Build the Turbine

• 1). Build the rotor assembly. The rotor assembly will hold the turbine blades. Powered by the wind, the rotor with blades will drive the alternator, which then produces the electric power.
  
  
• 2). Fabricate, assemble and test the alternator or convert a recycled motor from a washing machine or other motor-driven appliance. The alternator consists of a stator disk sandwiched between two magnet rotors. The movement of the rotors sweeps electric flux across the coils, producing alternating voltages in them.
  
  
• 3). Build the furling tail. The hinged tail arm with the vane on its end keeps the blade rotor assembly facing into the wind for maximum efficiency. It also angles the blade assembly away from excessively high winds that might damage it.
  
  
• 4). Mount the heat sink with rectifiers. The rectifiers convert alternating current from the alternator to direct current (DC) for charging a battery or connecting to a household grid. They are mounted on an angled piece of metal acting as the heat sink.
  
  
• 5). Fit and balance the blades. With the machine electrically ready, set it up on a securely supported, high stand in your workshop and mount the blades on the rotor. Balance them by strategically placing small weights on the rotor assembly, ensuring that the blades turn smoothly in the wind.
  
  

Mount the Turbine

• 1). Make the tower base by setting steel piping in concrete poured in a hole in the ground to a depth of two feet or more. Consult your instruction manual for the formulas relating pipe diameters and hole dimensions to tower height and turbine size.
  
  
• 2). Prepare the tower pole. The turbine wiring will run inside the pole; cut an exit hole for it near the pole bottom. After it is screwed into the base piping, the pole will be supported by one or more sets of four guy wires secured to the pole. The pole should be tall enough to raise the turbine to where it will best catch the wind. The taller it is, the more guy wire sets it requires.
  
  
• 3). Mount the generator on the tower's top. Connect the rectifiers to the wires running down inside the pole, and the other ends to the batteries or grid and any instruments, such as an ammeter and charge controller.