Come on Wind, I've not seen a puff of it for over a month

[Gotwind Ben]

My wind turbine is static :o - It usuallty spins constantly (axial flux design - no cogging).
The turbine below is the wonderful LE-300 turbine by Leading Edge turbines - custom painted by me ;)

Me too. If this goes on, pretty soon I'll have to top the batts up with a mains charger..........

The same weather pattern that has given us the cold spell has also meant not much wind, at a time of year when your turbines should be pumping out lots of electricity. Wind and solar will never be the complete answer to our energy needs for this very reason, but they will of course make a considerable contribution to the energy mix. It may be fickle, but its free energy with minimal pollution.

Hang in there, it'll get windy again soon!

Interesting posts. But, if it isn't a rude question, what made you decide on buying factory built wind turbine as opposed to building your own ? I'm interested in learning through experiments but don't want to spend a whole lot of time experimenting when I could be generating some useful energy :roll:

Pete

[Gotwind Ben]

Good question Pete.
Answer is, it was a bargain.
The LE-300 sells for £650 new, I saw it on eBay and won it for £250, a bargain.
It is a 24v model which is prehaps not as appealing as a 12v version.

Theres plenty to learn from its design, a very simple axial flux design that could be replicated in a DIY fashion.

Thanks Ben - will keep an eye on ebay and see what can be found :D

[Gotwind Ben]

True bargains on eBay are few and far between as many will agree I suspect these days.
It takes time (a lot of) and patience to find a real good deal.

I actually upset the seller of that wind turbine I won as I was the only bidder, he hadn't listed it as best he could, keywords e.t.c
Not my problem, it sounds awful but a lesson learnt by him hopefully.

I've actually also lost a good few quid on eBay with poor listing titles/descriptions.

what made you decide on buying factory built wind turbine as opposed to building your own

pete,

Welcome to GotWind!

Depending on your skills and tools, you may find buying a "factory built" turbine plenty of "challenge". If you have never attempted to erect a tower, you will be amazed how difficult (not to mention dangerous) a task it can be. I think most in the hobby would love to DIY everything, but it is awfully tempting to just buy something and check it off the list when it presents itself at a large enough discount, lol.

Whatever route you decide to go, it is almost always best to ask first and purchase afterward. While I can't promise we'll always steer you right, we will always do our best:-)

Fish