Many remote towns or sparsely populated areas are not serviced by the main power grid.  Power must be generated locally using engine generators powered by conventional fuels, such as diesel.  However, the transport and storage of diesel fuel can be expensive and the supply is not always reliable.  Therefore, diesel generators are best used on a short-term basis or for emergency purposes.  Solar and wind resources are good alternatives to provide more consistent year-round energy powers.  Solar and wind are also the most available renewable energy resources on earth, and many remote areas have plenty supply of both.  

The sun is the source of all energy on earth.  Wind is a form of solar energy and is caused by the uneven heating of the earth’s surface by the sun.  For example, the poles receive less energy from the sun than the equator does, and the dry land heats up and cools down more quickly than the seas do.  On much of the earth, wind speeds are low in the summer when the sun shines brightest and longest. The wind is strong in winter when less sunlight is available.  Wind speeds are also low during the day when sunlight is strong, but increase after dark when the earth surface is cooler.  Because the peak for wind flow and sunlight occur at different times of the day and year, wind energy and solar energy can complement each other.  A hybrid solar-wind power system can balance out the ever-fluctuating solar and wind resources and is more likely to produce power when you need it.

Solar power generator systems use solar PV panels to convert light energy into electrical energy.  Hybrid solar wind regulators, which are also known as solar wind charge controllers, regulate the charging current of solar panels and wind turbines before it is stored in battery banks.  Inverters are then used to convert direct current (DC) electricity stored in the battery banks to alternating current (AC).  The advantages of solar systems are their reliability and low operating costs, but they are relatively expensive to manufacture. 

Wind power generators use a wind turbine to convert wind energy into electricity.  Similar to solar power systems, charge controllers are used to regulate the charging current before it is stored in battery banks, and inverters are then used to convert DC to AC.  The advantages of wind power systems are their low manufacturing and operating costs, but their reliability is relatively low due to the fluctuation of air flow.  

Solar systems and wind systems can suffer from variations in the weather, resulting in inconsistent power supply.  Therefore, daily electricity output could fluctuate due to variations in weather.  The fluctuation then could lead to batteries being under-charged for a long period of time, causing the lifecycle of the battery to be shortened.

Since solar power and wind power can complement each other as energy sources, a hybrid solar-wind power system will optimize the use of these two natural energy resources for needed power supply.  Manufacturing costs of hybrid systems can be reduced because the same battery banks and inverter can be used for both the solar and the wind generators. 

As the technology of small wind generators has advanced in past decades, so has the industry.  However, the reliability of small wind generator continues to plague the industry.  Due to cost considerations, manufacturers tend to use mechanical controllers, which are based on simple principles of aerodynamics, for wind power control, in lieu of the more technologically advanced and more expensive hydraulic pressure controller.  While it could pass wind turbine tests, a mechanical controller, which has movable parts, does not work well in the field due to the complexity and rapidity of change in wind speed and wind direction. The movable mechanical parts invariably wear out in extreme weather conditions, resulting in a break down of the system.

Since fewer movable parts give less chance for a breakdown, high-quality wind generators today typically have only three movable parts:

1. Main body of wind turbine


2. Rotor blades


3. Over-speed protection system

The first two movable parts are indispensable because they compose the core of the wind turbine.  In order to increase reliability, we must turn our attention to the over-speed protection system.

All wind turbines are designed with some kind of over-speed protection system.  In case of strong wind, it is necessary to waste part of the excess energy of the wind in order to avoid damaging the wind turbine.  There are two different ways to design an over-speed protection system on modern wind turbines.

1. A pitch-controlled wind turbine that turns blades out of the wind when the wind output becomes too high and turns them back into the wind when the wind speed drops.


2. A stall-controlled wind turbine that has blades bolted onto the hub at a fixed angle.  When the wind speed becomes too high, it creates turbulence on the side of the blades that is not facing the wind.  This stall prevents the lifting force of the rotor blade from acting on the rotor.

However, both approaches have technical problems.  Wind flow is a complex phenomenon.  Not only is turbulence a constant occurrence, but the change of wind speed and direction is instantaneous and frequent.  No mechanical apparatus can react swiftly enough to match the instant change in wind flow.  As a result, the heavy wear and tear often causes the breakdown of the wind turbine.

ARI Renewable Energy Company has developed a brand new electromagnetic brake for ARI wind turbines.  The new technology incorporates an entirely new magnetoelectricity regulator that functions as a brake.

This brand-new regulating protection idea has discarded the mechanical regulation structure and has fundamentally solved the reliable operational problem associated with the hybrid solar-wind generator.  

This advanced over-speed protection system has following advantages:

1. It has discarded the mechanical regulating structure and the wind turbine, and therefore it only retains two moving parts. This greatly enhances the structural stability and reliability of the ARI wind turbine.


2. The design of the main body of the wind turbine now has more artistic and diverse choices when the mechanical regulating structure is limited.


3. The advanced over-speed protection system also gives different levels of charge control according to the wind speed scope, which greatly increases the reliability of the ARI wind turbines.