A WIND TURBINE BATTERY CHARGER FOR AFRICA

The principal objective of the project was to examine the proposition that a wind turbine rated at about 500 watts could be manufactured in Zimbabwe and that it could operate cost-effectively in the low-windspe ed conditions characteristic of that country. The results from the tes t programme between 12 July and 1 November 1996 show that the turbine produced 392 kWh at an average of 106 kWh per month, 134W mean. This o utput is the equivalent of nineteen 50-watt PV panels at that site. Th e equivalent cost was 20% of the PV alternative with a Foreign currenc y requirement of less than 5%. The project has been a practical demons tration of the potential for linking specialist external design expert ise with indigenous industrial capacity. The outcome is a locally-manu factured product for both the domestic and export markets, capable of competing in one of the fastest growing sectors of the renewable energ y industry. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights res erved.