Wind Turbine Project
My 10' turbine and 8' turbine.
In designing my original mill everything I could do wrong, I did. The entire design concept was flawed from the get-go. But it taught me a great deal of what not to do. After much research on wind power I decided to build a axial flux machine. I could get away mounting a smaller turbine on ham radio towers. As a ham I collected several towers and now could put them to use. Back in the early 1980’s information about building wind turbines was limited at best and the technology of inverters to convert DC to AC was nowhere near the efficiency of today.
I live in a rural area where wind is in no short supply. I have kept records of wind speed for many years so I had a good idea if this was a viable project. I live on top of a hill surrounded by mostly open fields. The only problems of not enough wind are my own buildings.
The project has been great fun and a tremendous learning experience. I believe most people really do not understand just how much electricity they use in a day. I started reading my meter every day at the same time and kept records of how much we used and why. It’s a real eye opener. After switching to compact florescent lighting and shutting down computers and turning lights off when we left the rooms, along with replacing a few energy hog appliances, we were able to cut our electric bill by almost half. And it did not hurt.
Can you save electricity with wind/solar? Sure, but producing your own power is way more costly than buying it from the power company if the grid is nearby. But not nearly as fun.............
What follows is a few pictures of the process of building a turbine at home. It's not intended to be a "How To" guide. Just a collection of pictures taken building my 8' mill.
My first mill.
Can't believe I ever flew this thing........
A trip to my local steel yard to buy the required steel. Enough steel for several mills.
The McNeilus Wind Farm in Dodge Center Minnesota. McNeilus is also where I buy my steel. I believe it is the largest private wind farm in the world.
The frame of the turbine and the basic shape is welded together.