Slow speed alternator
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The alternator is at the heart of all renewable energy systems.
The three ingredients in electricity production are:
- a magnetic field
- a copper wire
- the relative motion between the two.
Increase any of these variables and you produce more electricity.
Many manufacturers opt to increase the rate of motion of the
magnetic field through the wire in order to increase output.
This means that less powerful magnets and less copper are
required, making the alternator cheaper to produce, but it
results in high-speed machines which are invariably noisy,
intimidating in operation and short lived
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Low Friction Ironless Design
DuoGen's slow speed alternator is purpose designed, producing over
250 Watts at 800 rpm, a rotational speed at which some competitor
machines are only just starting to charge the batteries. The alternator's
superb performance is due to its low friction iron-less design featuring
a heavy duty, three-phase stator and massive twelve pole permanent
magnet rotor assembly. This eliminates cogging and produces smooth,
high quality, ripple free DC. The rugged slow speed alternator means
that the air turbine runs far more slowly than most competitors'
machines. This results in lower noise and vibration and produces
a machine which is non-threatening in operation and comfortable
to live with.
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Regulators
DuoGen does not feature an integral charge control regulator.
This is because DuoGen is not designed primarily as a 'fit
and forget' unit, but rather as a device that is used by the
yachtsman in order to maximise charging potential when energy
is actually required, that is, when he is cruising. An integral
charge control circuit, which would 'dump' generated power
at some arbitrarily predetermined point, works against this
more active battery management strategy that DuoGen provides.
A suitable external regulator can be supplied and would be
essential if DuoGen were to be left running unattended for
an extended period of time.
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