Does anyone have a small wind turbine?

Question

Im curious is anyone has a small wind turbine installed at their house. the reason I ask is because Im looking for someone who is interested in a little project. I'd like to make additional wind turbine blades for other home made wind turbines. I would like you to make a simple mold of the turbine, in return I could send you a duplicate...perhpas made of carbon-fiber resin. anyway, please respond if youre interested. I live in michigan by the way. :-) ~ Ryan

Answer 1

I have a couple of small wind turbines but they produce a trickle charge which is stored in batteries. They use the same principle that a car engine does when it turns an alternator to produce a charge, so in that respect they're not turbines as such.

When you say 'additional blades' do you mean as an alternative to the one already on the turbine or extra blades that can be added to an existing turbine.

If it's the latter I see a drawback here - most turbines have 3 blades because this is the optimum number - increasing the number of blades doesn't proportionately increase the amount of energy produced. Atypical 4 blade turbine produces just 3% more energy than a 3 blade version which in turn produces 6% more energy that a 2 blade version.

There's also aerodynamics to be considered - the more blades the less aerodynamic and then there's bending torque (bending moments). If a turbine has 3 blades then the pressure against the uppermost blade is more evenly balanced by the lower pressure blowing against the two lower blades. If there were a symetrical arrangement then the pressure wouldn't balance and stress would occur in the blades and the mechanism.

Answer 2

Trevor hit it on the head, The source for many of the small wind generators is in your local marine store. Good luck on the blade work, sounds like fun project.

Answer 3

yes i always keep a portable wind turbine on me...(scarcasm)

i doubt many people have wind turbines in their house