It doesn’t get any simpler than this. This new concept in generating your own renewable energy performs much like any large electrical appliance such as a clothes dryer or air conditioner, but instead of taking electrical power FROM an outlet, you put electricity INTO the outlet! If at any time your wind and solar system is producing more energy than you are using, your electric meter will run backwards reducing your electric bill. If your electrical loads are larger than the wind generator and solar production, your meter will slow down reflecting your reduced need to buy electricity at retail from the utility. No batteries are used or required! You get up to 12 kilowatts of hybrid renewable electricity, 10 kilowatts from the new Ventera VT10 wind turbine and 2 kilowatts from solar photovoltaics 100% of which goes directly to reduce your electric bill by means of our exclusive dual input VI12 synchronous inverter.
Designed to Pay for Itself Quickly
Few things in this life are free, but you might agree our new era Ventera V12 wind and solar system comes pretty close. Designed for at least a 30 year life and minimum maintenance, the Ventera wind turbine on an 80 foot tower can produce $2000 or more worth of electricity per year, electricity you would otherwise have to buy, if your wind regime is 12.5mph-5.5m/s (class III) or better and you pay 8 cents or more for electricity. In not much more than 10 years you’ll have earned back your original investment and in 30 years you could pocket 3 times or more the original investment! If you assume electric rates will go up in the coming years, and many predict they’ll go up faster than the rate of inflation, you’ll earn back your investment even faster. If you can depreciate the wind turbine cost as a farm or business expense, your payback will be even sooner. If your average wind speed is greater than 12.5 mph-5.5m/s, which is true for many sites in the US Midwest, your payback can be sooner yet. And, some states offer tax credits for small wind systems reducing the payback time even further. Careful design of every component and advanced tooling and manufacturing processes bring the initial cost of the Ventera turbine, synchronous inverter and self-supporting tower to historic lows. The frame is an aluminum casting (made from environmentally friendly recycled aluminum), not an expensive weldment. The downwind orientation eliminates the need for a costly and cumbersome tail. The blades are injection molded for low cost and absolute uniformity. The brushless, one-moving-part, large diameter alternator minimizes the use of copper, steel and rare earth magnet material. Our unique synchronous inverter utilizes a common power handling stage with separate wind and solar peak power tracking input stages to bring you hybrid grid connection at an unheard of low price.
How the Ventera VT10 Wind Generator Works
The new Ventera 10 kilowatt turbine is specifically designed to be the most efficient wind turbine available to convert wind energy into electricity. Three advanced, proprietary airfoil-shaped blades ”fly“ in the wind, much like a modern airplane wing, to convert the kinetic energy of moving air mass into rotating mechanical force. The blades of this propeller have a specific shape which has been developed from over 30 years experience in wind turbine design to provide the highest output at the lowest noise level at all wind speeds for a propeller of this diameter.
Our patented (Number 7,186,083), exclusive governor automatically pitches the outer portion of each blade in response to a combination of wind force and propeller rpm. This governor effectively limits propeller rpm to avoid damage to the propeller, generator, tower and electronics. This centrifugal-force activated blade pitching governor results in maximum power output in winds above governing speed as opposed to more primitive methods such as furling or stalling that result in steep reductions in power output in high winds. Our advanced governor will limit propeller rpm at much lower wind speed in the event of electrical load loss insuring always quiet operation.
The rotating mechanical force of the propeller directly drives an ultra high efficiency permanent magnet generator mounted to an aluminum mainframe with no transmission to rob power, require lubrication or need maintenance. On the tower end of the mainframe is the vertical yaw shaft housing which also includes a redundant connection brush and slip ring assembly allowing the turbine to follow the changing wind direction without twisting the power output cable. Another function of the aerodynamic mainframe casting is to orient the wind turbine blades to the wind direction. In this modern, tailless, downwind design the wind first passes the tower and then flows over the propeller blades.
Electricity is generated by the Ventera generator in a high voltage, three phase form that minimizes the wire size and cost necessary to carry the electricity from the turbine to the inverter and your electric meter. This permits you to economically place the turbine and tower at a location on your property up to several thousand feet or 1000 meters from your electric meter which allows you to choose the tower site on your property with maximum exposure to the wind.
The advanced generator features oversize rare earth super strength magnets rotated by the propeller inside an extra large, stationary copper winding assembly. By over sizing these components and choosing the highest grade steel for the winding laminations, Ventera achieves a superior generator efficiency averaging over 90% resulting in more kilowatt hours of electrical energy per month for this size propeller. There are no electronic components on top of the tower to require inspection or repair or to be prone to damage from lightning or static electricity.
Ventera VI12 Synchronous Inverter
From the wind generator and tower and the solar panels the electricity flows to the Ventera VI12 Synchronous Inverter normally located near your circuit breaker box and electric meter. The inverter has two separate inputs, one for wind and one for solar. Each input has its own ”peak power tracking“ algorithm controlled by the inverter microprocessor. The wind input is programmed to control the propeller rpm to its optimum value for every wind speed, thus maximizing the turbine efficiency of converting wind energy to electricity. This Ventera exclusive feature alone increases monthly kilowatt hour production by up to 15% over other wind turbine-synchronous inverter combinations.
The solar input has a separate peak power tracker that maximizes the available solar electricity even early in the morning or late in the evening or on cloudy days. The Ventera inverter has been designed to have the highest efficiency in the industry assuring you of maximum energy available to reduce your electric bill. This efficiency at full 12kw output is 94% or better. Another unique feature of our inverter is that electrical consumption has been minimized when the inverter is idle or when no solar or wind input is available, for example at night when the wind is calm.
A key function of the inverter is to automatically disconnect from the utility in the event of utility failure to prevent possible back feeding of the utility line and any hazard to workers on the utility line. The inverter will detect an out-of-frequency or out-of-voltage line condition and disconnect immediately meeting requirements of the national electric code. The UL/CSA approval sticker on the inverter assures your electrician and utility of compliance with this important requirement.
You will appreciate the full monitoring features we’ve included with our new inverter. The front panel readout provide continuous readout of power in kilowatts, wind and solar energy in kwh since last reset and total kwh since installation plus convenient diagnostic information. For solar PV only systems we also offer a 12kw solar PV version of the new synchronous inverter.
Ventera VSST Self Supporting, Fold Over Tower
No one wants unsightly guy wires in the yard to interrupt mowing, grazing, volleyball or gardening, and Ventera Energy has designed a rugged, good looking three-legged, self-supporting tower to complement the Ventera V12 wind turbine with a beauty and grace you’ll be proud to have on your homestead. A specially designed die-formed leg gives the tower a graceful curved taper reminiscent of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It will remind you of the common windmill tower seen pumping water around the world, but you and your neighbors will also immediately recognize the exclusive, Ventera style. Towers come painted in weather-resisting black enamel to enhance the beauty of the silver and black colors of the Ventera turbine.
The tower is offered in heights of 35, 50, 60, 70 and 80 feet and comes complete with assembly hardware, tower top to bottom wiring harness, junction box and mounting hardware for the Ventera VT10 wind turbine. The tower is shipped in bundles by truck to your door and is designed for easy owner assembly following the included instructions. Each leg, vertical brace and horizontal brace is clearly labeled according to its position in the assembled tower.
The tower is hinged at the base and the hinged base plates that go over your anchor bolts are included. Each base plate is provided with a leveling arrangement to assure the tower is perfectly plumb. Users with a farm tractor can design a gin pole system for raising and lowering the tower and turbine for ground level service. Others will use a crane service to raise and lower the tower.
About Ventera Energy Corporation
Three principals, each with over 30 years experience designing and manufacturing small wind turbines, solar hot water systems, solar PV systems and high performance glazing systems, teamed together to form Ventera (the new era of wind) Energy Corporation January 1st, 2004 with the goal of designing, proving and manufacturing an all-new wind and solar hybrid renewable energy system that would be the first ever cost effective small wind system for the moderate wind regimes where most people live. Our experience includes design and manufacture of the WhirlWind line of 1000 to 4000 watt wind generators and the Whisper line of 500 to 4500 watt turbines sold to and now manufactured by Southwest Windpower. After 3 years of design, prototyping and field testing, Ventera is proud to present to the world our all-new 10 kilowatt VT10 Wind Turbine, our exclusive taper leg self-supporting tower and the first ever dual wind and solar input, dual peak power tracking 12 kilowatt VI12 Synchronous Inverter. In wind regimes having 12.5 mph-5.5m/s or better average wind speeds at 30 feet (10 meters elevation), we have achieved our goal of a 10-year payback for many if not most potential users.
