WIND FOR THE SOUTH POLE AND MARS
Inside (literally) wind turbines meant to work at the South Pole—and Mars; Ars visits Northern Power Systems to learn what goes into their wind turbines.
Scott K. Johnson, November 30, 2015 (Ars Technica)
“…[In 1993, NASA gave a grant to Northern Power Systems (NPS) to build a wind turbine] that could reliably work at the South Pole…[and] potentially provide power for human exploration of Mars, and the National Science Foundation was interested in some electricity at its South Pole station that didn’t require flying in fuel. NPS set about tackling both challenges…A few years later, a 3 kilowatt turbine was spinning away at the South Pole…Northern eventually scaled up that design to a 100 kilowatt turbine that could help power a small community…[Its direct drive turbines need no gearboxes and with permanent magnets] get at least as much power as a traditional geared wind turbine…These powerful permanent magnets require rare earth elements [but NPS] was able to leave out some of the more expensive elements…” click here for more
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