Books

Mr. Hackleman's Wind and WindSpinners is a must for the do-it-yourself wind smith. It is full of the pertinent information one is most likely to need. Darrell should pay particular attention to the chapter on Savonius Rotors. From what I have read of his ideas, it would appear that he is looking to produce high torque to grind grain and operate a variety of machine tools. This chapter explains how to construct the rotor from 50 gallon drums cut in half, from top to bottom. This chapter also shows how to place them in a stacked array for better performance and ease in starting. Another chapter shows how to put together a charging system and battery bank for domestic consumption. It's just an all around good book. I have never known of anyone in my field that hasn't read it.

There is another good book that I think you all would enjoy, Hugh Piggot's Wind Power Workshop. It has more information about the construction of horizontal axis wind generators, along with blade construction, hub construction, pitch mechanisms, and much more. Mr. Piggot is a tried and true expert on the construction of home made wind generators.

Offered by Jay.

Received a request for a book on how to build your own power source and how to construct your own solar cells, so found the following that might be of use to others.

The Homebuilt Dynamo (book - $50 from England)

This book is a picture-diary of how we build our dynamo, with some practical information and advice along the way for anyone following our steps. The Homebuilt Dynamo is not another "do-it-yourself" book, it is simply a careful diary with photographs, detailed working drawings, and text of how I build myself a low speed, low voltage, three phase permanent magnet alternator with internal rectifier diodes which make, in effect, a direct current generator. To avoid that last longwinded description, I have substituted the word "dynamo" which, anyway, I hate to see disappear from the language.

The reader may well ask: why all the fuss over a low speed machine when mass-produced car and truck alternators are available at very reasonable cost? Well, the answer to that is that the alternative power sources such as small windmills, water turbines, and steam engines have speeds in the 100 to 800 range of RPM. To match the power source generally available to these high-speed machines requires expensive high ratio gearing or a complicated maze of belts and pulleys which aren't very energy efficient and require frequent maintenance.

Offered by Steve.

For those working with windmills, PicoTurbine has a book with plans on building a windmill from scrap parts from cars and such. To quote from the site:

$14.95 (includes USA shipping), 1993, 30 pages. All new, Updated! This all new edition is completely reformatted and packed with new information. Paul Gipe, noted wind expert has even provided a new Foreword to this edition! Now in a big, easy to read 8.5" by 11" format, with 32 completely redrawn and improved figures. This new edition is easier to follow and understand, and has information on building the turbine from easy to find Ford F250/F350 truck parts! It also includes a brand new section that gives spreadsheet formulas you can use to design your own alternator parameters such as voltage vs. current by using different magnets or coil sizes. This booklet presents complete step by step plans for building a 300 to 500 watt wind turbine using junked parts. These plans have been used all over the world to build simple but reliable wind machines that stand the test of time and weather extremes. Unlike other plans of this type you see from time to time, this one is tested and has proven to be a winner around the world. If you want a specific design for a workable wind turbine you can build from scrap parts, this is the book for you.

Offered by Michael.