Kilowatt Wind Turbine And Pole For Under $150 – OpenSourceLowTech.org

Turbine build tutorial: http://solarflower.org/tutorial.php?lang=en&tut=vawt

The generator is rated at 1.5HP / ~1kW which the turbine should be doing in about a 60 km/h wind, at about 90 volts. The turbine has been survival tested up to 105 km/h.

This video is just an incidental update, mostly on the new chain drive prototype and pole mount configuration, I’ll be doing a full documented update at some point soon.

The cost breakdown is about $25 for the turbine itself, $45 for the treadmill motor as generator, and $95 for the pole, steel rope and fixings etc.

Known Issues With The Video:

~ Yes the steel ropes start out mounted below the turbine then jump to above it, turns out they work a lot better up there.

~ Yes the pole wobbles a bit, in future I’ll have probably just some polyprop rope to the pole mid point to lock that off and stabilize the whole thing.

~ Yes the chain is off when the turbine is up and spinning, I didn’t have it tensioned well and it dropped but then also didn’t have the time or assistance to take the pole down and re-establish it before I had to leave. It does work fairly well tho.

~ Yes for now you’re going to have to take my word for that.

~ The video is largely out of focus but my phone camera either auto focuses constantly or not at all and the latter is slightly less annoying.

~ The turbine does pop a bit when it spins, but it’s not loud and I’ll try to resolve that.

~ Yes the back two ropes are crossed at the top, that’s for reasons.

~ Yes I say ummm a lot, like I say this is only meant as an update and I’ll do a nice full video with amazing production values very soon.

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