For decades, the Berlin Regional Office for the Promotion of Industrial Occupations in Developing Countries has been conducting courses for the training and education of specialist and management personnel from developing countries. Recently there has been a greater emphasis on training and education in the fields of water management and renewable energy forms. As part of the 2007/08 course, with a focus on the use of renewable energy forms such as solar power, photovoltaics, wind power and biogas, a wind turbine was erected in the summer together with course participants (counterparts) on the site of the Peter Lenné School, the home of the headquarters of the regional office. The course on the use of renewable energy forms runs at the Knobelsdorff School, Berlin. Students attending this school made a considerable contribution to the construction of the wind turbine.
In addition to the theoretical principles of wind power, practical implementation of the study material is also of great importance to course participants. This example shows how theory and practice can be linked together. In autumn, winter and spring in particular, when the solar rays are reduced, small wind turbines provide an ideal energy supplement to photovoltaic stand-alone systems. The combination of photovoltaics and wind power is exceptionally well suited for decentralised energy systems in the Third World.
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| In our work shop | Mounting the turbine mast |
There is a great deal of power in wind. A doubling of the wind speed results in a eight-fold output of the wind flow. This is the reason why the renewable energy from wind turbines is being increasingly used in many countries. Decisive in the selection of the vane type is that it delivers power even at low to moderate wind speeds, and that it exhibits good starting behaviour. A three-vane slotted repeller is a highly suitable option here.
