7 Foot Axial Flux Wind Turbine

Step 17 Finish up the wiring and test it all out

This was a big project. Once everything is up you can sit back for a minute and relax. It is awfully satisfying to see your creation spin up in the wind. The first day I put mine up, I didn't see it spin at all, so don't get discouraged if you see no immediate results. It is often said that once you put up a wind turbine, there are two weeks of dead calm weather afterwards.

Haven't gotten a chance to get any real power readings yet because the turbine is installed about 6 hours from where I live. I'll be making a trip up there soon though to make some adjustments and hopefully get some data. I am shooting for around 500 watts (I've read of people with similar designs getting about that much). As long as I get any usable power out of it, I'm happy. It's been a long project for me: I started constructing the turbine in July of 2008 and it got put up in May 2009.

I'd encourage anyone who is interested in wind power to do their own project, it will help you learn a lot and is very rewarding. The view from on top of the tower is an added bonus.

Comments

[broken board]

G, DAY MATE

THAT IS FANTASTIC A JOB WELL DONE.

UM I PROB MISSED TI BUT HOW MUCH POWER DOES YOUR BABY PUT OUT.

I WAS GOING TO MAKE THE oops sory about the caps.
1000w turbine that is also on instructable but now im gunna make yours.

i dont have the space to place it so high in the air but im sure ill find a way to secure it to the top of our roof securely and safely

cheers bud

[1234Becka]

Thanks for the info on your wind turbine and the list of books you got a lot of your info from. On most of the wind turbine "how to" no one gets to the part of the type of wires to run from the wind turbine to the batteries. I heard the wires and batteries is what cost the most. How far is your wind turbine from your house, and where are you setting up your batteries? Great job on you project and getting it set up!!

[brokengun]

I don't think the wires cost the most but then again I guess that depends on how far you want to run it. I used 3 conductor 6 gauge copper wire, which is pretty expensive stuff... Looking around online it looks like it's in excess of $1 per foot (probably much more for 3 conductor). I lucked out and got mine for free, there were lots of freebies in this project. I also only had to run it down the length of the tower to the box where the battery is. Keep in mine though, that my generator is a 12 volt one and thus requires thicker wires for lower resistance. Most people who would be doing a DIY wind turbine to supplement their house use a higher voltage which requires thinner wire. This is overall a good idea and I would recommend it as it will definitely save you money. Where the money really comes in is the tower, it's hard to get a good, solid tower solution for a good price. A lot of people tend to forget how expensive it may be.