[Big Al]

Been a while since I posted progress on the "megawatt in a shoebox project". Well things are moving. You might remember that the vast quantities of power generated were part of a larger project to put in a heat pump a la A.C.Hacker and I certainly did n't envisage paying a power provider to power my pumps. Meanwhile I have n't been letting the sheep cuisine grow under my feet , no sir.

Firstly I now own two excavators for putting in the ground loop. A small towable digger (a Powerfab procured in Ireland where they still go for reasonable prices ) which is in excellent nick and will do the digging. Secondly a Thwaites Tusker , much more powerful , but this needs restoring. Why two ? Well I got fed up with the rapid escalation of prices on Ebay during the last few hours and bid on two and won them both. When my 4 yr. old grandson asked why two? My reply was "Well , you want one don't you " He certainly did and the 18 month old also thinks "diggas " are the best thing since chocolate biscuits. The granddaughters are almost as keen.

Raised the Power predictor another couple of meters to about 14 meters and got improved figures but still short of a 5 meter/sec average , so I'm going higher. I have a 70 feet birch in the garden (a magnificent specimen and almost the highest thing around.) Plan is to fell a couple of 35 feet straight trees growing on wasteland just over my garden fence , splice these together to give me a 60 foot "telegraph pole" erect these about 7 feet from the base of the birch and construct a working platform between the birch and the erected pole. From this I will erect a third straight and smaller tree to carry , initially the Power Predictor and then my Vawt. This third pole will be raised and lowered from the platform to ensure easy maintenance and experimentation on the Vawt.

Sounds crazy but I think I can do this safely and as a bonus the view from the top of the birch is breathtaking. The birch has stood for decades resisting all winds and the small wind resistance of my "telegraph pole" , guyed and connected to the birch should give me a solid platform at about 60 feet allowing for splicing overlaps, and some " pole in the hole".

A 20 foot pole erected from the platform should give me a turbine at about 80 feet, 27 meters, above ground level , and higher than most things around . If I don't get an average of 5 m/sec up there there's something seriously wrong with the UK wind charts. Also as I will erect my pole on the far side of the birch , any tubine will be largely screened from the view of all residents which will aid planning permission.

Timescales ? I have to paint the house this autumn but hope to get the pole up by the end October and start measuring wind at this height. The megawatt in a shoebox will be designed over the winter, and I'll dig in the groundloop , next spring/ early summer.

Meanwhile its a race between me and aerogenerator X ( only Rolls Royce , Arup partners and others backing this one, so I should be favourite) to produce a megawatt Vawt. Warning to any new readers-the megawatt may have to be slightly scaled back to 5 Kw per day but I only need enough to drive my pumps.

Cheers for now.