[jwxr7]

I've wanted to build a wind turbine for most of my life. A few months ago I was browsing the web and decided to see what small grid tie inverters were available. There are now many choices under 1kw for low dollars. After seeing them I was inspired to begin planning and designing. My goal was to stay small, around 500 watts max, to keep things cheap and easy to manage.

First I had to find or build a generator that would work at that power range at an rpm that works in a direct drive configuration. I almost decided to build my own from scratch but then I found a motor at work that tested well for my purposes. My boss and owner of said motor, agreed to trade it to me for an old SWR meter I didn't need. The power curve I measured testing this motor as a generator prompted me to buy blades rather than carve my own since the rpms will be a bit on the high side.

I'll try to post some pics soon