New Wind Turbine Motor Increases Efficiency of Wind Turbines
A startup company in Vancouver Canada has developed a new type of motor that could increase a wind turbines efficiency by as much as 50%.
No, it doesn't come from having cool new blades or anything, it's actually just a more efficient motor.
What this company has done is re-wire the coils in the motor. When the motor is spinning at lower speeds they 'turn off' some of the coils. This means that the generator produces less electricity, but because there is less resistance in the motor it captures the energy more effectively. This of this motor like a car engine with a transmission. At lower speeds it has a lower gear ratio to improve the engine efficiency.
Again, this motor probably won't be available to the general public for awhile, but when it does you could increase the efficiency of your wind turbine by quite a bit simply by changing the motor.
The company's name is ExRo Technologies which you can find by clicking the link.