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.

More from Romania

Posted on 11/06/2012 by hugh

with Dan Paraipan See also here and here

Posted in construction, People | Leave a comment

Willie Schmidt

Posted on 10/06/2012 by hugh

Willie Schmidt is building a 3 metre ferrite turbine in South Africa 12 ferrite magnets 75 x 50 mm (3 x 2 inches) 440 mm rotor diameter disk 250 turns (2 x 0.8mm dia wire) for a 36 volt battery … Continue reading →

Posted in construction, ferrite magnets, People | 6 Comments

Kings River 4.2m wind turbine building workshop Kilkenny

Posted on 10/06/2012 by hugh

A nice photo gallery by Eirbyte of the recent workshop course in Kilkenny where they built a 4.2 metre diameter turbine. Clever way to anchor the coils while connecting the tails. See the whole gallery here

Posted in construction, courses | 2 Comments

Low cost workshop course in Ireland

Posted on 08/06/2012 by hugh

I am off to Ireland soon to help teach a course with Jimmy and Miriam of Eirbyte in Leitrim.  The course runs from 18th – 23rd June near Keshcarrigan This will be a practical hands-on week of workshop time, running … Continue reading →

Posted in construction, courses | Leave a comment

Fundy Solar building Recipe wind turbines in Canada

Posted on 06/06/2012 by hugh

The full story is here “We also lead workshops on how to build these machines. If you are interested in owning one, a workshop is the best way to learn the ins and outs of maintenance, performance and monitoring. It … Continue reading →

Posted in construction, courses, People | 1 Comment

Clearer drawing of the 10-pole 12 coil design

Posted on 26/05/2012 by hugh

Note added at end of 2017: For some reason this page is the most popular page on my blog, and there has been a stream of comments and discussion.  I am glad if it is useful but I feel the … Continue reading →

Posted in construction, ferrite magnets, my own projects | 220 Comments

Paul Gipe reports further embarrassing mis-use of small wind turbines in the city…

Posted on 25/05/2012 by hugh

Reno Nevada Proves -Again that Small Urban Wind Produces Poor Results. “The City paid more than $20,000 for a Helix turbine, famous for other “worst turbine install in history” accomplishments, that generated an incredible 34 kWh in the two years … Continue reading →

Posted in People, Rooftop madness | 8 Comments

Making wooden blades with Max

Posted on 20/05/2012 by hugh

A well made video by Max ‘Menelaus’ of www.kleinwindanlagen.de showing how to shape blades using a bandsaw and power sander.  It’s also interesting to note the reduced number of steps in the process compared to the procedure in my Recipe … Continue reading →

Posted in construction, People, Video links | 11 Comments

Photos of the Scoraig wind turbine building workshop

Posted on 12/05/2012 by hugh

Participants: 6 (Robert, Jonathan, Kostas, Benji, Yanti and Kern) Dates: 5-12 May 2012  Location: Scoraig. Project: 3 metre machine using ferrite/ceramic magnets at 24VDC Poles: 10, (3 magnet blocks 50 x 50 x 20 per pole) Coils: 12 (37 turns … Continue reading →

Posted in construction, courses, ferrite magnets, my own projects, Scoraig | 17 Comments

Operation of school wind turbines suspended in Highland Region.

Posted on 12/05/2012 by hugh

Following enquiries from councillors and members of the public, The Highland Council commissioned the Building Research Establishment, an independent organisation, to evaluate all wind turbine installations on or adjacent to school sites. Based on initial feedback from BRE, the Council … Continue reading →

Posted in UK small wind scene | 2 Comments