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.

Workshop in Argentina

Posted on 15/12/2010 by hugh

Esteban van Dam has run a small wind workshop in Buenes Aires, Argentina. also http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gle_wZYuuSw and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3js0Xy62qM And a few pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/118023745814527581382/AerogeneradorEolocal# http://picasaweb.google.com/118023745814527581382/AerogeneradorTerminado#

Posted in construction, courses, developing world, People, Video links | 1 Comment

My name is Marek. I from Poland. This is my wind turbine

Posted on 12/12/2010 by hugh

Photos here

Posted in construction, People, Video links | 1 Comment

Using the dump load to warm your toes

Posted on 08/12/2010 by hugh

For many centuries in Central Asia, a traditional home heating method known as a ‘Sandali’ or ‘Korsi’ has provided families with a warm place to retreat into when the temperatures dropped below freezing. The homes and buildings in this region … Continue reading →

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Recipe book translated into Swahili

Posted on 04/12/2010 by hugh

by Anthony Karomba & Roland Valckenborg “After giving the master class on Hugh Piggott wind turbines in Tanzania, it was recognized by the participants that not everybody is familiar with the English language. During the master class this was not … Continue reading →

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Testing an alternator for a 12 footer at Otherpower

Posted on 23/11/2010 by hugh

Dan Bartmann in action at Otherpower building and testing a new design alternator for a 12 footer (3.6 metre diameter turbine).  See his full description on the otherpower discussion board of this machine with 15 inch magnet rotors, and thick … Continue reading →

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work platform

Posted on 21/11/2010 by hugh

Nice photo by Stephen Smith, from Alan Engelstad in Canada.

Posted in construction | 2 Comments

Wind turbine controllers for optimising blade speed

Posted on 10/11/2010 by hugh

Efficient wind turbine alternators connected directly to batteries do not have the right speed range to make the best use of the blades.  Adding a controller that converts the voltage between the windmill and the batteries can improve performance (rather … Continue reading →

Posted in products/technical | 2 Comments

Hubert MARIN video en Francais

Posted on 03/11/2010 by hugh

http://www.consommer-responsable.fr/magazine/article/une-eolienne-dans-son-jardin-0

Posted in Books, construction, courses, France, People | Leave a comment

Counter program in Visual Basic

Posted on 02/11/2010 by hugh

Julio Costa <[email protected]> has written a simple program in Visual Basic to help him with the counting of the turns on each of the coils. “Rather than building an electronic counter, I’ve implemented it in software, so if one has … Continue reading →

Posted in construction, People | 1 Comment

New ideas from V3

Posted on 29/10/2010 by hugh

V3 have produced a nice little report from their latest workshop in Holland. “A report of a wind turbine build course run at De Twaalf Ambachten, Holland” can be found here There is a clever system for locating the coils … Continue reading →

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