4 layers, synthetic primer-apollo paints), wood primer and white enamel (2 layers each, synthetic primer-asian paints and synthetic enamelasian paints), resin paint (2 layers, used for bre/glass products) [8]. 3.1. Outdoor weathering tests: weight variations of timber The weathering tests were performed by analyzing the weight changes of timber specimens exposed to various weather conditions (such as rain, temperature and humidity variations), which cause the coating degradation, timber bending and cracking [8]. In the experiments, it was observed that the timbers with high density (like sal and sisau) show less weight variations due to the rainfall and humidity,

Fig. 3. Graph of load(N) vs number of cycle for pine wood sample FP22.

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Fig. 4. Samples coated after performing static and hardness tests (left), Samples ready for the test(right).

while those with low densities like pine and lakuri show larger weight variations. Tuni shows the biggest weight variation, followed by pine and okhar. In the 65 h water absorption tests, described below, similar results were observed: low density timbers, such as pine and uttish, have a large variation from 60% to 80% of weight change, whereas the high density timbers such as sal and sisau show 10%e30%. It is of interest that the change in weight due to rainfall is observed to be small in comparison to the change in weight due to humidity. As expected, samples without coating were more responsive to rain, and humidity conditions than the samples with coatings [8]. 3.2. Water absorption: coating effect Further, the samples with various coatings were immersed into water for 65 h in order to observe the absorption of water. The weight of the samples was measured to determine damage in coatings and to grade the coating of timber. As a result, it was observed that the wood primer and enamel coatings show the lowest weight changes, and might be considered the best ones. A coating of varnish seems to be second best coatings followed by resin paint and black Japan. The results indicate that regardless of the coating used, the type of timber is still signicantly inuences the moisture absorption. 3.3. 18 months effect The weathering test samples were subjected to the natural environment for 18 months and its effects are summarized in Table 1 for individual coatings. 3.4. Coatings hardness testing The hardness testing on lakuri and pine samples with different coatings (wood primer,white enamel/2 2 layers and varnish/4
Table 1 Results of coating testing (18 months weathering). Coating, amount of layers Without coatings Results of observation

layers) were carried out. The maximum Brinelles hardness value for primer and enamel coating on timber decreases where as for varnish coatings, it seems to be increasing. This behavior shows that the coating of varnish provides harder surface than the coatings of primer and enamel. The standard deviation and the range of hardness after coating is less than before coating, which suggest that there is some extent of uniformity of hardness throughout the surface of samples after coating. Summarizing the results of this section, one can conclude that the moisture effect on the timber is determined rst of all by the timber itself (its density), and only after that by the coating used. Among the coatings, enamel paint with preliminary primer underneath provides the best protection for the timber blades. 4. Static testing of wooden wind blades At this stage of the work, the mechanical testing of wooden wind blade was carried out. The load cell, which allows both to load the blades up to the failure load and to record the load and displacement was designed and the load-displacement curves and failure forces were determined. Table 2 gives the parameters of the tested timber blades. Fig. 5a shows the static test rig designed and fabricated at KAPEG lab for testing timber blades. Measuring tapes are used for measuring displacement at two point, one at tip of blade and one at loading point on blade. Load cell and screw jack is supported by movable arm that allows exibility to load cell to measure the actual force applied on blade. In the beginning of experiment, scissor type screw jack was used and then after loading of 600 N it was replaced by 4ST screw jack. Fig. 6a shows the broken timber blades SBL2, SBL3 and SBP2. Here, SB represents sample blade, L, P for lakuri and pine respectively and number represents the sample number of blades. In the blade SBL2, the breaking process started at the distance of 585 mm from the tip of blade (where the chord length of blade is

Varnish (4 layers) Black Japan (4 layers)

Wood primer and white enamel (2 2 layers) Resin Paint, 2 layers

High density timber (sal and sisau) are more resistant to weathering whereas soft wood like pine and lakuri are more sensitive; Cracks can start, originating from the knots; Bending of weathering samples is quite common and samples like uttish have started to decay. Coatings seems to weather away slowly from the side facing to sun; Black mold seems to be grow on the surface away from the sun []; Samples with knots bend. Coatings seems to weather away readily from the side facing to sun; Blisters of paint grow rst and then wear off. Finally there are only small streaks of paint seen; Bending of samples was common. Black Japan can be concluded as a complete failure as a protective coating. A few spots of black mold seem to have grown on the surface facing away from the sun; No bending was observed. Most stable coating. Cracks in the coatings are evident; Bending of samples were common. This coating also seems to be failure for timber.

L. Mishnaevsky Jr. et al. / Renewable Energy 36 (2011) 2128e2138 Table 2 Summary of experiment data SBL2, SBL3 and SBP2. Specimen Date Total length of Blade(from tip to root) Point of Loading(1/3 distance from the tip of blade) Weight of Blade Moisture content of Blade (QP-2292 digitech moisture meter) Maximum load applied to blade Maximum Displacement at loading point Maximum displacement at tip Point of breaking occur (distance from the tip) Chord length at point of breaking start SBL2(Lakuri) 1St Dec 2009 920 mm 307 mm (from the tip of blade) 1.036 Kg 15% 914.8 N 220 mm 373 mm 585 mm 100 mm SBL3(Lakuri) 26th Dec 2009 926 mm 308 mm (from the tip of blade) 1.257 Kg 17% 727 N 173 mm 340 mm 595 mm 92 mm SBP2(Pine)

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28th Dec 2009 926 mm 308 mm (from the tip of blade) 1.1 kg 16% 415 N 100 mm 200 mm 570 mm 88 mm

100 mm) and continued up to the base. shows the development of crack on the timber blade. The pattern of crack in the blade is at an angle of 17.60 with respect to leading edge of blade Fig. 6b shows the graph of load(N) at loading point, and displacement(mm) at the tip of blade SBL2. Graph shows that the blade has been subject to the maximum load of 914 N with displacement of 220 mm at the loading point. The results of the experiments are given in the Table 2. From this work, we can draw the following conclusions. A relatively easy in production and use testing rig has been designed and used for the static testing of produced timber wind blades. Further, wind blades made from lakuri and pine ensure high enough strength and can be used in the wind turbines. 5. Installation and testing of the wind turbines with wooden blades 5.1. Pilot test: Rutland wind turbine with wooden blades at the Kusheswor secondary school, Dumja For the rst pilot testing of the efciency of timber blade turbine, a wind turbine was installed at the government Kusheswor Secondary School in Dumja, Nepal. The school has around 500 students and 30 staff. The school was selected for the test installation because as it is located at good windy site (average wind speed for the day measured was almost 6 m/s during the season of October), and there is no any

electricity grid connection around the vicinity of the school. The major source of electricity at the school before the installation of the wind turbine has been the solar generator, provided by AEPC, Nepal. The system installed at the site was the 50 W Rutland turbine, with wooden blades (length 32.5 cm, length of base 15 cm, weight 10,785 gm) carved at the local furniture factory. The blades (see Fig. 7a) were made from Lakuri. The generator PMG (8 poles with double rotor and single stator), tail hinged tail vane, and guyed tower were used (Fig. 8, Fig. 9). The transportation and installation of the turbine to the far school, located about 50 km from Dhulikhel on rough, stone road, presented a challenge, that is why some testing before installation was required. In order to test the system and to free all the bearing, the turbine was installed and tested on a moving vehicle (see Fig. 7b). During these tests, the angle of attack of the blades was corrected. All the blades and tail were tightly tted to the generator system with the help of pipe tape and dendrite so that they can withstand extreme load condition. The tower has been nally erected along with three guyed wires at 120 apart. The anemometer was also held high with the same level of the turbine in order to have some wind data. The data from the turbine (as no load voltage, battery current, battery voltage and frequency) was taken at various wind speeds. The turbine provides the light for the school building. Three LED lamps were installed at different parts of the School. Each LED lamp consists of the 9 LEDs which were powered with the 7Ah battery

Fig. 5. Static test rig for timber blade (a) and measuring the displacement at the tip of the blade.

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Fig. 6. Breaking pattern of timber blade SBL2, SBL3 and SBP2 (a) and Graph of Load Vs Displacement (at tip of blade) for the timber blade SBL2. The pattern of crack in the blade is at an angle of 17.60 with respect to leading edge of blade.

charged with the wind generator. The electricity and light produced by this wind turbine will be especially important in winter, making it possible for the students to study longer and have a light without opening the windows. 5.2. Field testing of wooden wind turbines at the Phakhel site For next stage of testing timber wind blades, Phakhel site in Makawanpur district (Village Development Committee Timbur

Danda VDC 1) was chosen. Based upon availability of wood materials in proposed place, four different types of woods were selected for construction of wind rotor blades. Those wood materials were: Agarakh/Sal Shorea roxburghii, Salla Pinus rusburgy, Karma Adina cordifolia and Chilaune Schima wallichi. 10 wooden blades (6 of Pine and 4 of Lakuri) have been prepared at the Shaan furniture, Budol. For the construction, supply and delivery of timber rotor blades and other accessories of small wind turbines, Ambika Metal Engineering Pvt. Ltd. was selected. Consequently, 2 wind turbines

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Fig. 7. Timber wind blades (a) and testing the turbine keeping it in the vehicle with the anemometer aside (b).

equipped with timber blades were installed in proposed Phakhel site. One of the wind turbines was installed in primary school where as other was installed in individual house. 5.3. Choice of wind turbine installation sites: social and practical aspects In order to estimate the wind resources in Nepal with view on both technical and practical aspects, we carried out some more

detailed studies. There are a few study conducted on the availability of wind energy resources in Nepal. The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DoHM), an organization under the Ministry of Environment, Government of Nepal, has 48 wind stations running over different parts of the country. Most of the instruments established by DoHM are at a height between 2 and 3 m and records hourly data which are not very signicant for the wind turbine installation. Thus, a survey of wind potential sites for the installation of wind data loggers was started in the framework of

Fig. 8. Rutland wind turbine at Kusheswor secondary school, Nepal.

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Fig. 9. Installation of the wind turbines with wooden blades in Phakhel, Nepal.

this project. A study team conducted a feasibility study of potential wind sites at 9 locations in 6 districts, namely, Kailali, Arghakhanchi, Nawalprasi, Tanahun, Dhading and Udyapur to nd out 4 potential wind areas to install wind data loggers for the proper study of the site. In most of the visited sites, wind resource is found abundant as per the wind history trend analysis of the particular location. The study reects there will be high potential of wind energy in those hills except some location. Almost all villages in these rural hills heavy depends on biomass energy, especially fuel wood, has given rise to environmental degradation and social burden. The activity included the identication of appropriate sites for the demonstration and testing of timber rotor blades, identication of local partners in proposed timber wind blades installation sites, study on locally available tree types, community and individual trees ownership issue at proposed installation sites. The major

indicators are cast and population distribution, community electricity within coming 5 years plan, existing energy use for lighting purpose, accessibility, locally available timber, wind information through focus group discussion, geographical location, VDC level working organizations, need prioritization, temperature, altitude and 1 h wind speed measurement. Based on these major identied indicators, the survey team has decided to go in following four wind potential sites for wind data logger installation, described in the Table 3, Table 4. 5.4. Field testing of wooden wind turbines for community projects in Hurhuredanda of Nawalparasi At the next stage, broad practical eld studies on the reliability and efciency of wind turbines with wooden blades were carried out. After installation of timber blade wind turbines in Phakhel, we

L. Mishnaevsky Jr. et al. / Renewable Energy 36 (2011) 2128e2138 Table 3 Practical and social aspects of different sites for the eld testing of wind turbines. Name of site, current status Hurredanda, Nawalparasi: Marginalized group (Magars, 100%). Existing energy use 70% dry cells, 15% Kerosene & 15 % solar. Seasonable earthen road access. Locally available timber type: Sal (90%). Max. wind ow months (8e10 m/s): 5 Months. Less wind ow months (3e5 m/s): 7 Months. Viable geographical location for wind plant installation. No grid electricity. Community demand: Electricity (1st) Aarubas, Dhading: Marginalized group (Dalit, 41%). Existing energy use 90% dry cells, 9 % solar & 1% biogas. Seasonable earthen road access. Locally available timber type: Sal (80%). Max. wind ow months (8e10 m/s): 3 Months. Less wind ow months (3e5 m/s): 5 Months. No wind ow months 1 m/s): 4 months. Viable geographical location for wind plant installation. No grid electricity. Community demand: Electricity (1st) Sinchyang,Tanahun: Marginalized group (Magars, 100%); Existing energy use 96% dry cells, % Kerosene & 2 % solar. 2 h walk from motorable road head; Locally available timber type: Sal (90%); Max. wind ow months (8e10 m/s): 4 months; Less wind ow months (3e5 m/s): 5 months; No wind ow months (1 m/s): 3months; Viable geographical location for wind plant installation; No grid electricity; Community demand: Electricity (2nd) Besaredanda, Nawalprasi: Marginalized group (Magars, 100%); Existing energy use 80% Kerosene & 20% dry cell; 6 h walk from road head; Locally available timber type: Sal (80%); Max. wind ow months (8e10 m/s): 4 months; Less wind ow months (3e5 m/s): 8 months; Viable geographical location for wind plant installation; No grid electricity; Community demand: Electricity (2nd) Comparative advantages

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High wind potential area. Earthen road accessible. Priority district. Low travel cost and time; Absence of AEPC special programme; No potential for the grid electrication within 5 years. Community are interested and committed in wind data logging process Wind potential area. Earthen road accessible. Low travel cost and time. Priority district. Absence of AEPC special Programme.Community demand: Electricity (1st) years period; Community are interested and committed in wind data logging process High wind potential area; Priority district; Low travel cost and time; Absence of AEPC special programme; No potential for the grid electrication within 5 years period; Community are interested and committed in wind data logging process High wind potential area; Priority district; Low travel cost and time; Absence of AEPC special programme; No potential for the grid electrication within 5 years; Community are interested and committed in wind data logging process

decided to test the wind turbines with timber blade in the places where the wind measurement activities was ongoing, and which seem to be most promising from the viewpoint of wind resources. Among 4 different places, described above, Hurhuredanda of Nawalparasi was selected (due to good wind resource conditions) to test more timber blades. Five sets of timber blade wind turbines were installed in Hurhuredanda, Nawalparasi. While in Phakhel, the timber blade turbines were tested in individual households and school, we sought to test them for use of community projects in Hurhuredanda. The wind turbines were used for powering the community charging station. Field visits suggested that the timber rotor blades along with other equipments are working satisfactorily. The positive results of using wooden wind turbines in schools, private households and on the community levels demonstrate their wide usability for different areas of applications. The low cost associated with using timber as wind rotor blade are expected to open a new horizon in promotion of small scale wind turbine technology in Nepal. However, as the use of timber as wind rotor blades were tested recently, the characteristic performance of timber as a rotor blade will remain a concern for the team in long run. 5.5. Manufacturing of timber wind blades as a new source of income for local enterpreneurs Mr. Durjam Thapa, local entrepreneur, manufacturer of wind turbine, expressed his interest in the design and production of timber wind turbines as a new branch of local business. According to the eld report of Practical Action Nepal [10], he began to
Table 4 Technical details of rotor and generator of the turbines installed at Phakhel site. Rotor Blade Number of blade 3 Generator Type Permanent Magnet, Axial air gap Rotor Tip Speed Ratio 5 Length of Blade 0.6 m Rotor Diameter 1.7 m Rated wind speed 450 rpm

rethink about his deep rooted thought that wind technology could not be directed to the poor people due to higher investment cost associated with it. The successful production and demonstration of timber blade wind turbines showed him that the cost of wind turbine can be decreased signicantly... So he feels that the use of timber blades will boost the use of wind energy to meet the power requirement of the rural people. 5.6. Advantage of timber wind turbines: self-reliance in maintenance In our practical experience when installing the turbines in Hurhuredanda, we observed an interesting case. When the timber blades were transported to the installation site, the blades which were assembled by manufacturer were disassembled by the community members to make them easy to transport. Unfortunately, the manufacturer forgot to makes any marks in the generators as well as blades due to which all the blades were mixed up. An effort was then made to make 5 sets with equal weight of 3 timber blades in 1 set using locally available weighing machine. After weighting them and installing them in place, one wind turbine started to produce very unusual vibrations due to difference in weight in three timber blades. Hence, the wind turbines were dismantled, and we asked a local carpenter whether he can repair the turbine. He responded positively, and did it perfectly with his local instruments. Then, the turbine started working smoothly without any vibration. This incident demonstrates one more advantage of using timber wind turbines in a remote location of a developing country, like Hurhuredanda. Were this turbine with berglass or metallic blades, it would not

Max Cp 0.36

Cut-in/cut-out Wind Speed 3.5 m/s; 14 m/s

Tower Height 12 m

Airofoil NACA 4412

Aerodynamic Control Hinged Side Vane

Stator Coils encapsulated in ber glass

Cooling Air Cooled

Max. Power Output 150 W

Magnets surrounded by resin and glued to steel discs

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be repaired so easily and by local carpenter, but would require the long transportation and expensive replacement of the blades. Similarly to the case described above, the local carpenter stated that he is now condent to produce timber blades for use of wind turbine independently, which in facts, is great add up to the sustainability of the project. 6. Conclusions In the framework of the program of testing and optimal choice of timber materials for low cost wind turbines, it was demonstrated that the whole procedure of the timber choice (building testing machines, their optimization, testing of different sorts of timber, comparison, testing coatings, blades, development recommendations, etc) can be realized successfully by a group in a developing country. This is an important pre-condition for the independent, self-reliant development of decentralized wind energy production in third world. On the technical level, recommendations toward the optimal choice of timber and coatings in Nepal have been developed. In particular, it was shown that pine and lakuri (which are readily available, relatively inexpensive and with relatively low growth time, average density, high stiffness and breaking strain) can be recommended as the best option for the wind blade material. The enamel paint coating with preliminary primer underneath does not show signs of degradation due to the weather variations and thus can be recommended as the most appropriate coating to protect the timbers in Nepal. It was further demonstrated that properly chosen timber represents a good, strong, reliable and cheap alternative to the traditional composites as the materials for wind blades. Additionally to its advantages as low cost and local availability, the timber as a material for wind blades opens the possibility for the business

area and new income for local craftsmen, thus, contributing to the life quality improvement in developing countries. Acknowledgment The authors gratefully acknowledge the nancial support of the Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs via the Danida project Development of wind energy technologies in Nepal on the basis of natural materials (Danida Ref. No. 104. DAN. 8-913). References
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