There's nothing wrong with running low RPMs in high winds. Even though the generator is turning the same speed as it would in lower winds (and thus producing the same voltage) the higher torque generated will allow the generator to push more current.
Between the upper and lower wind speed limits (which are aerodynamic and mechanical limitations, not electrical ones), power output scales with wind speed in a pretty linear fashion.
I see the value of the new generator being primarily in small-scale fixed pitch windmills.
From what I've seen, serious wind turbines use variable pitch blades to maintain a relatively constant RPM over a range of wind speeds. This has the added benefit for large (100m + rotor diameter) wind turbines that they can more effectively balance the load on the turbines since wind speeds at the top of the arc can significantly outpace the wind speed at the bottom of the arc.
This new generator may be an improvement for simple small scale generators, but for the big ones it's a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.
It's one thing if a city or HOA wants to limit the kind of chemicals and experiments people can play with in their jurisdiction, but blanket federal laws about it are a different story because they affect the guy living 50 miles from a paved road just a much as someone living in a 200 foot^2 apartment in Manhattan.
Is this hypothetical idiot making nitroglycerin in a packed elevator? Do you have any real idea how much high explosive it takes to cause the kind of mayhem you're envisioning?
You want to see something that will really freak you out? Go read up on Tannerite. This stuff is loads of fun, 50 state legal, and available over the internet. What you'll find even more amazing is that as far as I know, not a single person has died from it's use.
Unfortunately theory runs into problems when you start trying to actually source things like ideal gasses, perfect insulators, and materials with zero thermal mass.
No, it means that a consequence of their efforts to reduce immoral solicitations on their service is some money being collected, none of which becomes 'earnings' because it's all donated to non-profits.
And then if you don't need to add tat much capability, the Lantronix X-port modules are nice. Very handy when you want to add web functionality to something with a simple serial interface or simple i/o.
I think you're making it more complicated than it needs to be.
If the system gets a signal that power is going away very, very soon, drops everything else, and just devotes its last seconds to getting things in order - it should be doable in a few seconds and be vastly preferable to the alternative of just having power go away without warning.
Obviously a UPS is an even better option, but it's not every place that could use a UPS is ever going to get one and it would be good if we could work on the problem from the other end too. Most PCs and casual servers are way more vulnerable to momentary power outages than they ought to be. 10-20 Farads worth of 5V caps and some thoughtful programming would make things a lot less delicate.
Computer power supplies should be built with enough spare capacitance to run things long enough for the computer to save critical data, and operating systems and critical apps should be able to handle an emergency shutdown and save critical data in very short order.
That just means their development & testing cycle runs about 15 years. That doesn't seem terribly unreasonable given that reliability is paramount for a billion dollar piece of equipment.
I work on brand new industrial controls that are still using Z80 processors.
The release of DNF has been foretold as the final harbinger of the end times. When the Final Duke goes gold, the seventh seal shall be broken and all the gamers shall cry out and lament that their RAM is insufficient and their video cards unworthy.
after the equipment is taken off the books, it's sold to the brother-in-law of some administrator for $0.50/ton. He then cleans up the PCs and sells them to government schools (via a contract he has with the superintendent, who happens to be his nephew) for 150% of what their new value was.
Your claim is one of those cases. You seriously claim that one billion(!) people's wishes don't matter as long as one(!) person wants it differently. In my opinion, that's correct. A billion people have no more ethical right to deprive someone of their rights* than one or two people do.
*Except of course in defense of their own rights, but again IMO, there is no such right being defended through censorship. The state doesn't have the right to be free from criticism.
You have no right to live without being put in fear. If I have a phobia of slashdot UID numbers that start with six, should I be able to demand you stop posting? Your fear is an internal function of your mind that nobody but you can control. Fears are arbitrary and subjective - a very poor basis for a right.
You have a right to live without being physically threatened, but that isn't the same thing.
Sure some countries will allow you to show nudity and even sex on TV, but what about snuff films or child pornography? This is analogous to the old "shouting fire in a crowded theater" fallacy. Child pornography and snuff films should not be censored, but the right of children to not be sexually exploited or the right of people not to be murdered should be protected.
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There's nothing wrong with running low RPMs in high winds. Even though the generator is turning the same speed as it would in lower winds (and thus producing the same voltage) the higher torque generated will allow the generator to push more current.
Look at the power curve chart here:
http://www.clipperwind.com/techspecs.html
Between the upper and lower wind speed limits (which are aerodynamic and mechanical limitations, not electrical ones), power output scales with wind speed in a pretty linear fashion.
I see the value of the new generator being primarily in small-scale fixed pitch windmills.
From what I've seen, serious wind turbines use variable pitch blades to maintain a relatively constant RPM over a range of wind speeds. This has the added benefit for large (100m + rotor diameter) wind turbines that they can more effectively balance the load on the turbines since wind speeds at the top of the arc can significantly outpace the wind speed at the bottom of the arc.
This new generator may be an improvement for simple small scale generators, but for the big ones it's a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.
Do you have any idea how often guns are used to save people's lives?
How does approximately two million defensive gun uses per year grab you?
So you can take your "you don't need a gun to live" BS and tell it to all the people who would have died without one.
It's one thing if a city or HOA wants to limit the kind of chemicals and experiments people can play with in their jurisdiction, but blanket federal laws about it are a different story because they affect the guy living 50 miles from a paved road just a much as someone living in a 200 foot^2 apartment in Manhattan.
Is this hypothetical idiot making nitroglycerin in a packed elevator? Do you have any real idea how much high explosive it takes to cause the kind of mayhem you're envisioning?
You want to see something that will really freak you out?
Go read up on Tannerite. This stuff is loads of fun, 50 state legal, and available over the internet. What you'll find even more amazing is that as far as I know, not a single person has died from it's use.
Unfortunately theory runs into problems when you start trying to actually source things like ideal gasses, perfect insulators, and materials with zero thermal mass.
No, it means that a consequence of their efforts to reduce immoral solicitations on their service is some money being collected, none of which becomes 'earnings' because it's all donated to non-profits.
Apparently you've never heard of the MySpace Angles.
596213 is considered a low number now?
Jeeze I feel old.
And then if you don't need to add tat much capability, the Lantronix X-port modules are nice. Very handy when you want to add web functionality to something with a simple serial interface or simple i/o.
Uhhh...no.
According to my figuring (correct me if it's wrong) 50ms * 200 watts = 10 Joules = .8 Farads @ 5V.
Even 5 farad 5V supercaps aren't all that big or expensive any more.
I think you're making it more complicated than it needs to be.
If the system gets a signal that power is going away very, very soon, drops everything else, and just devotes its last seconds to getting things in order - it should be doable in a few seconds and be vastly preferable to the alternative of just having power go away without warning.
Obviously a UPS is an even better option, but it's not every place that could use a UPS is ever going to get one and it would be good if we could work on the problem from the other end too. Most PCs and casual servers are way more vulnerable to momentary power outages than they ought to be. 10-20 Farads worth of 5V caps and some thoughtful programming would make things a lot less delicate.
I'm not saying that UPS are completely unnecessary, I'm saying that most computers are excessively vulnerable.
Who the hell is talking about 5 minutes!? I'm saying you should be able to get a clean shutdown in 5 seconds if you prioritize it correctly.
is a weak spot in the design of most computers.
Computer power supplies should be built with enough spare capacitance to run things long enough for the computer to save critical data, and operating systems and critical apps should be able to handle an emergency shutdown and save critical data in very short order.
This is old hat in embedded systems.
That just means their development & testing cycle runs about 15 years. That doesn't seem terribly unreasonable given that reliability is paramount for a billion dollar piece of equipment.
I work on brand new industrial controls that are still using Z80 processors.
that it will be fast enough to run Duke Nukem Forever when it gets released.
The end times are near.
The release of DNF has been foretold as the final harbinger of the end times. When the Final Duke goes gold, the seventh seal shall be broken and all the gamers shall cry out and lament that their RAM is insufficient and their video cards unworthy.
after the equipment is taken off the books, it's sold to the brother-in-law of some administrator for $0.50/ton. He then cleans up the PCs and sells them to government schools (via a contract he has with the superintendent, who happens to be his nephew) for 150% of what their new value was.
*Except of course in defense of their own rights, but again IMO, there is no such right being defended through censorship. The state doesn't have the right to be free from criticism.
You have no right to live without being put in fear. If I have a phobia of slashdot UID numbers that start with six, should I be able to demand you stop posting? Your fear is an internal function of your mind that nobody but you can control. Fears are arbitrary and subjective - a very poor basis for a right.
You have a right to live without being physically threatened, but that isn't the same thing.
it's not enough to justify the infringement of a human right.
There is no majority large enough that stripping even one person of their rights against their will is justified.
In truth I don't support capital punishment except at the time and place of the crime, and at the hands of the intended victim.
I agree that letting the state kill people has all kinds of problems.