Perhaps one of the best unknown secrets in the off grid world is the access to professional grade support, technical design and integration of renewable energy wind solar and hydro systems designed by Hurricane Wind Power. Over the years Hurricane has partnered with a number of reputable installers throughout the country to bring the countless people the off grid freedom and power infrastructure needed to bring those individuals' quality of life they are accustomed to before they made the journey to simplifying there live with tiny house living.

During this period of time we have become aware of the demands that are necessary and specialize in helping people make that seamless transition to off grid living with solar energy kits they have bought on the internet budgeted just because they are labeled Tiny House or off grid. The reality is if you plan to live with solar energy you’re going to need to at least consult with a professional or family and friends who is experienced in estimating electrical loads and whom are familiar with the output characteristics of wind and solar systems. At Hurricane Wind Power Anthony Jones, technical design specialist, has partnered with a number of people to learn about the needs of the Tiny House off grid community. In teaming with our partners, Hurricane has delivered many successful designs that have improved, or in some circumstance we should just say, made our consumers' transition to off grid living possible.

I have learned a great deal from the folks over at Off Grid Contracting and would like to publicly thank one of the best tiny home builder in the country Randy Jones at Incredible Tiny Homes in Newport Tennessee for some of the unique insights into the lifestyle needs and integration of various renewable solutions into these homes. Additionally we are always consistently wowed by their creativity and innovation in their home builds.  Although these installs are not on the same scale as some of the projects we have had the fortune to work with. Anthony Jones owner of Hurricane Wind Power went on to say, "They are some of the most satisfying installations we get to work with. As a designer I have been able to observe how families have been able to “cut the cord” of debt and worry with mortgages and live more freely and be able to essentially change their lifestyle. I see these homes being used in situations where people need a place to stay while working a job in a place for an extended period of time or on a more permanent basis to allow the home owner to change their focus and lifestyle to be able to spend their money on thing like travel and things that really matter to them. As a matter of being an integral part of being able to transition people in the way they are able to live we are able to change the quality of life for a lot of people."

We have a number of packages and quotes are free; however, as written previously, I do not recommend anyone purchase a package without consulting with someone who understands how these systems work prior to buying anything. In some cases the customers level of knowledge allows them to be able to save money in the installation. With some guidance our consumer are able to buy pre wired boards and/or solar power system kits which save them on the installation, which in some areas comprises up to two thirds of the solar electrical installation bill. We customize kits for individual application. Anthony Jones along with Lucas Cameron of Off Grid Contracting are providing consulting services and installation services. However, if you are in area where it does not make sense to bring out an installer, we are offering consulting services and wiring schematics to customers where available. In this manner, consumers who feel comfortable after consultation, are able to do much of their own work saving a lot of money. If you’re not an electrician or have familiarity with the equipment, it is recommended to contract someone out to do the final hookups on the AC side.

If taking the steps needed to get a proper wind and solar or even hydroelectric renewable energy system quoted under the direction of professionals who have years of experience with these types of installs, contact us today and we can make your dream become reality. 

At the end of the day, we end up fixing or replacing a lot of systems which people bought from other vendors or off e-commerce sites which offer no after the sale service.  This in essence leaves the customer shooting in the dark. At Hurricane Wind Power we have the ability to put systems together which are reliable and utilize professional grade tier one components, many of which that are made in the USA. We follow code and electrical regulations, which allow you as our customer, to put your faith in our years of expertise in this niche.

If you need a Tiny Home, check out Randy Jones at Incredible Tiny Homes, one of the best builders in the business, or check out Lucas Cameron of Off Grid Contracting for some of the most phenomenal work and attention to detail I have seen in the business.

Hurricane Wind Power, Off Grid Contracting and Incredible Tiny Homes look forward to serving you in your journey off the grid!

We have been getting calls for local residential and commercial solar installation services. The secret is appearantly out that clearly one of the best solar installer in Virginia and that manner the country is Hurricane Wind Power. Hurricane wind power has been awarded best off grid parts supplier in the nation buy numerous publications since 2016 and has been in business for over a decade. Owner Anthony Jones the technical sales and support designer has a resume of successful design and implementation of wind solar and hydro renewable energy systems which simply cannot be ignored. If you are seeking consultation, installation or want to know if solar is right for you in a world where many of our consumers report not even being able to get a call back you will find hurricane wind power both responsive honest and realistic in education and cost analysis for on off grid residential and commercial application.  Come experience how the best off grid energy supplier is quickly becoming the best on grid solar energy installer and supplier in Virginia and beyond. Regardless of the scope of your project big or small contact is today!

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Hi Anthony Jones from Hurricane wind power here and today I wanted to take a few moments and write up a short buying guide for permanent magnet alternators and generators. While we have done a lot of youtube videos on this subject which we will embed at the end of this discussion we recognize that as portion of our audience would rather read an article and do not like video. Therefore I wanted to take a few moments here to clear up some confusion and direct our customers to the best model for their application. We will not be getting into alternator math and deep technical stuff but find it necessary to write a basic guide on how things work for the 1st time customer who has never has experience with a permanent magnet alternator. 

The first thing we would like to talk about is the voltage ratings on the turbines. Most of the pma's and or pmg's depending on which terminology you prefer are rated at a voltage which is realistic to reach a cut in point at an RPM form 150-225 RPM depending on the alternator. Unlike an basic car alternator which is uses a field coils which is energized by electricity and is turned on and off in a charging system to regulate the voltage a permanent magnet operated alternator does not have the ability to turn on and off. This has it's advantages and disadvantages depending on the application. While the permanent magnet alternator has the ability to produce energy from a dead state i.e. no energy to energize a field coil so long as there is a source to provide input into the shaft it will produce power. On the downside of that it cannot be turned off which means that it need a controller such as a diversion load to send the power to another source once the battery or source no longer needs power. This is typically how it is done in wind turbine applications because many of these machines with enough surface area to generate any real amount of power rely on the turbine to remain under a load to keep the turbine from being damaged by excessive rotation speed. The downside of this is that the alternator remains under a load constantly so long as wind or water in a hydro application flows. When we get into the longevity of the life of a winding the constant use can produce more heat than in a field wound application wjere the alternator goes through a charging cycle then turns itself off after the battery is full.  In applications where the pma is not being used in a wind application a voltage sensing device can be used and once the full charge state of the battery has been reached a normally closed relay can be set to open. This is a solution we employee in applications where the load is not needed to keep the RPM from exceeding excessive conditions to damage wind turbine and or alternators. 

As we began discussing in the previous paragraph it is important to note that the voltage is not regulated within the alternator. All of our alternators and for that matter most on the market period are 3 phase wild AC output with all three legs being hot. This is rectified externally in Hurricane units to keep the heat build up in a rectifier from decreasing alternator efficiency. The load on the charging side of the generator is what holds the voltage down. It is important to understand that just because you have a 48 volt application you do not necessarily want to buy a 48 volt alternator for example. All of the alternators have different power output characteristics which are determined mainly by the windings of the particular unit. Therefore in the example where a consumer buys a permanent magnet alternator for an application where it is driven by a motor or other high rpm drive system using a 48 volt alternator is a disadvantage. In this instance using possible a 12 or 24 volt winding which is capable of driving 48 volts at the higher RPM also uses a thicker winding which allows more current to flow. In this example using the formula VOLTS time AMP's = Watts it is easy to understand the power potential increase from changing a winding capable or outputting 40 amps versus 10 in a 48 volt application. In this example 48 x 10 would procude about 480 watts where as the latter would allow the production of closer to 2000. More importantly in this example with the use of a higher horsepower  input application the thicker winding provides more current thicker wire to carry the current and less heat build up. 

So what about cogging? Is it important? 

We are the original low or no cogging alternator and we did this my properly machining our alternators with the proper air gap and mgnetic saturation characterized by a signature old school pole claws which provide a superior waveform and efficiency producing less heat and startup easier. It is important to note however that regardless of how easy an alternator is to start up when it reaches the cut in point and or is put under a load it becomes harder to turn. This is where having enough torque in your project to drive the alternator to generate power comes into play. This is a simple concept yet most failed DIY projects overlook this elementary concept. I am going to post the link to some of our videos but here it is in a nutshell

1 determine the cutin RPM of your project.....how fast with the RPM of the shaft we going when we expect the unit to start producing power. 

2. Determine the normal operating range or VOC of the application when possible being careful to take saftey into consideration as unregulated alternators can product high amounts of voltage.

3. Determine how much torque your wind turbine water wheel and or other application can produce. 

4. When you have thought about these issue and have done your best and cannot determine the right alternator for your project do not just buy and hope! We talk to people all of the time who feel ashamed to reach out for help. That is what we are here for and at the end of the day there was a time when we were also beginners. Some of this stuff is a little but complicated and we love to talk to people and provide the best customer service to make our brand the preferred brand on do it yourself worldwide. 

Hurricane is the home of the Cat IV V, White Lightning and Air Boss line of permanent magnet alternators. While we refer to these as their proper names because the produce alternating current we as a matter of semantics do not care if your want to call the permanent magnet generators or permanent magnet motors. We still understand what you are talking about

At Hurricane Wind Power we routinely run into customers looking for a solution to directly grid tie wind turbines without the use of batteries.  To hook and electricity producing wind turbine to your electrical grid to backfeed your grid and reduce power bills, many electrical companies require the inverter to be UL 1741 approved. This may be required by electrical inspectors and/or may be an issue with your home insurance. Regardless, on a daily basis we run into consumer who explain that they wish to purchase these types of systems and have received permission to use non UL 1741 approved inverters. 

Keeping your homeowner's insurance in mind, electrical codes and/or all state, federal and local laws in mind, these issue must be fully consider prior to purchasing a small wind turbine grid tied system. Historically companies such as SMA made the "Windy Boy" and Aurora made direct grid ties which were hardwired into your electrical panel and met these UL and electrical code criteria. Currently we are unaware of any direct grid tie wind systems that meet the UL 1741 standard. 

Regardless, we have many consumers who give us at Hurricane the feedback that their electrical company does not care so long as the inverter has anti islanding protection and they receive permission to proceed with an instillation. Many customers have advised as long as the inverter has "anti islanding" protection, which simply means that when the grid is down the inverter does not back-feed into the power grid which could potentially injure a lineman. Secondarily, backfeeding into the grid during a power outage could create a "brown out" situation in your power grid where there is some power but not enough to meet a surge damaging appliances. So what are your options? 

Hurricane is now offering a direct plug and play grid tie wind turbine system with an adjustable MPPT window that will allow the 48 volt XP and Vector Wind Turbine  to be directly grid tied to the electrical grid. These kits plug into a standard electrical socket which truly make this a plug and play grid tied wind turbine solution. It is important to not as previously stated these inverter do not have the UL 1741 standard and it is completely up to the home owner to determine if the user kit is acceptable to their local utility, meets electrical code in their locality and or is acceptable to their insurance company. These kits come with a grid tie which has a built in overload protection and a diversion load in the event the grid is down to consume  the energy which is being made in a resistor thus not delivering power to the home and or electrical line. 

If you are not lucky enough to get approval to use one of these devices then your options are using and Outback VFX 3524  or Outback VFX 3648 or Radian 8048 which is grid tied with battery backup system. The Schneider Electric Conext XW 6848 is a battery based system and are hard wired and meet the UL 1741 certification. Building this type of infrastructure is the best bet in many regards as such a grid tie inverter has the capacity to add extra wind turbine and or solar to your grid tied system. In the event of a home to meet the extensive power demands these type of products in many ways are better long term solutions. Having battery back up, these type of inverters have the ability to run your appliances and AC electrical system during a power outage through a critical loads panel. The end result is to keep you out of the dark. Having batteries in the system also acts as a buffer so your AC side loads have a reserve to pull from and are able to be powered without pulling from the grid so long as you have sufficient power saved up in your batteries. The obvious downside is the cost of batteries and the more expensive inverters. 

Hurricane's recommendation for those looking for a serious system to meet their long term power usage on their home, is to stay with the UL listed inverter that are heavier and have much greater capabilities in many regards. We do however recognize those who are hobbits and wish to experiment with wind power. It is in this capacity which we have decided to offer the plug and play kits. Remember it is up to you to check all state, local and federal laws codes, electrical company policies and insurance regulation prior to commissioning an non UL certified system. This being said, we have tested the system we are selling coming upon a year and have had great so far. Keeping cost in mind we believe it is a needed system to get started with for those who do not have the commitment to go all in for the more costly systems described prior.

2019 Power Inverter Buying Guide

Understanding and buying a power inverter of the right size type voltage and purpose should be the first stop in designing a wind or solar system. Solar Deep cycle battery storage is one of the biggest hurdles to implementation of renewable energy solutions world wide. currently when the wind stops blowing or the sun stops shining without battery storage that is the end of the party. No continual source of power. Unlike nuclear power, coal and or to some extent even hydroelectric there is minimal or no control over when the wind blows or the sun shines. 

In some circles the idea of grid tied car batteries from electric cars being utilized in a quasi dual purposed functionality has been proposed in theory by a number of people. That brings us to the current juncture of where we are at in renewable wind and solar energy systems. We have grid ties systems where as the use of micro inverters and or grid ties such as the SMA, or solar edge or Fronius are used. The  positive of these type systems is obviously the elimination of the cost of batteries. In some instance where the payback from the electric company is paid out at an equal footing as is the energy per kilowatt hours produced purely from a financial perspective sometime when going solar these type of systems make sense. The downside or less appealing aspect being that when the wind is not blowing or the sun is shining there is no power available to the home or commercial property thought your solar or wind system. Without energy storage it is impossible to run independent of the grid without the use of a backup generator. 

This brings us to the second type of system which is the grid tie interactive system which for me at least presents the best of both worlds. With these type of systems Grid Tie inverts that utilize battery back up are commonly known as grid tie interactive inverter such as outback Radian 8048 or Schneider Electric 6848 which are also split phase providing both 120/240 volt to the power grid and powers home loads . Through utilizing backup batteries these inverters can use battery power in time periods between gusts of wind or stored energy from sunshine when the sun is behind a cloud to use stored energy to power your home. The battery power also is used to power surge loads in the home to power loads that are heavier account for more wattage than the panels can provide at given moment in time.

The last major type of system we use in the stand alone inverter charger unit. The magnum 4448 4024 and some of the previous previous mentioned grid tie interactive which can be programed for off grid use. Unlike the direct grid tie these systems have to have backup batteries. In the absence of backup batteries they will not work. These systems are best when coupled with a backup generator so that in the event that the batteries are discharged below the recommended discharge level then the generator can be kicked on and the charger function can go through a cycle to bring the batteries back up to the recommended charge level. This can frequently be adjusted and should account for the recommended depth of charge and charge rate for the battery bank  the system is designed for.  Off grid systems are frequently incorporated with inverter charger and a critical loads panel in homes as a source of emergency power when the home owner desires a backup emergency power source but does not want to get into a grid tie agreement or prefers not to disclose for personal reasons the fact that they are using renewable energy technologies. 

All of these types of systems are right for various customers depending on there needs and reasons for buying a solar system in the first place. Inverter choices on grid off grid ties interactive batteries or not are some of the first decision which should be considered when designing a wind and solar or renewable energy system. At Hurricane wind power we  are available to speak with you about the pro's con;s and help guide you in making a decision in designing a system if after reading about the system types you feel you need further guidance. This is meant as a general tutorial and sometime considerable though and consideration should be put into making this decision as it will guide many aspects of the functionality payback and operation of your system.

Unlike the 3 phase power many are familiar with the wild 3 phase power generated in a small alternator is not like the industrial power many of you are familiar with. The frequency is not stable and the voltage is variable with the rotation of the alternator therfore the AC wind turbine cannot be tied into the grid without the use of an acceptable grid tie inverter. sorry folks but when you see AC on a wind turbine it does not mean you can hook it into the wall.