Small wind generator technology is not new.
SWGs are
Local manufacture of wind
turbines for battery charging
 Pouring resin onto
coils in stator, Lurin Peru.
20 Technology...is only half the story
Small wind generators to power batteries
in Peru and Sri Lanka
ITDG has developed a small wind generator (SWG)
intended primarily for battery charging in Peru and Sri
Lanka. The project aims to provide rural households and
communities who do not have access to mains electricity
with a form of electrification.
The generator design is based on the following:
● Output – 16kWh/month in a typical wind
regime
● Cut-in wind speed – 3m/s
● Rated wind speed is taken as 8 m/s
● Tip speed ratio – 5
● Output to battery at rated speed – 100 W.
● Rotor diameter – 1.7m
● To be able to manufacture in a small
metal workshop with basic tools and
equipment
● The machine to be fully assembled on
the ground and erected with the help of
a gin pole
The axial air-gap generator has eight
magnets on the rotor and six coil assemblies
encapsulated in a fibreglass iron-free stator.
This arrangement results in a 3-phase output
which is rectified before entering a charge
controller and the battery.
Hugh Piggott
available on the market through more than 50
manufacturers. Yet the technology has not made inroads
into developing country markets (with the singular
exception of Mongolia). Again the problems revolve
around the need to make the technology affordable,
accessible and locally appropriate.
ITDG’s work with wind generation in Peru and Sri Lanka,
backed by the UK government’s Department for
International Development, set out to tackle these
problems from the start.
Researching the market
This project has been developed to ensure that SWGs
have the greatest chance of being accepted long-term in
both countries. This has been done by:
● researching the needs of the market,
● designing the SWG with these needs in mind,
● ensuring that local manufacture can supply the
market,
● ensuring that local institutions exist to ensure a long
product life.
The research showed that the needs and characteristics
of the markets in the two countries naturally differ. Using
the same basic technology, distinct approaches to the
non-technical issues are required in the two countries to
ensure that the technology becomes locally appropriate.
Potential for small wind generators
Peru
In Peru, rural people who live in small villages have
more access to electricity options than people who are
dispersed throughout the countryside. Villagers with no
mains electricity use vehicle batteries to supply their
domestic lighting. The batteries must be recharged on a
weekly basis at a high cost in terms of both cash and
time spent travelling to and waiting at the recharging
centres.
Sri Lanka
Around 300 000 car batteries are said to be in domestic
use in Sri Lanka. Here they are mainly used to power
information services such as radio and television for a
Technology...is only half the story 21
 few hours per day, kerosene being the
main lighting fuel. Typical household
demand is 16kWh per month.
With this market information, two uses for
SWGs have been identified which could
make the technology sustainable.
Personal ownership allows all the output
from the generator to be used by one
household; where there is excess energy
this can be used to charge neighbours’
batteries for a small fee. Community
battery recharging makes available a
convenient local facility to reduce the cost
and time involved in existing
arrangements.
Local manufacture
The size of the market in Peru is large
enough to be viable and there is the local
capacity to manufacture small generators
completely. Some components need to be
imported, such as magnets, and off-the-
shelf bearings are used. Fibreglassing
Hugh Piggott
skills are common, and are used to make
the rotor. The wind regime can easily meet
the level of daily energy demand, and
allow for periods during the week to
charge additional batteries.
 Erecting test generator,
Lurin Peru.
A similar situation exists in Sri Lanka, but the design has
been adapted for a different wind regime and local
manufacturing capacity. Fibreglassing skills are less
common, so alternative blade designs are being tested.
Sri Lanka’s coastal areas have the most promising wind
regimes. These areas include non-electrified fishing
villages with a total of over 60 000 households (roughly
300 000 people). If only five per cent of households
purchase wind generators, that represents a market of
3 000 units, enough to establish a small manufacturing
industry.
22 Technology...is only half the story
The selling price of the SWG will make it difficult for the
very poor to afford, but it may be possible to establish a
small business of battery charging for two or three
homes. ITDG will also draw upon the lessons of its
success in establishing innovative financing for micro-
hydro in Peru.
Future developments in marketing the wind
turbine
In Sri Lanka, a wind project research team has been
formed which aims to promote the technology locally, as
well as making improvements to SWG design. In Peru,
there has already been interest in the prototype model
by customers and manufacturers.
Two manufacturing manuals are being produced, one
covering generator manufacture, the other covering the
rotor and mechanical component manufacture. These
will be disseminated to local manufacturers in both
countries. A more general booklet for development
organisations and other interested parties is also being
produced which will be disseminated widely.
Conclusion
Renewable energy technologies have come a long way.
They need to go further. Yet the market for renewables
in developing countries, where there is most need,
cannot be opened by purely technological approaches.
Bridges are required to bring information, knowledge and
skills to developing country communities; to research
and develop local markets; and to create the three key
conditions of accessibility, affordability and
appropriateness.
If “Technology is only half the story”, then the full
story of renewables for development is still being written.
Those who would like to join us in this endeavour may
find the resources listed on the following pages useful.
Technology...is only half the story 23