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.

Wind turbine workshop in North Carolina, USA

Posted on 28/01/2017 by hugh

Handy Village Institute, 5840 Jewell Road, Graham, NC 27253 are hosting a wind turbine building workshop with Dan Bartmann of Otherpower March 20 – 25, 2017.

Posted in construction, courses | 1 Comment

New blades capture 99% of next to no power in the city

Posted on 19/01/2017 by hugh

An article has just come out in Engineering and Technology  describing how new super-efficient blades are going to make it viable to put wind turbines in the city. “Small wind turbines (like the one pictured above) are often installed in urban … Continue reading →

Posted in Rooftop madness, UK small wind scene | 2 Comments

Secondhand wind turbine stuff

Posted on 13/01/2017 by hugh

Joff in Cornwall still has some secondhand stuff available.  I posted about this in 2014 here.  Some of that excellent stuff remains and he is keen to give it to a good home: A couple of years ago, with your … Continue reading →

Posted in stuff on offer | 3 Comments

Workshop selfie video winding a coil

Posted on 11/01/2017 by hugh

I don’t put enough of the stuff that goes on in my own workshop onto this blog so here is a workshop session where I am winding a coil for a repair for a big machine, and I talk through … Continue reading →

Posted in construction, my own projects, Video links | 3 Comments

Eolocal video

Posted on 28/12/2016 by hugh

Here is a nice video from Eolocal in Argentina:  

Posted in Video links | Leave a comment

What is it about Vertical Axis?

Posted on 17/12/2016 by hugh

It has been a while since I posted about vertical axis, but I can’t help noticing that everybody wants to do it, and they keep asking me for help.  I get emails, and people put comments on this blog.  They … Continue reading →

Posted in Vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) | 39 Comments

Windempowerment maintenance manual for Recipe Book turbines

Posted on 19/11/2016 by hugh

WindEmpowerment  have published a Maintenance Manual for my wind turbine designs, in free PDF download format. (Donations are also welcome.) Particular thanks to Gael Cesa of Tripalium in France for all his hard work on this.

Posted in Books, construction | 1 Comment

Tashi’s Turbine on PBS

Posted on 04/11/2016 by hugh

Latest news: This broadcast will also be live on Facebook here. The film Tashi’s Turbine will have it’s broadcast in the United States on PBS on November 13th 10pm EST. Tashi’s Turbine – Documentary  Set in the grasslands of the Himalayan … Continue reading →

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

Jimmy winds a coil for a grid tied machine

Posted on 20/10/2016 by hugh

Thanks to Jimmy of Eirbyte for this nice video Wind turbine coil winding with counter from Eirbyte on Vimeo.

Posted in construction, Video links | Leave a comment

WindEmpowerment Maintenance survey

Posted on 18/10/2016 by hugh

Have you answered the survey yet? Dear Small Wind Turbine User, The main problem of small wind turbines is their maintenance needs. They require a lot of care and it’s much more fun to build the wind turbine than to … Continue reading →

Posted in construction | Leave a comment