Hybrid wind/electric powered vehicle is built and demonstrated. The vehicle uses bank of batteries to drive it. The batteries drive 3-phase brushless DC motor which moves the vehicle. The motor can rotate up to 2900 revolution per minute (RPM) at 3HP. A wind turbine, which is mounted at 1.5m on the vehicle, uses wind energy to generate electricity and charges the battery bank. A smart charging subsystem is proposed to enable efficient charging of the batteries. The minimum required wind speed to enable battery charging is found to be around 200 RPM.
Design and Development of a Wind Turbine Simulator Using a Separately Excited DC Motor