Loren Johnson , about 80 miles NW of Chicago writes:
I bought the 2011 edition of your “Wind Turbine Recipe Book” and have built the 14 ft. model.
Leslie Bryan, Normandy France writes:
Just a quick note and pic of 3 of your 3.7m diameter Turbines finally all running sweet.
Thanks for a good design.
Michel Roba (Belgium) writes:
I have completed the construction of the turbine(3.6m, 24V).
As you can see the mast is short, but the place is quite windy and there is no obstacle in the main direction of wind.
The blades are made of red cedar coated with glass fiber/epoxy and G8 varnish.
The balance of propeller/rotors has been thoroughly made and finished with the varnish.
It works very smoothly, no vibration at all, very silent, just a slight noise when wind turns.
Looks nice job of yours, and hopefully of mine…
Lovely, inspiring pictures!
Keep it up!
Thanks David,
That needed to be said, and I must say I felt it too, as I looked at these photos.
However I suspect there may not have been options to go higher on these sites due to permitting issues.
Hugh
I have got that feeling, while watching your friends in France, particularly. Are they limited to 10 m in height ?
Every time I see some of these beautiful turbines, built with loving skill, placed on short towers it makes me shake my head… ever so slightly. If I can be so bold, I’d compare it to taking restored, vintage Ferrari and mounting a bunch of mismatched, balding tires on its classic wheels.
Low towers place the turbine into turbulent air and this will not only affect its output but it will result in greater wear and tear, all the more so if the winds appear to be strong at the site.
For all sites, particularly those in areas of rough topography there is a significant gain in wind speed, as you go higher. Of course, this will give you more energy.
It’s easy enough to build a very rigid, guyed tower out of common pipe. The last tower I built was welded up out of sections of three lengths of thin wall pipe (Schedule 10, we call it in Canada) that was 1.67″ OD. Just weld up “X”s and weld each X to the pipes at 2′ intervals. it’s relatively inexpensive and very rigid. Join the sections with short pieces of the next size of pipe bolted over the original ones where they join.
Here’s a little calculator that shows how much you can gain by going higher. All the best to Hugh’s windmill builders. http://www.motiva.fi/myllarin_tuulivoima/windpower%20web/en/tour/wres/calculat.htm