Author Archives: hugh

About hugh

I live off-grid in NW Scotland and have spent my life playing with wind turbines. I also love small hydros. Hands on renewable energy is my thing and I like to learn and to share my experiences.

Dan Bartmann’s biggest homebrew project yet

Posted on 26/12/2014 by hugh

Dan Bartmann has been busy building bigger turbines in Chadron Nebraska… more info and a chance to ask questions here on the Otherpower discussion board

Posted in construction, People | 2 Comments

3 new KD-reports

Posted on 21/12/2014 by hugh

[note: I have edited my remarks in response to some corrections sent by email] Adriaan has notified me of the following free reports that he has published (see below the diagram).  The axial flux design has a single magnet disk, … Continue reading →

Posted in Adriaan Kragten, Books, construction, People | 1 Comment

Homes needed for small wind turbines

Posted on 09/12/2014 by hugh

V3 write:- “We run courses building small DIY wind turbines, sometimes these courses are purely educational and the turbine built on the course does not have a home to go to. We want to get these turbines generating electricity so … Continue reading →

Posted in construction, People, UK small wind scene | 3 Comments

Some video of my presentation

Posted on 07/12/2014 by hugh

Here is footage from the presentation I made for the Windempowerment Conference in Athens last month. Actually this is a backup that was not used at the conference as I was able to make the same presentation live (and said … Continue reading →

Posted in construction, ferrite magnets, my own projects, People, products/technical, Scoraig, Video links, wind systems tutorial | 2 Comments

Build your own windmill workshop course on Scoraig April 18th 2015

Posted on 18/11/2014 by hugh

I am planning to hold a course here on Scoraig in April.  We’ll build and test a wind turbine as usual.  Accommodation is provided from Saturday 18th to Saturday 25th April 2015.  These will be the arrival and departure days.  … Continue reading →

Posted in construction, courses, my own projects, Scoraig | 3 Comments

Live data from a powerspout turbine in Abergavenny, United Kingdom

Posted on 12/11/2014 by hugh

Here is a site where you can see a grid connected powerspout in operation exporting electricity.  Unlike solar PV systems, this renewable source keeps going night and day.  Although it only generates 600-700 watts or so, it keeps up well … Continue reading →

Posted in hydro, People, power curve data, products/technical | 2 Comments

1200 dia. project photos from South Africa

Posted on 06/11/2014 by hugh

Thanks to Felix Thoma for sending me this link to his page with photos of his 1200 diameter project in South Africa.  He is using my 2005 plans (“How to Build a Wind Turbine”) with the hollow shaft which requires … Continue reading →

Posted in construction, People | Leave a comment

Nice video about windempowerment

Posted on 30/10/2014 by hugh

I will be making a presentation on Monday morning “live over internet”. You can watch the conference live using this link but be aware that you will need to install some software (VLC media player) in advance to do this.

Posted in construction, developing world, People, Video links | Leave a comment

Sample noise assessment for planning consent

Posted on 29/10/2014 by hugh

I am grateful to Graham Caulton for sharing this noise assessment that he used in order to get planning consent for his home-built wind turbine.  UK planning officials tend to ask for a noise assessment as a condition for granting … Continue reading →

Posted in products/technical, UK small wind scene | Leave a comment

Another workshop in Athens

Posted on 08/10/2014 by hugh

More details of this workshop here More workshops around the world here

Posted in construction, courses | Leave a comment