LOUISVILLE, CO, October 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Boulder Wind Power ("BWP") today announced that the company's patented printed circuit board (PCB) stator technology has demonstrated the latest test results. Compared with the insulation performance of traditional wind turbines, PCB stator technology has obvious advantages in terms of insulation strength and durability. In addition to the performance improvement, the PCB stator weight is also reduced, and the modular design can significantly reduce the expected operation and maintenance costs for BWP's generators, while promoting more energy.
Printed circuit boards used as generator stators have been widely used by various applications for printed circuit board stator technology developer CORE Innovation ("CORE" for short). At the beginning of the 21st century, the PCB originally developed by CORE for generator stators was used in motors for variable speed outdoor turf equipment products, but since then, the company has steadily expanded the scale and scope of such applications. CORE OPE President Lincoln Jore explained: “The CORE Out door Power is a sister company of CORE Innovation and Boulder Wind Power, and ships 50,000 to 100,000 series of electric professional products per year, including brush cutters, leaf blowers, lawn trimmers and mowing Machines, etc. Since the PCB technology is reliable, it can be widely used for variable speed motors and generators. At present, we have developed generator sets with power up to 750 watts, and more and more products will be developed accordingly."
Since its establishment in 2009, Boulder Wind Power has made significant improvements in promoting PCB technology for demanding wind power applications. Due to the adoption of new technologies in the production process, the company increased the density of PCB copper coils and improved system performance. In addition, BWP has invested more than US$1 million to introduce advanced test equipment for its headquarters in Louisville, Colorado. Engineers are currently testing PCB stators at the headquarters and measuring their performance under extreme power loads and mechanical loads— All of this is to achieve a goal, that is to ensure that the PCB stator can have a 25-year life under the worst operating conditions.
Paul Guedes-Pinto, VP of Engineering at BWP Engineering, stated: "Our patented PCB technology uses proven industry standard processes to achieve unsurpassed conductor and insulation system consistency, eliminating the need for generator windings to exploit fail-prone, labor-intensive traditions. Modular design means that the top can be replaced with a 'plug and play' part of the tower without a crane, which can significantly reduce downtime and reduce operating and maintenance costs."
BWP CEO Andy Cukurs added: "Since its development in the 1940s, printed circuit boards have been used in critical applications such as medical electronics and aerospace. We have learned from these demanding applications, applied and By reforming those proven processes, CORE Innovation has succeeded and continues to improve the technologies used in the wind energy industry to support BWP's introduction of valuable technologies that significantly improve generator performance and reliability."
BWP recently completed its PCB stator withstand voltage test and compared the PCB stator insulation with the traditional mica tape insulation system on the wound coil. The results show that under the same dielectric stress conditions, the PCB stator insulation is maintained 80 to 100 times longer than the mica tape insulation. Due to its excellent reliability, BWP believes PCB has the following advantages:
Compared to traditional winding processes, PCB production processes can be automated, requiring little operator skill and experience. The end of the PCB coil is fully supported by the PCB insulation, and there is no interruption between the straight section and the end of the coil. This eliminates the stress step phenomena common to conventional windings, especially when the coil is exposed from the core.
The electromagnetic force acting on the coil conductor is better supported and can be conducted in the PCB structure. This insulation system is almost uniform and the entire winding can be completely encapsulated using FR4 epoxy boards, including the coil ends.
Insulation materials have the same coefficient of thermal expansion, and the overall thermal stress of the conductor and PCB is greatly reduced.
There is a minimum temperature gradient between the copper winding and the cooling medium, and the traditional generator copper coil temperature is much higher than the temperature around the core and the cooling medium.
Cukurs said: “In the competition with traditional energy sources, improving generator reliability and output is very important for the wind energy industry. Proven technical improvements to generator machinery are an important step toward improving wind reliability and realizing profitability. It is particularly important for countries that have stringent renewable energy requirements and are looking for a new generation of cleaner energy.”
Please Leave Us A Message
Privacy statement: Your privacy is very important to Us. Our company promises not to disclose your personal information to any external company with out your explicit permission.