Don’t make this mistake installing your wind turbine
I had a comment from one of my customers the other day: where did you get the crane to install your wind turbine?
It made me chuckle because I had a flashback of me and 2 friends pushing the tower up – by hand – on one of the few calm days we have around here. No, we didn’t have a crane. Our system might look big enough to need a crane but it’s really the simplest, smallest and most elegant part of our system.
I used a 20-foot long piece of galvanized iron schedule 40 pipe to mount the wind turbine. And I rigged up a T type connection at the bottom with another 10-foot section of pipe to give it some stability and make the pole-raising easier.
I also bought a guy wire kit (available on any wind power site like Solar Sphere) to secure the tower. The kit includes a collar that goes to the top and connects to 4 strands of steel rope. The ropes then come down to 4 steel augers in the ground. Boy, how I wish those augers had simply twisted into the ground! Our rocky terrain was having none of that.
So for what was the hardest part of the whole operation, I dug 4 holes in the ground, set the augers, put a little quick setting concrete in there, and then stacked rocks on top. Worked like a charm. That pole is steady in 80 mph winds. And now that I harness energy from wind I love it when it blows that hard!
The key to a successful wind generator is, of course, WIND. You need a good steady breeze of 10 mph at least 50% of the time to make it worthwhile. Plenty of places in the mountains, Midwest, and coastal area have good wind. If you’re not sure if you have enough wind jump on your state’s meteorological website, or the state agricultural college website. They often store climate data.
With wind, the higher you get the better. So look for a good high place with lots of exposure. The house roof is fine, just don’t put it above your bedroom, they can vibrate and hum in high winds.
I’d love to hear your installation tips for wind turbines in the comments!
Fantastic walk through. I appreciate this post. Your blog give me so many useful information about installing windmills turbine power. Keep doing this great work as well as – i will definitely read your more posts!!
Wooden Windmill Towers
How tall your wind turbine? How many megawatts did wind turbine produced?
What are your thoughts on vertical axis vs.a bladed wind turbine system?
I am assuming Frank you put the 10 ft. pipe with the Tee on the bottom first then the 20 Ft. sliding down over the 10 ft. pipe? I don’t know ? For me Frank I have been in Florida since 1959. What we think is strong enough, sometime surprises us. I am sort of an overkill guy because of that, I make dame sure there are no surprises that are going to make me have to repeat my job. Deeper is better than wider and I think you know why if you ever tried to pull anything out of the ground. Yes we need width too with stones and make the hole straight down so any stress won’t make it tip ! With that done I think I would use the 20 ft, pipe for the base and use the 10ft to telescope up if needed, I have no Idea of how much weight the pipe and generartor plus propeller would be but there is a couple ways to lift it 1. Is to lift to a desired highth and drill a hole in both pipes that can be secured with a pin. This poviding it is not too heavy to lift. Also mark bottom edge of pipe below hole to make it easier to match pin hole ! Secure Pin with any weather proof tie so it will not rust and just hang there if not being used.. Be sure hook you attach to 10ft pipe does not interfare with Iuside 20 ft. pipe while drilling screw hole. 2, If generator and prop is too heavy to lift a Pulley can be iinstalled just below Generator unit. I can’t draw you a diagram on my PC but I’m sure you can follow this. Run an adequate thin cable down the center of 10ft. pipe. With an eye hook head threaded bolt secure a washer the same size as the outside diameter of the 10ft. pipe or. larger is fine if there is enough room to ride free on outside wall of 20ft. pipe. Secure cable on hook with small cable locks make very tight. Run cable up through a adequate pulley thst will run free fastened below generator unit. Drill a hole through top of the 20ft.pipe large enough for cable to slide easy when pulled to lift 10 ft, pipe. I mention cable because of long life. If weight is of no concern then use a cord that will stand the weather. Use Tiedown they use to tie Boats to Docks to secure thr line. I just may go solar Frank !
In 1999 I started making my own electricity with solar which in turn helped start net-metering in the state. Since then I have searched and found a place northwest of Great Falls where this year they have started a large wind farm. Would be more than happy to talk to anybody that has questions
Could you please reply to my email. Thanks
The big msitake was my crapy Missouri wind and solar turbine. Piece of crap fell apart and hit the pole in 40 mph winds. Total loss.
Eric, You are so right about longer blades, after all, the blades are the engine, the wind is the fuel and the windings merely convert the winds force into usable power. There is a ‘but’ to this business about longer blades, for an example, one can not merely take a known sized wind turbine body and attach longer blades and expect a healthy outcome. The two must be matched most precisely.
Robert Booth, I once had 2 turbines mounted at the aft rail of my sailboat, the only problem was times, the noise. With 6 solar modules that came to me by way of the Coast Guard in St. Thomas, USVI. Never had problem with electrical power, I had a Danfoss 12 vdc Frig/Freezer, always had plenty of ice.
What hasn’t been given adequate attention is the height of the turbine, the height of the tower should be 30′ above any structures and trees at a distance of 300′ around it. Anything less and the wind gets rather choppy, which is hard on most any wind turbines.
Another point is possible ‘yawing’, that is when the turbine is not installed correctly and there is a tenancy for the turbine too ‘fall off’ of the wind. It must be installed vertical within the 360′ arc.
Here is a tip about tower foundations, deep, wide and lots of suitable use of rebar, all tied together to form a monster requiring at least 7 yards of cement. I set one up some years ago and it was as I described earlier in this paragraph. It was a lattice type tower 65′ up, what a monster to get the vertical done just right, it was precisely 0 degrees vertical, I guess that I am lucky.
In the past 15 years or more, I have erected more wind turbines than I can count, well over 100 and various sizes.
I am about to set-up a new wind turbine for our farm, a 1000 watt 24vdc Whisper 200, produced by SouthWest Wind of Flagstaff, Az.
This will enhance our output as back-up for our 3KW solar electric system, We use use quite a lot of power for our Aquaponics Farm, so it will be greatly welcomed.
Well, sorry about the length of my submission, I get wordy at times, Remember, “keep your powder dry and stay safe.”
I have found that longer blades on your wind turbine will get you power in lower winds. Just making the longer blades are a bit of a trick.
The mistake you do not want to make is putting up a wind power system in an area that does not have enough wind. Many areas just do not have enough wind to produce adequate power. We put up a Sky stream on a 50′ pole 7 years ago. We have produced only 8300 kWh total in that period. The best months produced 300 kWh. The best days produced 50 kwh and the wind was blowing 50 mph. It will produce in high wind. We do not get enough in west central Ohio farm country.
Bill.. I am in same type location.. What were local wind speeds? I pass a skystream on 4 all the time, but this is on a short pole. Doesn’t seem that small a turbine is worth the investment to me. If you get this contact me back please. Jim
Thanks for the good info! Am hoping to acquire some land in the future and plan to use both wind and solar for an off-the-grid system. Setting up the tower without tons of expensive equipment and personnel is something I have wondered about. You see tons of old wooden windmills all over West Texas and the Great Plains, and I have thought of doing that type of tower in a pinch – they’r easy to build from the ground up and are NOT rocket science. A ladder for climbing the thing could be built in as well.
The cost of wind power systems has always astounded me, considering that out great-grandfathers put up windmills with enough power to water their livestock and crops. Generally the work was done by the armers using basic carpentry skills, with some assistance from either the local blacksmith or a friend with metalworking skills.
A simple generating device isn’t all that expensive, if you avoid the usual professional windpower pimps — yet they commonly get 10 to 30K for a “system.”
Considering the power tools and modern materlals (plastic, fiberglass, etc) available to us, we should be able to rig up a great DIY system on the cheap.
I applaud all those who are pioneering this.
Raising a tower w/o a crane. 30+ years ago I installed and moved 30′ to 100′ radio towers all along the coastline. The 30′ towers could be pushed up, all the others required a BOOM pole and come-along or block & tackle. A boom is a section roughly 1/3 the length of the tower attached at the tower base & raised vertically while tower is lying down. Guy lines for 1 side of the tower are secured to the top of the boom & the come a long attached to top of boom and a 5th anchor. The boom allows redirection of the pulling force to get the tower off the ground. If not set up proper, you can crash the tower before it is secured in final position!! If they are still in business, check out Texas Tower.
WERE DO I FIND ALL THIS EQUIPMENT AT AN AFFORABLE RATE? THATS ONE REASON I HAVE NOT STARTED AND HAVE LISTEN TO ALL YOUR TALKS AND READ ALL YOUR EMAILS, BUT I AM STILL LOOKING FOR AFORABLE EQUIPMENT. I AM A COMMAN MAN WITH FAMILY AND RESOUSES ARE HIGH.
My Wind turbine works 24/7 I installed it in front of my ex wife. Man is it spinning.
Frank,
This is great, you really are a Patriot so full of Wisdom.
Blessings
Monica
I’ve thought about it, but more experienced folks than myself tell me it’s a lot of work to moderate and I haven’t yet found an easy way to do it. If you’ve got something cool to share, just email the customer service team and the’ll get it to me. We could do a guest post!
frank is there a way we can post pictures of our set ups on here? it would be nice to share
Having watched the videos on DIY wind turbines and read through the accompanying books a few questions come to mind:
1. How do you keep the turbine from over revolving in one direction? I.E., won’t the power cord wrap and wrap and wrap around the tower pole as the turbine aligns to the wind?
2. My mounting location (about 30′ (10 m) up the forward section of the mizzenmast on my ketch-rigged sailboat) doesn’t allow such a large device. Is there a way to make the whole thing shorter? Overall length of about 24 in. (60 cm), or even less, would be better. The problem noted above in 1. is particularly a concern as the mast will not allow the turbine to rotate a full 360 degrees.
3. Are there resources anywhere with information on speed of rotation of the vanes and the noise of the turbine either the wind noise of the vanes or the vibration in the system? Slower would seem to be better, intuitively, but there has to be a certain minimum to produce at least enough power to charge the batteries.
4. Is there a way to regulate the rotational speed of the turbine so it doesn’t over generate power?
One keeps the power cord from “wrapping around” in the manner you describe by using “slip rings” like in an alternator to transfer the power from the pivoting wind turbine to wires ont he stationary pole. Those “slip ring” assemblies are available online but are NOT cheap. This is why I like the vertical axis wind turbine concept.
AS I said: I plan to top a pine tree in my yard and mount this turbine(Amtek 30v). Now that’s the America I grew up loving. If any man thinks he has authority let him come and present his rules or regulations for consideration. I bought this place and I sweat to get the payments!! I paid taxes and I served in the Viet Nam era for this priviledge. I own it and I don’t need advice from some person with a degree in liberal arts and doesn’t know an electron from a ghost. Thank You frank for this opportunity to say If you want to stay free you must exercise your freedom!!
We’re looking at using a 30 VDC generator to power our pool pump, which is 15 amps at 115 VAC, through an inverter. Is this feasible?
Are talking about a 30 CDC wind generator? If so that could work but you would have to have almost full time wind which is only possible on coast lines. Is that where you are?
My pocket calculator says you will need about 75 Amps from your 30 VDC generator. Assuming you use a battery to “smooth out” the system. Without a battery 65 Amps works but motor operation will be intermittent (generally not a good thing).
An alternative wind source that is constant and really breezy would be to install it next door to a politician. Constant source. Plenty of air. And no fees.
tell them your putting up a yard ornament
How long did it take you to get approval from the city and county planning.It took me a year to give me approval for my solar panels.My solar are portable and attached to a trailer and also mounted to the ground.Two inspector came to look at it but wasn’t sure if its ok so we have to ask for the supervisor to come and look on how it is installed .The supervisor took only a minute to look and said what is the problem.Now I’m planning to put a wind turbine and going to the same probllem giving me the ran around to where to go and what to do.The guy from the planning said that he does not know whether is legal to use a wind turbine in a residential area within the city limits.Any suggestion to this problem,I live in Las Vegas NV.
Josie, Contact these guys: http://www.nationalwind.org/ They are pros at helping folks navigate the legal issues.
This industry is all hit and miss.. Axial, DC, AC3, Induction .. Inverter, bank, pole…. Is there a decent manufacturer in the US?? MSW&P is a NEVER!! ,.. and so many others.. The average man doesn’t know who to trust.. The frustration and floundering (fish out of water), due to half cocked youtubes are pushing the masses away from what we are all needing.. THANK YOU ALL who are on this and providing help to us fish.
I live in Las Vegas also what was the problem with your solar? [email protected]
Why not use a telephone pole. I have one that 37′ tall, with 6′ in the ground that still leave me 31′ in the open. We have pretty steady winds in Colleyvile TX, It between Dallas and Ft Worth.
What do you think your system cost?
I already have solar panels on my roof, but I am maxed out on my production. They only purchase 500 KW/month and that is just about I produce. So as I see it, I have to produce all of my electricity or stay where I am at.
I use about 1500kw/ month. How much can I produce with a wind generator?
Larry
I have set up a few wind turbine generators, and just as wind is important, so is the amount of blades on the machine. For all those who say an odd amount of blades are better, I say BUNK!
If one of the blades on my generators goes down, I can pull on of the blades from the opposite side,(until I get the new blade bought or made), and it will be back in operation. Think about it.
Frank that sounds like a good idea but right now where I’m at I don’t pay for power gas water or garbage but when I get in the real world I’ll probably be attending more of your seminars although I don’t really care for Facebook
Dear Frank,
RE. wind generator: What is your advice on a practical/effective/economic grounding system against lightning strikes; we get our share here in Mo; one storm in 2012 hit a poloe transformer outside the church and and fried almost all the electrics in the church. Thanks, -Larry-
THE KEY to a successful wind turbine ( the propeller type – not a barrel turbine ),
is in the “Tail”. I am talking about DIRECTIONAL STABILITY ( Pointing to a fairly
steady compass point ). The Other Important Issue is Guy-Wire Tension. I added
“Truss Stays” to the Mast ( as in a Sailboat Mast ). Remember two things –
1. The longer the “Tail”, the steadier the point, all else being equal ; and
2. The Fin ( Rudder ) MUST be Aerodynamic for S-m-o-o-t-h Air Flow.
Also remember to off-set the “Tail Angle” – I use ~ 5 degrees at 45 Degrees N.
Latitude – Offset the Tail LEFT in the Northern Hemisphere ( Coriolis force ) and
aim the Propeller shaft upward ~ 5 degrees also. The purpose of these offsets
is that the “Leading” propeller blade needs to “precess” in Quadrant 1 – that is
from 12 o’clock down to 3 o’clock – if rotation is Clockwise looking forward.
Have fun. It is truly worth it. Windy in Idaho.
I’ve often wondered if a wind turbine would work fine without a tail if it were mounted behind the pivot point rather than in front of it.
Thoughts?
Anyone?
i have a neighbor with a wind turbone that uses 4 wire guys it has down two times is down now. broken, in the tower world of amature radio an cell towers we onley use 3 guys spaced at 33 degrees where that way the wind always pull aganst two guys at all times.unless a guy breaks they do not go down.
in n.w. oregon.
i made slip rings on mine, on some i guess they use spring tension systems, don’t know how that works, you will see them on Missouri wind turbines
Just recd thee dvd very nice. On the wind turbine set as well as the on line set it is NEVER mentioned how to connect the wires from the mast to the generator. I wanted to see what kind of setup you used to keep the harness from winding up into a knot. I see testing etc but no electrical connections in the mast.
Max,
We’ve got a link to a nice product to handle that on our FAQ: http://power4patriots.com/support_technical.php
mike, i would say no, whether you want to run a grid tie inverter or charge battery’s , you would be better off with a pma or a dc motor , i don’t know if your generator has any info on it but if it does that would help answer your question on rpm amps,watts.
I have an old 110vac generator that’s about the size of a standard automobile generator from the ‘old’ days – would that make a practical wind turbine generator?
i had access to some old square tubing used for light poles, so i made one tower out of it that, i put a pivot point in so all i have to do is is take a bolt out and crank it over with a boat winch i mounted on the bottom, it only takes about 5 minutes and i can work on the whole turbine on the ground.
We sank a schedule 60 6″ ID pipe 6′ in the ground and propped up the tapered pole in the hole. Attached guy cables to the top loop in a single piece and climbed the roof on either side. Pulled them with cable stretchers and come-alongs and counted clicks so it would come up level. Then when the tapered pole, (I believe it was a flag pole once), came up to 20degree angle we just push it the final upright position. It dropped about five and a half feet and we poured cement and fiber into the hole we then freed the cable end and pulled it through the loop. After that to wire it was a snap. We are trying to acquire more six volt batteries to increase the capacity. We are ever reaching towards self suffiency. We only get 20,000.00 a year and have seven children betyween us.
We have until 2016 to erect a wind or solar tower and get a no maximum tax credit from the IRS. The Government Website is
http://dsireusa.org/incentives/index.cfm?EE=1&RE=1&SPV=0&ST=0&state=VA&technology=Wind&sh=1
This site has incentives for personal and corporate businesses.
This Government website gives you the tools to predict the size of renewable energy that you are currently using and reduce your personal cost.
https://financere.nrel.gov/finance/content/crest-cost-energy-models
Hope this helps.
HOWDY
We live outside a rural farm community and because of this there is a yardlight much as would be seen in a farm yard around the barns, shops etc. It is mounted to a power pole probably 25 feet tall. Using the type of galvanized iron schedule 40 pipe mentioned in the “don’t make this mistake. . . ” article would this provide proper stability. The pole is located in an open area about 20 feet from the quonset (shop). The area is wide open to pasture and field. We always get wind where we live. Any ponters about fastening this pipe to the power pole?
Thanks for your input.
MILO
One thing you should check, first, is whether the power company owns that pole, or you do. On our small farm we have one of those lights but it was installed by the power company and we’re billed about 19 bucks a month for it.
My guess is that if you don’t see a change for that on your electric bill, it’s probably your pole, not theirs. But it’s smart to make sure !!
I need plans for a vertical wind turbine blade I can install in ‘pancake’ sections to fit inside a Rohn 25 40-50′ antenna tower with generator(s) attached vertically. I can add sections to increase power and gear off additional generators on a belt drive.
Plans?
So what is the big mistake we’re not supposed to make? The article just leaves you hanging.