65 A4 pages, packed tightly 
with information. How to build 6 different sizes of wind turbine. How to carve the wooden blades, weld the frame and wind the coils for 12, 24 and 48 volt battery systems. Build your own alternator using powerful Neodymium magnets and generate useful amounts of electricity on a suitable site. The turbines furl automatically to protect themselves against high windspeeds.
Hundreds of turbines have been built to these designs around the world. In fact an international association of user groups has been formed.
The metric edition is the most popular, but North American readers would do well to get the American (Inches units) edition which features the magnets and wire that are obtainable in the USA and surrounding areas. If you are buying AWG wire, then use the American edition. Dimensions are in inches, and the magnets are 2″x1″x1/2″ size which is readily available there.
Sample pages of the metric edition are visible at SCRIBD and the American units edition at Smashwords
You can buy this book (and my others) by following this link.
| CONTENTS Choosing what to do 4 Be safe! 4 How big? 4 Diagram of a small wind system 4 What can the wind turbine do? 4 Load controllers 5 Choosing battery voltage 5 Battery types 6 Why some popular ideas are not good ideas 6 Car alternators 6 Steel cores in the stator coils 7 Multiple rotors and stators 7 Vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) 7 Multi blade rotors 8 Rooftop mounting 8 Saving money off the electricity bill 8 Mounting a wind turbine on a car to charge the battery 8 Using a centrifugal clutch or brake to limit speed 9 Building a duct 9 What goes wrong with homebuilt wind turbines? 9 Useful web pages for more information: 9 Tools 10 Safety etc 10 All-purpose tools 10 For marking and measuring 10 Electrical 10 Resin preparation 10 Steelwork 10 Woodworking tools 10 Using the tools 11 Cordless drill 11 Screwdriver bits 11 Measurements 11 Vernier calipers 11 Levels 11 Compasses 11 Multimeters 12 Soldering technique 12 Electric Arc welding 12 Cutting steel 13 Drilling 13 Tapping a thread 13 Wood saws 13 Other wood cutting tools 14 Sandpaper 14 Power tools 14 Blades 15 Parts of the blade 15 Selecting the wood 15 The blank shapes 16 The trailing edge line 17 Mark out the shape of the blade at each of six stations along its length . 17 Carve away wood above the trailing edge line to create a new face 18 Blade thickness 18 Airfoil shape 19 Hub assembly 20 Cutting the 120 degree angles at the roots 20 The plywood pieces that sandwich the blades. 20 Marking out the holes in the plywood 20 Assembling the blades 21 Balancing 22 Balancing in situ 22 Fine balancing 22 Alternative ways to balance the blades 22 Balancing on a spike 23 Dynamic balance 23 Painting and finishing 23 Mechanics 24 The yaw bearing 24 The alternator 24 Choosing a hub 24 The magnet rotor disks 25 Alternator frame 26 Mounting the alternator to the yaw bearing 27 3600 and 4200 turbines 29 The tail 30 The inclined hinge 30 Tail boom 31 Tail stops 32 Electrics 34 Energy conversion 34 Choosing wire size and number of turns per coil 34 Stator wiring connections 35 Three-phase stators 35 Battery charging with DC 36 The coils 36 12-volt stators marked * 36 Making the coil winder 37 Winding the coils 38 Connecting the coils 38 12-volt stators 39 The moulds 39 The stator mould 39 The 1200 stator mould 41 The magnet rotor mould 41 The magnet positioning jig 42 Resin casting 43 Casting the stator 43 Casting the magnet rotor(s) 45 Alternator assembly and testing 46 Rotor mounting options 46 Rotor mounting studs 47 Assembly 47 12-volt turbine rectifiers 48 Testing the alternator 48 Installation 49 Wiring the batteries 49 The rectifier and brake 49 Meters 50 Controller 50 Inverter 50 Commissioning the turbine 50 Guyed towers 51 Wiring the tower 51 Guyed tower pipe sizes 51 Guy anchors 52 Lifting the tower 53 Taller towers 53 Adjusting the guys 53 Alternator design 54 Matching the blades 54 Tip speed ratio (lambda l) 54 Calculating the blade rotor rpm 54 Blade power 54 Calculating the output voltage vs. speed 54 Wire sizes and power losses 55 Size of wire to use 55 Coil resistance 56 Stator resistance 56 Current and power loss 57 Rectifier loss 57 Efficiency 57 Windspeed 57 Stator cooling 57 Estimating the rpm 57 Blade speed at full power 58 Exploring some design factors 59 Magnet spacing 59 The effects of speed 59 The effects of system voltage on efficiency 59 Varying the voltage with the speed 59 High voltage transmission 59 Glossary 60 LIST OF USEFUL SUPPLIERS 62 MATERIALS REQUIRED FOR BUILDING THE WIND TURBINES 63 |
“Like it, it really is an awesome book, thumbed through it so much and scribbled notes as i was building that it is in tatters now. It has even lead to a career change for me. … Thank you so much for all you have given. “
“I purchased your book about 18 months ago and couldn’t put it down when I received it, and have read through it almost a dozen times now.” “Your book arrived yesterday, I am thrilled with it, lovely presentation, very well illustrated for a practical man. Thank you” “Mr Piggott has obviously been there and done that in the world of wind turbines and I found his book very useful in sorting out the uninformed sales nonsense from what could actually be achieved, particularly in terms of the amount or power you could expect to generate). I live on the edge of a very windy valley in north east Scotland and am very interested in using the wind to generate power for my cottage. The problem that I have is that from trawling the internet and have been bewildered by the range of windturbine products available and the staggering lack of available information on them. It is very difficult to evaluate the performance of each device from the manufacturers. Mr Piggott gives you the tools to evaluate performance for yourself. Perhaps more interestingly he gives good and hard and fast design instructions for building a range of wind turbines that are tried and tested designs. These wind turbines can be made for reasonable cost and with only skills that are relatively easily attainable (welding, winding wires, carving wood etc). But seriously if you want to get into wind power most efficiently this is the place to start. Perhaps a more important piece of information that Mr Piggott draws out is that if the AVERAGE wind speed is less than 5m/s at your location it really isn’t worth the time and effort of getting into wind power (the power in the wind goes up with the cube of the velocity so low speed winds dont have much available power to harvest).
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Hi is the book available in the Greek language
Hi Hugh,
Sorry if this is of topic or not posted appropriately, however, I’m looking at building your small PGM Turbine in:
Hugh Piggott Axial-flow PMG wind turbine May 2003
I was wondering – ‘if with some modification to your design – would be any output advantages in fitting an identical second rotor as with the large version? additionally, what would the drawbacks be of fitting a second rotor?
thanks,
Rob.
hi rob,
If you put two disks on then the blades should also be larger because the alternator will produce more voltage at lower rpm. If you wish to modify the design I recommend you contact me by email [email protected] for guidance on the details.
cheers
Hugh
Thanks Hugh,
I’ll be in touch soon.
Rob.
Hi hugh, In your recipe book(metric) on page 55 you have a table shown that the B tesla for 1200 and 1800 turbines is 0.3 and 0.44 how did you calculate this?
I basically did this using my understanding of the theory and working backwards, to be honest. The flux density in the gap is not likely to be uniform so this is inevitably a simplification but it’s a number I can use in calculations and it does seem to sit well with the specifications of the magnets.
cheers
Hugh
Hi
Mpho here, can you please send me a quote with the prices for the recipe?
Hello Hugh,
Would there be any advantage or disadvantage to build a twin set of coils and magnets on the same plate facings to double my output with larger blades or am I dreaming?
Thanks,
Brent
Yes you can use two alternators built onto 3 disks for example but it is more effective use of materials to use two large disks and put all the magnets on them so all the coils see all the magnets.
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I just purchased your american version of your book. I love everything wind and solar and i just enjoy my retirment and the free time to innovate stuff .i was told this book will explain how wind energy works and would give my the tools and knowlege on making some of my own designs . Is there a digital copy too or just a hard copy being mailed to my address ? I cant wait to read it. I have my system on my youtube channel and i hope to to make a low wind pma vaht i can add to this system.https://youtu.be/CVyjtJY2h6E
Hi Hugh,
The annual average wind speed in Raleigh, North Carolina is 3.35 meters/second according to google. Is this not enough for a wind turbine? I was thinking about building one for our home.
hi
Sorry for taking so long but for some reason I do not get notifications of comments on this site.
3.35m/s mean windspeed is indeed very low. I do not recommend using wind for anything important. I do recommend using a very tall tower to try to catch some wind if you do. Solar PV is likely to be a much more practical source of energy for you. Or microhydro if you have a site for it.
cheers
Hugh
We’re can I get plans to build my own coil winder hand winder a simple one
The recipe book has a clear description of a coil winder that you can build. It’s not the only way to do it. Anyone can think up their own coil winder design but this is a simple one that you can build that works.
Hy were can I get magnets here in canada Noe 45 60x25x12mm(2″Lx1″wx1/2 T
To build two rotors 12 inch circles
Hy were can I get magnets here in canada Noe 45 60x25x12mm(2″Lx1″wx1/2 T
To bulk two rotors 12 inch circles
hi Marc,
You probably want these ones? http://www.magnet4less.com/product_info.php?cPath=1_5&products_id=60
You can find a lot more alternatives here http://www.magnet4less.com/index.php?cPath=1_5
cheers
Hugh
Hi!
Is it possible to buy the recipe book from Sweden?
I’ve searched the site, but didn’t find info about how to buy the book.
Cheers,
V.
hi Veronica,
Here is the link to buy all my books
I hope this helps
Hugh
Does anyone make a legitimate all in one kit. A wind turbine that would produce 5KW from a 10 knot wind. ? Does this exist ? This internet is cool but it is full of CRAP ! Just Curious. Anyone know. How much and where. Thx Bill. USA 480-528-5056 or email [email protected]
hi Bill,
My Recipe Book provides a fully detailed specification of all the parts you need and also has some suggested suppliers. A lot depends on where you live. But if you want 5kW in a 10 knot wind you are probably dreaming. Your turbine would need to be about 35 feet in diameter.
cheers
Hugh
Hi Hugh,
I’m impressed with your book. Having read from cover to cover & given that I have experience in Vacuum pressing airfoil structures (F3B gliders a decade ago). I’m keen to develop a 2.4M diameter design, Carbon Skinned over blue foam with Shear spar. I wonder if you might share your more recent thinking over airfoils? Assuming 200mm root chord, 50mm tip. Any thoughts on profiles, angle of attack at root and tip?
Cheers,
Pete
Oh, & washout. 😉
hi Pete,
I am not an airfoil buff. You’d want something with a good lift/drag ratio (always) and also not too prone to stalling.
The angle of the blade is not the same as the angle of attack and I am pretty happy with the blade angles as specified but I admit that I am a bit hand-to-mouth in my approach.
I am generally more concerned with reliability than getting the absolute maximum efficiency since reliability is the most important feature in a small wind turbine. So make your composite blades strong please. The stresses at the root due to gyro forces in yaw can impose very high fatigue loads. Wood is ideal for withstanding these loads.
cheers
Hugh