Monthly Archives: January 2012

Engineers Without Borders conference small wind session video

Posted on 31/01/2012 by hugh

I went to Birmingham on 28th to meet EWB and to share experiences about using small wind turbines for international development work (and for having fun).  Lots of good chat.  This was the launch of their national small wind community … Continue reading →

Posted in developing world, People, UK small wind scene, Video links | 1 Comment

Workshop Course on Scoraig in May

Posted on 28/01/2012 by hugh

WHAT A hands-on wind turbine building workshop with Hugh Piggott.  These courses have been held since 2001, with small groups around 5-8 people building a wind turbine over a period of six days and testing it.  Activities include carving blades … Continue reading →

Posted in courses, Notices, Scoraig | 5 Comments

Inventor Doug Selsam

Posted on 27/01/2012 by hugh

This one is for inventors.  I mostly do not have time for them because they think they have got something new and I know they have just reinvented something old that never could work.  Doug’s inventions will probably never work … Continue reading →

Posted in People, products/technical, Video links | 1 Comment

Simple tower

Posted on 18/01/2012 by hugh

Thanks to Jan Wolstenholme (on an Irish coastal site) for this ultra simple tower design for those with very open, high wind sites and plenty of scaffold pipe. “The main tetrahedron is made of  six poles which are two scaffold … Continue reading →

Posted in construction, People, wind systems tutorial | 9 Comments

Completísimo manual para el autoconstructor de equipos de energía eólica

Posted on 08/01/2012 by hugh

Thanks to John Furze in Denmark I found this lovely manual for building small wind turbines  “Energia Eolica” – Juan Ignacio and Sebastian Urquia Lus, published in 1982. You can download it here Unfortunately I don’t know Spanish so I … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, construction | 2 Comments

All readings are based on open current voltage and shorted load

Posted on 03/01/2012 by hugh

This is just a word of warning for those who are thinking of buying modified car alternators from http://www.hurricanewindpower.com/ or http://www.prestowind.com/ —-             I did have rather a nice photo of some alternators and parts here but Tim at Presto asked me … Continue reading →

Posted in construction, products/technical, Rooftop madness | 17 Comments

Grid connected homebrew wind turbines

Posted on 01/01/2012 by hugh

In response to a comment from Michael Jones I am posting a brief note about grid connection of homebrew wind turbines of my Recipe designs. The turbine output voltage depends on both the rpm and number of turns in the … Continue reading →

Posted in construction, products/technical, wind systems tutorial | 13 Comments