Frequently Asked Questions

Solutions that might help:

For the best performance and low noise operation, try the high speed custom carved NASA, NACA and NREL airfoils, racing cuts, or low wind airfoil with several tutorials on profiles and free classes and more tutorials on producing airfoils in a show that are just right for your location.
Not sure how large a wind generator you need? The WIND and WATTS calculator can help.
Not much cash or low wind speeds? Here's a large system that can take you off the grid in affordable steps even if you have light winds. It is also one of the quietest systems with a low RPM compared to airfoils that run at higher speeds and make much more noise. Four of these can produce 500kwh a month in areas with as little as 10 mph average wind speeds and less gens are required if you have better wind. With our financing packages, you can afford it one piece at a time with low down payments (O.A.C.)
For many people, budget is the key issue. There are:
1. Classes and CDs allowing you to get the absolute lowest cost per amp
2. Airfoil and generator specials on new and used gear.
3. Free wind generator offers from both Government agencies and Private parties.
4. Ways to unplug - some for less than $1000-$2000.
5. Kits and budget tools.
6. Home owner financing and rebate programs.

Other topics include:

QnA - Question and Answer: a wide variety of topics from customers and industry professonals.
A beginner's guide to alternative energy.
A guide covering what it takes to wire a home or sell power back to a utility company.
Customer feedback and comments on wind gen gear from WindGenSuperStore.com.
Wood tensile strength characteristics.
An industry wide comparison covering costs and dollar per amp.
Meet NASA Jerry, the NASA Ames Physicist who desigs the WindGenZen airfoils.
Postage and shipping costs. Please review these before ordering, especially overseas orders.

The following are a few answers to Frequently Asked Questions:

Read the most common type of question asked.

Answers to letters and design considerations. Your answer may be here.

Q: I NEED TO LOWER MY UTILITY BILL. How long will it take to pay back my investment in wind power?

A: AS LITTLE AS 2-3 MONTHS TO AS LONG AS 5 YEARS Two or three times longer if you used all professional installers.

If you make your own props and buy the gens, use scrap water pipe towers, your pay off period (money you would have spent on utility power, applied to the cost of your system), can be a year or two.

If you purchase the gear from us, about 3-5 years, depending on your wind speed.

If you used the ultimate surplus/cheapie generators and made your own rotors and all scrap/surplus parts, you can pay off the cost of the system with your utility bill savings in under a year, as little as a few months if you get everything from scrap yards and have good winds - we'll show you how.

First visit the Wind Maps and Wind and Watts calculator.

This will give you an idea of how large an airfoil (or how many) you need. Use this information and review your utility bills. This will tell you how much power you need to make.

Next, use the Kits utility to price the components you will need. Once that is done...

Look at your annual utility bill and consumption. If you selected enough power to replace all of your usage, you will find that your payback period will usually be 2 to 3 years (our prices) and 5 to 10 years (most other Wind Gen Outlets).

WILL A $1000.00 10 FOOT AIRFOIL AND GENERATOR FROM WINDGENSUPERSTORE MAKE AS MUCH POWER AS A $6000.00 UNIT OTHER PLACES OFFER.

Yes, in fact, since we can custom carve the airfoil profile to match YOUR SPECIFIC WIND CONDITIONS you may get even MORE POWER from a WindGenZen airfoil and generator.

Our LARGE AIRFOILS can compete with systems costing 3 to 12 times more, as shown on the comparison chart covering wind generators from arould the world.

Most of the added expense of other systems are for towers and expensive grid-ties. Our classes show you how to slash that part of the equation by using inexpensive rugged heads/mounts you can make for less than $50.00 with parts from a hardware store (no welding required), and simple and complex circuits, wind switches, load/power dumping and more.

We teach and have students all around the world. The step-by-step classes are included with your blade and gen.

WILL I HAVE PROBLEMS WITH PERMITS?

Depending on your location and the type of installation ( avoid a grid-tie to make things easier), you might and might not, but with rising oil prices, the political climate is changing drastically. Many states and communities are easing up on home owners and even encouraging self-installed wind generators that don't tie to the grid - you simply need a second subpanel (less than $100.00) and outlets dedicated to your alternative energy system - no grid tie required and that helps getting a permit easier.

There are also forums and chat rooms where you can learn how to fight city hall with a video camera and a few pointed questions. If your electrical system meets code, you have a licensed electrician install the subpanel or make sure you use the proper components (right size fuses etc.), are using the power in your home and not sending it to the grid, the simple question to ask your building and planning department is:

"Are we encouraging alternative energy in this city or not
because there is nothing dangerous about my system.

You may have to ask the same question of your state legislature.
We suggest you bring the press or a video camera to a Board of Supervisors or City Hall meeting. That single step often causes politicians to think very hard about options and figure out what is best for their citizen's long term financial picture.
Also, decisions are often made without quite so much red tape when the right answer is rather obvious, even to a child and their vote on the issue is public record, timely and newsworthy.

Some communities on this map encourage wind generators. Others do not, but with public awareness, that is quickly changing.

DO YOU SHIP INTERNATIONALLY? WHAT ARE THE SHIPPING AND HANDLING CHARGES?

Yes, we have customers around the world.

(customers around the world)

However please note that England, Australia and New Zealand and many overseas destinations have length limits on longer blades via U.S. Post so long blades must be shipped UPS and are quite expensive to ship.

To solve that, we suggest you order either large 10 foot three tip airfoils which are made of (3) five foot airfoils, or buy in multiple units to reduce your price. Always check INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING RESTRICTIONS before ordering.

GENERAL S/H CHARGES:

Click a price lists on the left sidebar. It will ask you for your destination and then click BUY for any item you are interested in and the S/H charge will be shown on the purchase order.

Hubs are usually included with blades and we mount them on finished blades. GENERAL SHIPPING AND HANDLING CHARGES:

Within the U.S.A.

$25 for 4 ft. blades and wood templates (all sizes) (priority)
$40 for 6 ft. blades (express overnight)
$50 for 7 ft. blades (express overnight)
$30-$60 for gens up to 5kw
$80-$120$60 for gens from 5kw to 10kw
$25 for smaller ametek gens
$5 for CDs

To Canada

Add 10-15 percent to U.S. S/H prices. To Europe, England, Asia, Africa, South and Central America

Add 50-80 percent to U.S. S/H prices, except the 6 and 7 foot airfoils; triple the S/H price. However the 10 foot airfoils are about the same as 3 five foot airfoils.

Length Restrictions for International shipments, especially ENGLAND, Australia, New Zealand

Many countries besides these three countries have postal length restrictions. For some places it is 60 inches (U.K. countries). But then Ireland didn't have that restriction and now it does-we don't know why. Columbia and many developing nations have a 42 inch restriction. Please review postal length restrictions at this URL before ordering.

WHAT DO I DO TO PREVENT OVERCHARGING? DO YOU HAVE A PART FOR THAT?

The class on circuits is at http://windgenzen.com - click the online class and use the password from the order status screen at our website. It's free to blade customers only. Students who bought the CD or online class also get the online blade carving class free.

Then look at the 'simple and complex' circuits and decide what you want, whether it's wind switches, diodes, power burn off or disconnect on full charge.

One way some folks do it is to flip the gen positive to gen ground which locks the blades. The gen positive is disconnected from battery positive for this.

MOST people simply drive a heavy load like a refer or heater or pump when batteries reach full charge; the selenoid diagram at the site.

Another option is to drive a bleed off battery system that has a big invertor on it that is connected to something like a water heater. This works well for people with homes and is better than locking blades down when fully charged. You really don't ever want to be losing power. Instead, use it...somewhere.

Some people buy expensive trace controllers to stop charging and we don't recommend them. They die eventually and are expensive to replace and again, lose power.

The first thing to consider is the battery bank size. You want to make sure you have enough batteries for 2-3 days of no wind. I run 10 golf carts on my boat to form 5 12 volt banks. I rarely hit overcharge and if I do I can let it trickle in and that will desulfate my plates. Works for me.

WHAT IS MY BIGGEST EXPENSE WITH A WIND GEN SYSTEM?

We hope it's your batteries and invertor! If you get a reasonably priced blade and generator, this is where you will spend your money. On many systems when you buy expensive wind generators, you spend as much for the gen and blade as for batteries and an invertor: bad idea!

We offer much more cost effective solution and system estimater and systems you can make for under $100.00, so you have more to spend on those big ticket items.

POWER OUTPUT, MOTOR RPM, VOLTAGE OUTPUT/INPUT?

COMPARE DOLLARS PER AMP

CLICK HERE TO SEE
OTHER POWER AND NOISE TESTS ON THE AIR X

CLICK HERE TO SEE
WIND SPEED vs BLADE DiAMETER vs WATTAGE

On February 22nd, the NOAA wind data below (circled) indicates 13-18 knots at a bouy about a mile from where I live at anchor.

My friend had just completed installing his Air-X Marine, 42 inch blade at the top of his mizzen and was checking out his fancy monitoring circuits, bleed-off circuits and I was walking down the dock and heard it whizzing away. I noticed it would slow down drastically quite often, then speed up in the gusts. Our blades have a more even RPM through lulls and gusts, so I wanted to see how many AMPS he was getting as the wind varied.

I shouted down below 'Hey, how many amps are you making? Got that circuit finished?' and he shouted back 'Come below and see for yourself.' He sounded very proud and he had done a lot of work on it, so off I went down into his very nice boat.

I saw the meter go down to 0-2 amps in the lulls and then when the gusts hit, it would go up to 3 to 4.5 amps. If a really strong gust hit, it would go up to just under 5 (about 4.8 or 4.9). I said, 'I'll be genereous and give you 5 in the strong gusts, but really 3 to 4.5 is about all you are getting and it sure does spend a lot of time at zero or 1 or 2 amps.' His hospitality soon faded with my comments (ooops) and I said I was going out to my boat and see what I was getting.

I don't run fancy gear; I have a fat rotary switch, an automatic wind switch and a manual override, a few meters on my helm and a nice battery A-B switch. I also have those cheapie 6 LED christmas light thingys that tell me from anywhere in the boat how my batteries are doing.

I took out my rather expensive multimeter (I am a union electrician who designs robotics) and changed the leads to measure amps, set the dial to measure amps and wedged one lead firm down into a fat wire where some copper goes into a battery clamp and the other lead onto the post where the gen comes down to the battery box.

I reached around and flipped the A-B battery switch to OFF so the only way power could come from the wind gen was through my meter.

BANG! 4.8 amps, 6 amps, 7 amps and then the gusts, 8, 9, 10, 9, 8, 10, 10.8! (oh boy this is really great!!!) and then POOOF! The fuse blew in the meter.

Most multimeters are only designed for 10 amps. I don't know how many amps I would have gotten in those really STRONG gusts where he was getting 4.5 amps, but I do know that when he was in the 3 amps to 4.5 amp range, I was in the 8 amp to 11 amp range.

That was the best comparison I had ever done and that is the power you can expect from our six foot blades with the larger, (more expensive) 7 inch gen. The standard gen we sell with our 4 and 6 foot blades will be a bit less. If you want the larger gen (you need good winds and a 5 or 6 foot blade to drive it), then you will get between twice and three times the power. Period.

Our 4 foot blade puts out about half the power of the 6 foot blade, or just slightly more than the Air-X Marine Gens. That makes sense. The Air-X is 42 inches and ours is 48 inches, so the Air-X has an airfoil that is at least as good as ours (close anyway). We aren't knocking these units. They are much better weather proofed than the cheap ametek gens I use, they look sexy with that 'seagull' body and come with a casing, fin, mast/pole etc. and if you want to pay more than four times as much for less than half the power and you think that's prudent, go for it. Their unit will probably outlast your unit if you go with cheap refurbished Ametek PM motors.

Since those motors are getting harder to find, you might consider something with about 4 times the output, a totally sealed case and a slightly higher price tag. The little monster below will beat an Air-X by nearly 10 to 1 for amps out with a good sized blade and will cost a lot less money and last a long, long time...

...but they are about 4 times more expensive than an old Ametek.

If your goal is POWER for the best PRICE, you won't find a better blade and gen on the planet than the blades and gens we sell. No way. Not for this price performance. That little comparison taught me a lot about just how good our blades really are.

And you know what was really telling? His AirX was at the TOP of his mizzen mast, a good 20 feet higher than my blade was. Had I mounted my blade as high as his blade I probably would have blown the meter out in the LIGHT wind gusts! Here are the NOAA wind speeds for the day I did this test.

Note: we provide generator/motors to wind generator customers AT OUR COST. These are often ametek motors from third party vendors and we guarantee they will work or are replaced. Our vendors are professional surplus houses, electronic gear reps etc. Not all motors are rated for this or that voltage, but ALL are guaranteed to work within the parameters below and ALL will work with wind generator blades to provide 12-18 volts of charging power from wind power as described herein. Please remember we cannot and will not guarantee a specific ametek model number and as these motors get rare and hard to find, please consider yourself lucky that we sell them at cost for our blade customers. They aren't easy to come by and are considered 'The Gems' of the industry.

The ability to CHARGE BATTERIES always depends on the wind speed, blade size, air foils used, generator installed etc.

There is an amp chart for the common ametek motors at WindGenZen.Com that shows amperage output. Generally ALL Ametek motors we order for customers produce 12 volts at 300-400 RPM. This is why we only recommend the WindGenZen NASA blades for Ametek motors, treadmill motors etc., as the airfoil of these blades is designed to drive PM motors requiring higher RPMs, yet remain quiet due to the very high stall speed. In addition to voltage to charge batteries, noise is a function of tip stall, so whatever blade you choose you need to make sure it can continue to deliver power beyond 20 knots; almost all hollow metal blades and most hollow carbon fiber blades start to stall at 20-25 knots, become very noisy (really irritating you and your neighbors) and we highly recommend you go listen to blades in medium to strong winds before purchasing this type of hollow airfoil: they are loud and obnoxious.

The folks who have 'thrown away' their gens due to this noise have remarked that the WindGenZen NASA airfoil is so quiet they would reconsider a wind generator after seeing one in action; the gen bearings make more noise!

As for voltage and RPM, Ametek motor specs vary from vendor to vendor; surplus houses rarely have the same motors for more than a few weeks and then get a different batch. We offer them to our blade customers at our cost, as well as in auctions at special prices and they range from 24 volts at 325 RPM to 72 volts at 1850 RPM. Since voltage is a linear function of RPM, what you need is a motor that produces 12 volts at about 300-400 RPM; any overall rated voltage is fine. We studied the Ametek specs from the factory and for a given length and diameter, the actually wattage (ability to charge batteries) is within 5% from model to model within a given length; longer gens usually have higher wattage ratings as long as it produces about 12 volts within 300-400 RPM. We also avoid the smaller 1/2 inch shaft and deal almost exclusively with the more robust/powerful/higher output 5/8 shaft gens.

We purchase from several vendors as they often run out and we have to 'ask around' to find them. Ameteks are getting harder and harder to find and all ametek motors we purchase for customers produce 12 volts at 300-400 RPM.

NOTE: if you want a specific ametek motor, we do not provide this as there is no guarantee of what is available. Motors vary from 5-7 inches long and all have a 4 inch diamter housing with a 5/8 shaft. We cannot and do not guarantee any other specification except the linear output of at least 12 volts at about 300-400 RPM. Overall wattage from all our vendors is within 5% (depending on length) regardless of the Ametek model. We suggest you visit the Ametek website and look up the specs on these and that's what you will find for any given length. Please do not bid on our auctions or purchase a motor from us if you need a more critical specification than this.

Also if you have purchased a 6 foot or larger blade, while the ametek gens are fine if you have medium to strong wind conditions, those blades can easily drive the 1/4 and 1/3 HP motors also listed at our website. To get the most out of your blade, we suggest you consider the extra money - well spent - on larger PM Motor/Generators.

WHAT BLADE SIZE DO I NEED?

We always suggest you start small (4-6 ft) and grow as you can afford more batteries and a larger invertor.

Here is a letter to 'Russ' about his new 4 foot mahogany blade compared to the 4 and 6 footers I run that gives you an idea how to select blades:

Dear Russ,

Your mohogany 4 footer is the identical blade I fly in storm (most of winter) conditions, except I cut yours with thinner tips for the high winds you guys get next to Lake Michigan.

However, I fly them both on a LARGER gen ($50.00) so, here's the differences. The trick is to match the airfoil and blade length to the gen to the wind speeds expected:

You'll see more acceleration with a 4 footer on a smaller gen and hence more power for year round performance. Your 4 beats my 4 in lower to medium winds because it can easily drive your gen. It has a hard time driving mine in winds under 20 knots so I don't get much of a charge; another reason I gave mine wider tips; yours spins faster than mine in the same winds with the same gen.

So you get higher output than my 4 footer will produce in winds under 20 knots.

But I double that output by flying my 6 footer in those conditions and that blade is easily capable of driving the larger gen I run; they have TWICE the wind swept area.

Comparing 4 footer to 4 footer, you won't see the higher output I get when it's really blowing like last night (40+) unless you go to the larger gen, but if you HAD the larger gen, in high winds your blade would actually beat mine because it has the thinner tips.

Got it? We are the only blade shop that will custom carve to local wind conditions. At the windgenzen.com website there is a page on airfoils. We can provide a 'hollow' blade for low winds (noisy, but they start up sooner) and NASA or NACA airfoils and Wortman designs. Wide tipes, thinner tips...whatever you want we will help you get the most power for the wind conditions you expect....free.

We are always adding larger blades and invertor gear at our website - click here.

WHAT ENGINEERING PROBLEMS WILL I HAVE ONCE I GET THE BLADE AND GEN?

Several engineering tasks remain when ANY wind generator land at your door:

All windgens require a mount/mast/pole thingy to sit on. We have tons of diagrams at our free class for sailboats, halyard and mast mounts, poles, cabins, RVs, rooftops-you name it we are always adding more photos and diagrams and help pages. These can be made for under $25.00 with zero welding.

Next, all windgens have wires to batteries. You should read more on this below. The circuit can be built, again, for under $25.00 and to start testing and charging, you can just use simple battery clamps.

People worry about wires twisting when the mast swivles. No worries here.

Some people use a rotating contact; like a brush on a washer. The problem is corrosion and voltage loss. If you get a sealed contact, it can be expensive. No need for this.

Most people use a 2 wire (ground and positive) fat cable and just a rope. The wind usually comes from one direction for most of the day/month/year and only comes from other directions during storms.

This means the gen can point in the predominant direction for most of the time and spin to other directions, winding the cable up over a long period of time. They put a STOP on the pole/mast facing the direction the wind rarely comes from so the gen doesn't go all the way around; no need for this either (see below).

When it gets wrapped too much, simply have a long rope (called a pendant) to unwind it manually...or...

Want it to unwind automatically? Some people use FAT WELDING CABLE, clamped to the swivling mount and the other end clamped at the bottom, down inside the pole/mast. When this fat cable gets wound, like a rubberband, it will automatically unwind the gen a turn or two when winds get light.

Want another way for it to unwind automatically? Use a solid rubber bungee shock cord about 15-18 inches long. Clip one end on the POLE/MAST and the other end on the rotating mount/generator. It can rotate 2 or 3 turns and then the shock cord will automatically pull it back when winds go light.

Remember that if the mount is spring loaded by method 5 or 6 above, when winds are light it will spin back and when winds pick up again it will go to the natural direction (via the tail) the wind wants it to go.

Most people in forums say that their cables NEVER get tangled/twisted or at most, only a few turns per year. You would think it would be more of a problem than this. It isn't.

The photos and diagrams for this are in our online and CD class. They are easy solutions anyone can make and they work.

Next, winds vary and so will your output. The trick is to tune the right blade and gen combination with your average winds. You may end up going to a larger blade or smaller blade (stormy) or larger gen (lots of power) or smaller gen (light winds, small blade) etc. We recommend a winter blade and gen setup for stormy weather and a summer blade and gen setup for light winds.

Golf cart batteries and an invertor; somebody needs to select and buy these items and connect them.

Advanced engineering tasks: you'll need to fine tune your system, from adding a power-bleed-off circuit when your batteries are full and the wind is howling, to fine tuning the rig (see the example letter from a customer below).

"Finally have my generator working! It's pumping out electricity like crazy. I have two questions for you. As the wind speed shifts the unit swings from side to side. Will a bigger tail fix this? Also I'm thinking that I need to work a couple of bungee cords into the lines that hold the bottom of the pole in place as there is a fair amount of noise inside the boat from the vibration above decks. Any ideas?
Thanks again for all your help. BR-Canada"

"Dear BR, the larger tail will help; most folks basically use a triangle of 3 to 9 square feet pointing into the wind on a rod that is almost as long as the blades are wide. One problem folks have when using our larger blades is that they do require larger tails than little air-x and amp-air generators. Blades are bigger, more power, bigger tail.

As for vibration, I use 1 to 1.5 inch fat, braided nylon tubing around all metal poles/masts/sockets etc. and that usually kills it. Nice to hear our BLADES aren't making any noise; they are notoriously quiet compared to other wind gens, eh? Make sure the bottom of the mast/pole is IN A PADDED SOCKET and you'll be fine. Try it and let me know how it works."

CAN THESE DIODES HANDLE MY GEN OUTPUT?

While using a diode may be smart, many pros find the voltage loss unacceptable.

We suggest you consider using a WIND SWITCH which has much less loss. The complete class is available at our website but here's a diagram to get you started.

WHAT AIR FOIL SHOULD I SELECT?

We suggest you consider the air foil carved by WindGenZen.Com which is based on a very fast, powerful and quiet shape or visit our website for graphs on start up and stall speeds (noise) for different configurations.

IS 2-0 CABLE OK OR SHOULD I GO WITH 1-0?

2 0 ('2-ought') is plenty for the point the gens leave the control box and head for the batteries. By now you should have built the lil control box with the 50-100 amp rotary switch or double throw single pole switch etc. in 'the diagram'. As for gen to control box connection, 4-6 guage is plenty if run is under 50 feet and that cuts costs, but yes, you can spend the 2-0 everywhere if you have the budget, but it's a waste. Look at the wires leaving the gens. Triple that size and you're good for 50 feet.

I use exterior yacht style power cord for mine (4 guage) and have about a 25 foot run to my manual override switch (overrides the wind switch) and then on to the rotary switch (or you can use the double throw/single pole as in diagram) and then goes on to tag my main post in my fuse panel which my marine A/B switch also lights up and then goes on to feed my fuse panel which feeds the boat subpanel switches with all the gizmos on it. That main post tag allows me to select which battery bank to charge and gives me a convenient place for invertors, other battery chargers etc.

HOWEVER, since I do not run a voltage regulator, (they eat power), it's a bit dangerous; if I turned OFF the A/B switch and turned on my sensitive navigation equipment it would get hit with 20-30 volts in high winds and that would mean an expensive repair. I will probably add a voltage regulator that specifically manages the nav equipment in the future, but if I find it's a power hog (they are notorious), I will regret it. The other option is to install a relay that triggers on 18 volts (also on the diagram) and dumps power to heavy load. This protects the sensitive gear as most automotive/marine electronics can handle 18-20 volts and the relay would divert the rest.

Q: I DECIDED WHICH KIT TO GET. HOW MUCH DO I PAY?

Each link on the left menu leads to prices and shipping charges. Click the buy button under any item and it will walk you through the payment process.

IF I DON'T LIKE MY NASA BLADE OR GENERATOR, CAN I GET A FULL REFUND?

If you buy and fly our blades and aren't happy with the output or if the generator you choose is too large or too small, we refund 100% - no questions asked.

If you won the blade at an auction or paid via PayPal, you are responsible for those fees. We don't refund eBay, PayPal or wood stock fees. Sorry.

The most common type of return/exchange/refund is undersizing your generator. Many people expect our large 6 foot blade to match to the small cheap generators found for $25.00 (some vendors charge $500-$1000 for these systems-OUCH!) and while this is a fair combination in light winds, you waste a lot of power and should have spent a little more and gotten a LARGER generator. The 6 foot NASA AIRFOIL BLADES are flat out, unconditionally the most powerful blade on the market for winds from 12-60 knots - guaranteed! If you have wind and want lots of power, buy large blades and larger gens: our blades will drive them easily. If you don't have wind, buy large blades and small gens to match your conditions. That's the elusive, but realistic and simple recipe for success.

Personally, in San Francisco, I run a slightly larger generator that costs $35.00 (plus s/h) with my 4 foot blade in storms and my 6 foot blade the rest of the time and that provides my nearly 100% of my power requirement at anchor, where I have lived for 4 years. One winter I was able to drive a 30 website apache webserver with that system for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for a month. However, winds aren't always present and vary by region so your results will be different.

If you need to process a refund or exchange equipment, click here.

Common eBay questions.

The reason we prefer you ask questions through our website is that:

eBay limits the text we can send back to you. We provide support and most of these questions exceed the space allowed on eBay...and...

Our shop techs and engineers and girls in the office don't all do well messing around in the eBay account. The shop guys who answer most of the questions have been told to stay out of the eBay account and the girls are clueless about most engineering questions...and...

We can take your Q/A session here for everyone to read so we can expand our teaching/online classes and online FAQs pages.

Dear Tony,
Thanks for writing this way; personally and not through eBay. It has a lot more room for questions and since we teach and try to provide support, I am sure there will be a lot more than 'two questions'. Let's address yours for now.
Two Questiuons Please:

Q: - Do you have schematics available for building a wind switch?

A: You bet. Our website has a free online class for blade customers. The circuit class has wind switches and all kinds of diagrams, from simple to complex. Basically it is a bit of styrofoam and a bilge float switch on a PVC pipe. I made several prototypes a few years ago and this one has outlasted all the others...in storms and in light air and is durable, pretty accurate (use bolts shoved into the foam paddle to counter-balance and adjust) and CHEAP. The class and all diagrams, including desulfators, various mounts and power burn off circuits is all free for blade customers.

Q: - What can I use to measure the AH or KW produced by a wind generator?

A: I use a standard volt meter with a 50 volt range. Some folks use an inline amp meter and while they burn very little power, I don't like anything extra that takes away from my wind power. For example, the diode (no wind switch) method uses 1.4 forward voltage (loss) and that's one reason I went with the wind switch. If you put an amp meter in there I would make it a brief on/off deal so you can take it out of the circuit as needed.

Q: I have an Ametek 50 VDC.

A: GREAT! Those work well.

Q: We have an outback charge controller (can dump to it) so I don't really need another charge controller. Or do I?

A: I avoid charge controllers per se but folks who leave blades unattended for days/weeks need them. I let the gens fully charge the batterys and then dump the excess to either another bank or a fridge or a water maker etc. and switch it manually. Batteries like a little 'over charge', especially if you run a lot of golf cart batteries like I do (10 of them). You could let the large battery bank like mine go to 18 volts (while charging) and it actually ends up desulfating the plates a bit so it extends their life. If I were to put 10 amps into a single battery-POOF!-FIRE-MELTED PLATES, but even at 20 amps, divided by 10 batteries, that is about 2 amps per battery which is a nice trickle and at 18 volts, keeps the plates clean. HOWEVER, most folks don't run 10 golf carts like I do. If you only have 1 or 2 batteries, at 10 amps each in an overcharge state, you could burn the place down or destroy the batteries and a charge controller makes sense.

The problem with charge controllers is they eat juice, are expensive and I have seen even the nice TRACE units die...at $500-$1000 for some of these things, that's another expensive that I feel isn't required...PUT YOUR MONEY IN MORE BATTERIES. That's the best investment you can make.

Q: I will be in the market for blades as I'm planning on building a second generator.

A: Great.

Q: Thanks - Tony

A: No sweat. Write anytime.

Our eBay feedback says things like 'More support than my therapist.'

To further prove support and teaching are number one at KCK, here's a reply to a gent in a place that lives somewhere I WISH I had a tower located. Wow. I am drooling. Check out the wind maps for his home and you will too.

Hi. My name is Don and I am interested in wind power. I have contacted other suppliers and they tell me I need a 10kw to operate my whole home. With a $60,000.00 price tag it is too expensive. However I am now interested in a 3kw. However your web site is very confusing to me, so my question is what would I need and what would it cost. I am not interested in carving a blade. I have limited knowledge of windmills. However I have built one that has a gm alternater and two batterys it was fun to build although it doesn't work that well. It does lead to a lot of conversations. I would like to be connected to the grid but building it comes first. I live in Nova Scotia, Canada. Thanks for your time. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Dear Don,

You are in luck and I am envious of your geographic location. Nova Scotia? Darn near the wind capital of the Americas.

First, we teach. KCK is made up of teachers that volunteer for free children's PC labs (since 1983). While I know most folks don't want to carve blades, that's where people on even tighter budgets than yours start. Fine; you don't have to and yes, you can do this for a fraction of $60k. That is absurd. I won't get into the firm that quoted you that. I am sure they have done many systems, charge a fair and competitive price and still, it is absurd.

I can find a 10kw generator that can be driven with a blade for $50 bucks - used. It would take time and calls to engineering/rat-pack friends and perhaps a few months of salvage research, but I know one friend with a 30kw gen (weighs probably 2 tons) and is the size of a large washing machine, in his backyard.

I can get a 10kw generator that, with the right design can be driven to power a home for under $2500.00-new.

I can find 3kw used gens for under $500.00 from several surplus houses.

We can find 3kw new gens for under $2000.00 - closer to $1200.00 - $1500.00 - new.

In all cases it is always the SHIPPING that kills you...it is usually more than the price of the item and that really shocks people...especially overseas where it can be double the price of the item to get it from the U.S. to say 'England' or Saudi Arabia. Yes, it is rather ironic, but we have large blade customers in the oil capital of the middle east. Go figure.

Now onward for blades; the trick is to match generator rated RPM with the right airfoil and right blade SIZE.

As a rule, 1kw requires a blade of 8 - 12 feet in diameter.

3kw requires 13-18 feet diameter.

10kw requires 23-28 feet diameter.

Most of the blades we sell are much smaller than that. We target cabins, RVs, sailors and a few folks who want them for their homes/ranches, such as pump houses and barns etc. We also make larger 1-5kw blades but if you want 10kw from a single gen, go to Bergey...the caddilac in the industry.

We don't recommend it. Tower and wiring prices go sky high.

Maintenance costs goes out the roof.

When it's down, EVERYTHING is down.

Several smaller redundant systems with 2-4 towers is a bit wiser (our thinking).

Installation grunt work for a 3kw gen is a fraction of a 10kw fat gen.

Maintenance and replacement costs are much less.

When it's down, other gens are still going.

When you want/need blades for replacements or to expand the system, they are a fraction of the price of a single large 10kw airfoil setup.

If you want a gen at the barn and 2-3 at the house, smaller systems with shorter wire runs are the only way to go.

So...in most cases, several smaller gens can out perform single large systems in an DOLLAR PER AMP comparison and in a LONG TERM COST ANALYSIS...smaller systems pay for themselves MUCH FASTER than single large systems.

But this only works if you do a lot of the work yourself and, like any large purchase, LEARN, SHOP AND KNOW WHAT YOU WANT and get a feel for what is available before spending money.

So you want blades to drive ABC generator?

Questions begin. What are the RPM characteristics of the gen...what voltages is it creating at what RPMs.

For example 10kw gens are often in the 100-250 AC range and since RPM varies with wind speed, it is called 'WILD CAT AC'. You have to take that voltage and rectify it and pump it into large battery banks (normal way to store it). There are losses whenever you rectify voltage. Look at the heat sinks on a large, automotive garage style charger (inside those wheeling carts). BIG FLAT PLATES where heat is lost...that's power going out the window unless you heat some water with them.

Then in the smaller 1-3kw range you are often also getting AC and that means a big rectifier and the losses there as well.

Whenever you have these losses you need to practically DOUBLE the size of the gen to achieve what a similar DC generator would be producing. It's not quite that bad but it isn't much better than that when you consider all the other costs of that added weight flying on top of your tower. For example, I would rather have a single 1.5 kw DC gen than a 3kw AC gen-much lighter, cheaper and easier to maintain the DC gen and it's overall power output isn't much less (a little, but not much), than a 3kw ac unit after the rectifier process is done...plus I don't need a rectifer to get battery power from the DC gen. I just need cables to put a few batteries in series (say to form a 48 or 72 volt system).

It's not until you get into the .5 - 1.5 kw range that DC is commonly available and you don't have all those losses or expenses.

So, how much extra gear do you want to go huge and what sort of payoff does huge provide? Not much but it sure costs a lot more.

How much savings do you have for towers, more batteries, perhaps a grid tie or a larger invertor if you go a bit smaller and stick with DC and to get the SAME OUTPUT, erect 1 or 2 more towers and perahsp even BEAT the big AC unit's output?

I'd rather spend my money on battery storage and a real invertor than be strapped for funding those items because my generator cost as much as a nice car.

I'd rather get 3 or 4 sets of blades instead of spending twice as much on a single set.

I'd rather build 3 or 4 20-40 foot towers that my friends and I could set with a pickup truck or a good block and tackle for a 1.5 or even 2kw DC gen than a 50-100 foot tower for a big old 10kw gen that requires a crane when things need maintenance-and they do, especially when you are first starting out and are debugging things -

Common example: OOOPS! That large surplus gen didn't work out. Put it on eBay for half of what you paid for it, eat the $200-$300 loss, get a different unit, drop a tower yourself and put the new one up, put the tower back up, ahhhh....good powerband characteristics, easy to do maintenance and ok...now that this one works, let's get 2 or 3 or 4 more of those blade/gen combinations and do it again...cheaply and easily with knowledge of what works and what doesn't and plenty to spare for the BIG TICKET ITEMS, like a few tons of batteries and really nice invertor, grid tie to sell power back to utility companies etc. etc.

AND the smaller units pay for themselves in a fraction of the time of larger units. The LARGER THE UNIT, the LONGER IT TAKES for the DOLLAR PER AMP cost to pay for the unit. Period...a universal equation.

Look at the comparison chart at http://windgenzen.com.

Note the increase in COST PER AMP as you go bigger.

Ok, enough said.

Now airfoils (our specialty).

We use a NASA 0417 and NACA 4418 airfoil; it doesn't start as 'quickly' as hollow metal blades because as EVERYONE KNOWS in the wind gen biz, low wind speeds are worthless for power.

BUT manufacturers want to tout numbers such as 'starts in 4 knots of wind'. Ok, go buy a cheap wind guage and go outside on a 4 knot breeze and tell me how much power you are going to get from that? Power is a function of wind velocity CUBED so you double the wind speed and get 8 times the power. Got that? Important to always remember it. Wind goes to 8 knots and you have 8 times the power of a 4 knot breeze. Wind goes to 16 knots and you have how much more power than that 4 knot breeze? Try 8 times 8 or 64 times the power. And 12 to 15 knots is just getting started. So what does that tell you about the value of extreme low wind conditions? Worthless. A waste of grease in the bearings.

Kick the wind up to 20-30 knots and at 32 knots compared to 4 knots you have 64 times 8 or 500 times the power. Yup. Go look it up.

Give me a gen that works well in 15-40 knots of wind and a blade set designed to drive THAT gen and I am a happy guy. That blade set will probably start in 9-12 knots of wind and deliver a great, wide powerband all the way up to 40-60 knots.

HOLLOW LOW WIND BLADES (punched/rounded metal being the common type), start in 3-5 knots and in EVERY SINGLE CASE, they start to stall at 18-25 knots (huge dip in their powerband graphs) and they get noisy, vibrations come into play and they have to shut down or furl out of the wind.

This is acceptable if you have 5-15 knot breezes every day of the year...get a low wind blade and get as much power as you can and be thankful you have dim lights at night. It would be better to use solar if wind is that poor.

But, back to my first paragraph...folks in Nova Scotia have no such restrictions. I have friends there. There are places the wind howls 50 knots every single day. Give me a blade that loves a 20-50 knot breeze and doesn't stall until the extreme upper end and now you have how much? Uh, we figured hundreds and hundreds times the power of the low wind blades.

Our blades are designed by a NASA physicist who sails and uses them and taught us to make them. He likes our workmanship and airfoils so much now we carve HIS blades. A compliment from a great teacher to a great student (us).

Our blades and airfoils are also discussed extensively on our website-check the airfoil link at http://windgenzen.com.

Our blades don't follow the same design characteristics as anufacturers who want low wind blades. We don't care about 4-7 knots of wind. We start up in 9-12 knots and our ramp is much steeper than theirs is. We have designed blades with the advice of a high speed turbine enginer blade designer, both hollow and a well formed airfoil and guess what; the hollow ones start sooner but never reach the output or RPMs of a good airfoil. Period. We did the test, saw it live and don't do it anymore.

We've also done the tests with common car alternators. The problem there is electricity is required to ignite the field around that becomes the magnets in the units. Because these alternators are designed for cars with engines turning at 2000-5000 RPM, there isn't enough wind power until it is howling at 40 knots to break even; the field requires too much juice and the RPMs at 300-1000 RPMs with a 6 foot blade aren't enough to make the voltage that can charge a battery. End of story.

I know of one Kiwi who used the 2 to 1 belt pulley set up (with 20-30% losses in friction), but he wanted cheap, commonly available, gets some power at 15 knots and is happy. I would rather get the right gen/alternator.

The right unit has MAGNETS to create the magnetic field. No electricty is required to ignite a coil. Permanent Magnet Generators are cheap-the ametek is the standard darling of the industry for folks running 4-8 foot blades to get 100-400 watts and they are refurbished, widely used and are cheap-under $100 bucks.

Permanent magnet alternators are a bit more pricey and are usually new-expect to pay $150-$400 bucks for a similar unit as the ametek, however a good PM DC motor capable of producting a full kw easily can be had at a junk yard for less than $50 bucks and might cost you $700 new if you shopped at the wrong place.

It all depends on whether you want new or used and whether or not you are willing to take a chance, save a few hundred bucks and swap a gen or two before finding the right surplus one that worked well.

If you want a common gen, look in the mailed catalogs. You can get several 5kw gens for under a grand. Yes, they are AC. Yes I think a 2-3kw DC gen would be a better choice-almost as much power since you don't have to rectify it. There are new DC motors in the 1-5 HP range that have RPM characteristics that work well, but since they don't make as many of them as 5kw gens (Coleman, Sears, etc. uses the common 3600 RPM 110vac gen and they are very common and cheap), well you will pay a bit more for a DC unit that puts out comparable power and it may even weigh a bit more. Oh well. Spent a little more, got a DC gen, didn't have to mess with a rectifer and I can pick and choose a motor with good RPM characteristics. THEN consider the blade length to do the job, get a blade slightly larger than required if winds are light and slightly smaller/cheaper than required if you get a lot of 40-50 knot winds and you can, with a good, thrifty shopping strategy, put together a 10kw system for under $10,000.00, batteries and invertor included. Grid ties to sell power back to utility companies get a bit pricey and the engineers you need on site get pricey too, but that's another ball game in the 'pays for itself' equation altogether.

So, you probably didn't want to 'learn' all this stuff and perhaps my email reply was a bit long winded, but we are getting a lot of requests for the 1-5kw blades (we don't usually do them except for the NASA guy - he likes 10 foot and larger blades we make), since we aren't a carbon fiber/fiberglass shop.

We specialize in making the finest wooden blades and NASA/NACA shapes on the planet. That's what we do best-a very quiet, very powerful, wide powerband blade.

We do not make 'start up fast in low wind speed' blades. If you want it to start faster, reduce the size of the gen or add 10 percent to the length of the blade and get 20% more power; a blade that normally starts in 9 knots now starts in 7. Add another 10% to the length and now it starts in 5.5 knots, but by maintaining a good airfoil shape, you still get the 30-50 knot winds the hollow blades miss out on and where is the real power going to be? Get it?

If not or if I have totally confused you, take a look at the simple airfoil diagrams at our site at http://windgenzen.com.

Take a look at the price comparisons, then go on to the FAQs page and guess what? I have had so many recent requests for exactly this 'Can you tell me if...' question that now this Q&A answer and discussion has been posted there as well. Thank you for an opportunity to teach you and others these lessons. Have a great day.

p.s. if you do want a large 3kw system from us, we make a 3 bladed prop (120 degrees apart), of 3 7.5 foot blades (15 foot diamter), and sell the blades and stainless hub, welded by Barry Breeden, vice chairman of the American Welding Society, one of the top 10 welders in the entire U.S., and the blade is, as always, our world famous NASA design. Jerry (the old NASA physicist), loves these projects. We look at your local conditions expected and lay out a custom airfoil shape for the winds we think you'll get. We are the ONLY firm on the planet who does this free of charge on a customer by customer basis. It's because we are nutz about getting the right blade to match the right gen to match the local wind conditions.

That is, beyond everything else discussed by all the enthusiasts and manufacturers, those three combinations are really all that matter. A light wind blade won't work well in a strong wind area: you lose tons of power when the gen tops out early. A high wind blade or a gen that is too large won't do well where winds are low: it takes 15-20 knots to get it going and you miss the nice powerband in the 10-20 knot range. We shoot for a wide powerband that kicks off in 9-12 knots and screams from there right up the scale.

That's how we do it, that's our philosophy and since I have to LIVE on this power 12 months a year and run laptops, skillsaws, refers, lights, grinders etc. on my sailboat, that philosophy has worked well for me in real life application. Any other airfoil, from my experience, is a waste of time and money. Give me a real airfoil made to do real work in real wind conditions where there is really available power and things work well. Give me a blade that starts too soon and I have to listen to it buzz in 20 knots and I am losing power since those tips have stalled; just shoot me please. I can't sleep to take me out before I rip it down and throw it overboard.

Give me a blade that only runs in high winds (the Wortman airfoils love high winds) and they don't start up until things get stormy and after about 50-60 knots of wind, it's probably safer to manually or automatically start shutting down the system anyway. We are talking hurricane forces so...

Give me a blade that operates from 10-60 knots and I am a happy guy.

I am typing this question/answer reply right now on power that comes from that type of airfoil. Go figure.

So, if you want a 15 foot, 3kw, 3 blade prop made of 3 7.5 foot blades and a stainless hub, the blades are $400 each ($1200.00 for a set of 3) and the hub is $200.00 from Barry who also welds Triton Missle Launch tubes to mil-spec. Our wooden blades are gorgeous, well carved, balanced, tested and finished to be beautiful.

We can even shoot them with two part LPU yacht paint (see website for enduthane specs) and they will last a very very long time. At $200.00 per blade for that deluxe coating, they should. But half of that expense is to satisfy your inner child's need to have black blades with yellow tips (red looks good too).

We even had a girl in the south who wanted a white blade with red tips, a flag blade (red white and blue), a clear coat grain shows blade and a (ahem), rainbow blade. Hmmmm....we were so thrilled making them for her we even got old Jerry to sign them To Britanny, from Jerry, NASA AAmes. A special treat for her and they are also shown at our website, but I doubt you want a rainbow blade at $400.00 for the coating per blade alone or a flag blade at $300 for the coating. Those bits of art take time and money. If you aren't rich, stick with a blade you can afford, a system you can afford while you learn what you really want and need (how many) and parts you can lift with basic tools without hiring a crane at $500 per hour.

We show folks how to get the LOWEST COST PER AMP. That's our goal here at KCK. We teach. Support is always number one and despite all the hype about this or that gen, we always say 'ANY WIND GEN IS BETTER THAN NO WIND GEN.' Period. Get a 4 foot blade from ANY manufacturer and learn the basics and start building your system if that's the price range that helps you get you into the game.

But get started...please. Fossil fuels aren't getting cheaper, the air isn't getting cleaner and at this rate we may have to 'liberate' Saudi Arabia (?!?) next just to keep the lights on in New York and L.A.

And that's a crying shame considering the wind blows free and it doesn't take the price of a Ferrari to get going...the price of a good VW is all you need to light up an energy wise home and perhaps the price of a good used GM Truck can keep you fat and happy with power to burn.

My approach to the industry is, like most people, biased by my own personal background. Before my aerodynamic education began with tutoring from Jerry, my specialty was writing financial analysis software for banks, HMOs and large corporations. I look at QAUR (Quality Assurance and Utilization Reveiw) reports and projections with a keen eye towars getting the most bang for the buck. So when it came time to designing my system, after sorting through literally hundreds of graphs and charts on various airfoil shapes, I settled on a few and they have all served me well and they will serve 70% of the global population quite well as well.

To make sure I had made a sound decision (an informal audit), I tried some of the other airfoils, flew blades on car alternators, have used diodes and wind switches, tried different large/small blades on large/small gens, and tried shapes that many manufacturers 'claim' are the 'computer designed' best, or 'start in as little as...' etc. and if you are in a place where there is little wind, they may be just what you need. If so, DO NOT BUY OUR AIRFOILS. We can't compete in 4 knots of wind. We don't try.

Or if you insist on a WindGenZen NASA airfoil, at least make sure you get a blade that is a bit larger than the one recommended for the generator you intend to use. That solution will solve your low wind problem in a jiffy.

And if you are so lucky as to have the words 'Nova Scotia' in your address, be thankful and if you can see the North Atlantic from your front porch, you are gifted. You are kings of the world in this wind gen realm and if you are still paying for power to light up your TV, PC and microwave it's high time you reconsidered your available resources, define a reasonable budget based on what you've paid for that fossil based power over the years and look at your skill sets (towers are not hard to erect if you work within reason) and employ an intelligent approach and deploy a cost effective solution. I am simply green with jealousy for the power you have at hand and I live in San Francisco where winds aren't exactly light. But we are a drop in the bucket compared to you. Remember - wind speed affects power to the cube. Actually it's 2.7, not 3, but that's close enough even for this old auditing salty sailor.

And ANOTHER DONALD wrote us, this time from Maine. His letter is a good overview of alternative energy in general:

"I am uneducated in this power process and just looking into it.
I have a great location for Wind, Tidal, and Solar power generation.
How do I get started? Do you have a store nearby?
Are there any courses to help me understand the process.

Thanks,

Don
Maine

DEAR DON,

WOW MAINE! Must be great wind up there.

Here's the lay of the alt-energy landscape:

Let's start with the easy one: Tidal Power.

a) if it's flowing down a stream of back and forth in a gulley and you can lay copper wire to a spot with max ebb/flood, great. TONS of power. Except here in California where you'd go to jail for tapping it unless you had a 10 year 10 million dollar state environmental impact study done. Sad.

b) if you want to catch the up/down motion of waves, there are a few ways to do that. Seems like a very high maintenance deal to me considering the corrosion and impacts and storms.

Here is a lesson that applies to tidal, hydro and wind power: the power (at least for air) increases to the 2.7 (most folks say the cube) of the speed. So a wind at 20 knots which is twice as fast as 10 knots has 8 times the power or 2 to the 8th power.

Water due to it's density is probably even worse, but regardless, even if it was the same, when a big storm hit a tidal generating station, that, from my experience with wind and sailboats, would be too ugly to pay for. But then my opinion is total speculation and the guy who harnesses (and markets) wave action affordably and available for the mass market will get rich.

Next hydro, as in streams and creeks;

Great if you have them. Often little rivlets can generate quite a bit of power over the 24/7 clock they enjoy.

Next, solar panels. The most expensive invention in the industry, dollars per pound and dollars per amp. I avoid them, but then I have good wind and I must admit those 30-60 days a year I have no wind, well a solar panel would be nice to have, but at what cost? $500-$1000 or twice that actually to even come close to my $200 wind gen on a lazy 'teens wind' afternoon? And most panels don't put out much at all if conditions aren't clear so...

Next, solar heat collectors for hot water:

Great stuff. Make them out of copper pipe laying on black sheet metal and build a wood box around it with a clear lexan/acrylic cover. Put it on a slant and put the INSULATED tank at the top of the run and it will be too hot to shower without a cold mix...unless the roof is loaded with snow and then you probably have lots of wind and storms and can make hot water with a 12 volt element...

...finally wind.

Cheap and do-it-yourselfers can make a lot of amps for very little money. We try to keep students focused on the batteries and invertors as far as cash outlay goes. Some firms charge $500-$1000 for gens that barely make 1/2 HP. We have one that makes .75 to 2kw for about $400.00 and we have less expensive ones than that. For example the 6 ft. blade and larger ametek motor (cheap, refurbished motors) beat the $800 Air X Marine by a 2 or 3 to one margin (the meter blew out at 3 times the amps). So for about $200 you an beat an all pro expensive unit with 15 amps when the expensive unit is only making about 5 amps.

With wind there are a lot of choices. We have a comparison link at the http://windgenzen.com site and wind maps and wood tensiles etc. We are an edu site and push folks to do it themselves.

For folks who don't want to make blades, we make the most beautiful, powerful blade on the net; based on a NASA airfoil it kicks butt and looks great. We make them in a variety of sizes and even sell blanks with the lines drawn so you can take a crack at carving them.

Finally, once you have 2 wires supplying some charging current to a battery, we suggest 6 volt golf cart batteries-use 2 in series to make 12 volts. I have done the marine battery thing, the big diesel battery, the RV gel and deep cycle batteries and nothing has ever come close to lasting as long as the 6 volt golf carts. For a 6 foot blade I use 10 of them to form 5 seperate 12 volt cells.

I run it to an invertor to drive my laptop and other gear onboard my boat. I also have a fat 3000 watt invertor for bigger things like skillsaws and drills and the microwave. The rest of the time I use the small one.

There is a switch for on/off/brake and a switch for manual or wind switch only contact and a few meters to see how I am doing. That's about it. The entire mount and circuits classes are included with the blades and you can make them for under $25.00. Jerry the NASA physicist who taught us to make blades keeps his rig simple and so should you. Just a thought.

Got it all?

Let me know if this was the sort of overview you sought and write anytime.

Klamath Falls is in a basin and I am concerned that a low wind propeller would not get enough wind to work.

I would guess the winds at 20 mph with gusts to 25 or 30 at the worst time of year in the winter? during the summer they are lower. In the high single digits in the afternoons to the low teens, as a general rule. I think the low teens would be the average? I thought and was hoping that your propeller was more or less for all wind senarios and quiet. Please advise what you think would be best. I will try to call you tomorrow.

Looking forward to your reply.

Thanks,

Dan

Dear Dan, Every airfoil has a range it works best in; that is the STARTUP SPEED and the STALL SPEED define the start and end of the range. As a rule, hollow blades, like metal ones, start sooner (as low as 3 knots) and stall sooner (usually 18-25 knots)...since there is no amperage at the low end, as a rule we avoid them and prefer a blade that starts 2-5 knots later (9-12 knots) and stalls much higher (40-50 knots). Look at the difference in range also. The first blade has a low range of 3-25 or 22 knot power band spectrum. The 2nd blade has a 9-50 knot range or a 41 knot power band spectrum. When a blade stalls it makes noise and vibration. I live with my blade on a mast; it has to be quiet or it's toast. Period. I want max output when winds are good and when winds are light I either swap to a SMALLER GENERATOR that starts sooner than the big boys or a BIGGER BLADE which will drive the big generator up sooner in light winds. This way I have the best of both worlds - wide power band and light wind performance when required.

Most folks want one blade to do everything and if you can accept the loss of power at the top end and want a hollowed, fast start blade, we can carve that. If you want a quiet blade with a wide powerband, we can carve that. We can carve compound blades that do both - each change affects the airfoil characteristics. Today I carved a blade like that for an Australian - fast tips and a hollow core/center portion to get the max power from that region. Hey...whatever folks want we do.

So...in your case I would consider a smaller gen or bigger blade for low wind months OR with the 3/4 HP motor (fat boy at the site) and a 7 foot blade you can control the load on the motor (and output you receive per RPM) and let her rip in light winds (low load) and crank out some mega-amps in high winds; that motor is easier to manipulate for optimum performance in a given season than an ametek.

Nobody makes a single blade that does both low wind and high wind performance; think about it. If I make a wide spectrum blade how can it compete with a specialty cut made for 3-5 knots? No way.

And the 3-10 knot blade won't compete with a blade made for 10-30 or 12-40 or 15-50 etc.

Each blade has it's own powerband characteristics; angles of attack, tip chords, aspect ratios (height of crown/apex vs. chord) and other 'cuts' that make them all unique. The good news is most changes won't affect a blade by more than 10-15 percent so it's fun to play and at worst you just get a lousy blade. MOST lousy blades are low wind blades (my experience). I have a friend at the harbor who threw rope into his neighbors Air X because those hollow blades make people want to kill their neighbors and rope was more effective at getting the message across. I had a sailor at anchor pull up next to me and say he was amazed at how quiet our blades are as he had thrown his gen overboard (literally) for the helecopter noise it made. So...power band and vibration and wear and tear on the gen and bearings are all something to consider when you have to live with them and rely on them. Low wind gens just don't cut it for me if you get my drift.

It all depends on what you want from your system - max power by each season or an overall performer or a gen you can control etc.

Take care and write anytime.

LARGE SYSTEMS FOR MULTIPLE RESIDENCES>

Dear Sir, Madam,

I have a studenthouse on Curacao, one of the islands of the Netherlands Antilles in the Caribbean. The location is direct to the coast. The yearly average wind is 6,5 m/sec. The monthly average windspeeds varies between 5 m/sec and 7,5 m/sec. During 95% of the time we have the passat wind from the east.

We are using about 950kW per month.I expect that it can be decreased to 750kW per month by using special lamps, photo-electric switches, and other actions.

I am not interested in charging batteries but supplying my own electricity and eventually supplying electricity back to the grid. I want to supply at least 500kW electricity per month by myselves.

Perhaps you can send me a detailed proposal.

However, I am worried about the fact that you are using generators designed for 1750 rpm, while your rotor can do perhaps 200 rpm, (i do not believe in up to .... figures) and hopefully do 12 volt, the minimum for a converter. So, many perhaps and hopefullies. Also, the blades should not be noisy and/or vibrating for ourselves and the neighbours, because we live in the town Willemstad.

Let me know what you can do.

best regards Cor Pronk

PS I have a bachelor degree in electronics and know also something powerelectricity. The voltage here is 127 / 230 Volts 50 Hz. A mix from USA and Europe. I intend to build the system by myselves.

-- Deze email is gecontroleerd door CAIWAY Internet Virusvrij. Voor meer informatie, zie http://www.caiway.nl/

Dear Cor Pronk,

Congratulations on your ability to make homes by the sea...a magic quality about your life. I live at http://eduhosting.org/pics/myboat.jpg - as you can see, I enjoy the magic of the sea myself.

This is where the wind generators I make are designed and tested.

The NASA Physicist who taught me to make this airfoil also has a sailboat in the harbor. He travels from San Francisco to Hawaii to Alaska each year and uses his blade for power.

The airfoil design is very quiet and very powerful and we show people how to achieve the LOWEST COST PER AMP. There are larger systems and smaller systems, but nobody provides this type of guarantee; lowest cost per amp. We do this because we teach. We come from a teaching background and the revenue from the wind generators (and other products) helps fund our FREE PCs FOR KIDS program (since 1983).

The generators work; I have lived at anchor for 4 years with 90% of my power coming from them. They work well.

We make blades in all sizes, from small 4 foot blades (see the photos at the website - http://windgenzen.com) to larger 7, 8, 10, 12 and 15 foot blades. Capable of driving up to 3kw PM DC Motors (5 HP).

We always suggest people start small - 4 to 7 feet - so they have a system that is easy to build, easy to maintain, and they LEARN about the entire system and performance expectations BEFORE they spend a lot of money. This is the wise path to a new venture.

We do NOT believe you should buy LARGE generators just because you want to make a lot of power. Large generators mean big towers, big cables, cranes and large expenses. 2 or 3 small generators are easy to manage. 1 large generator is not. 2 or 3 small generators will still make power in case one is down for maintenance or repair. 1 large generator does not have this safety factor built in.

And yes, our blades are quiet. Yes they are powerful. The RPM ratio is from 200 - 1500 RPM depending on wind speed.

The most common RPM range is 300-800 RPM.

The generators, all of the Permanent Magnet DC motors (some AC motors for larger gens) are going to create voltage that varies with RPM.

To manage this output you need batteries. Period. The larger gens make a WILDCAT AC (hz and voltage varies) so this must be rectified and poured into the batteries. Use GOLF CART 6 volt batteries - they last for 5 to 10 years if you use a desulfator/reconditioner on them. There are circuits at the website that include diagrams for these or you can get a commercial unit for $100.00 or less.

And from the batteries you use an invertor. Period.

They are cheap and make power from 110VAC 60hz or 230, 460, etc. 60 or 50 hz. We have them at the website too. You can also find them from other sources.

We provide inexpensive blades and generators because we believe you should spend your money on a good battery bank and good invertor bank.

If maintenance is a problem, then perhaps a gel battery bank is better. Also FORKLIFT 2 volt batteries are great. Even better than golf cart batteries. They are very heavy, thick plates, last a long time.

DO NOT USE RV DEEP CYCLE BATTERIES. They are better than car batteries but not nearly as good as others I suggest here.

WHEN you have this refined sine wave AC from the battery and invertor THEN we can talk about how much power you need.

In your case you want 500kwh (kilowatt hours) from the system.

So you need to make about 15 - 20 kwh per day.

So you need to figure HOW MANY HOURS the wind blows and HOW STRONG IT IS FOR THOSE HOURS. A light wind 24 hours a day will not make as much power as a STRONG GUSTY WIND for 8 hours.

When you have determined how much real wind you have, THEN you can decide what size of blade and generator and how many generators you will need to achieve your goal.

Or you can do it another way: try the monster 7 foot gen with the 3/4 HP motor and get it as high as possible. If noise and vibration are issues, this is a good way to start because it spins slower than the smaller 4 foot blades, although both are very quiet. In 12-20 knots of wind for most of the day you will easily make 5 - 10 kwh per day, perhaps even twice that much if you have good wind for long periods. I am familiar with the Passat wind you describe; I sail. That wind is famous with sailors around the world.

Watch the amp meter through the day. Jerry, the NASA physicist takes hourly amp readings on his sailboat and matches them to wind speeds. You do not have to do that forever, but it is a good idea to do it when you first start out...for 1 or 2 days and later, when winds are stronger or lighter.

WHEN you have some of this data, THEN you have an education in wind power and THEN you can make an EDUCATED PURCHASE of the quantity and equipment to do the job. If you are uneducated, you spend too much; sometimes 5 to 10 times too much in this industry.

If you waste time getting too much education, sometimes it isn't worth the trouble, but in the case of wind power, a fairly new airfoil technology and commodity on the energy scene, it makes sense to get an education because the price/performance graphs vary so widely.

So, we teach (since 1983). We are here to teach you. Write anytime and ask more questions. Support is number one at KCK and we mean it.

Thank you.

HOW TO SET UP YOUR HOME FOR ALTERNATIVE ENERGY>

Dear Wind Generator Super Store folks,

I have a home with a lot of wind and am interested in your systems. I like the price and the wood blades look strong. I have some questions though.

First, why should I get wood instead of a composite material like fiberglass. Fiberglass lasts forever and wood seems to have a problem with maintenance. Also, there are wind generators using metal turbines and carbon fiber. Why wood? What problems will I have with that material compared to other choices? Do you use other types of materials for the units?

Next, I do not want to have to design anything. I want a system that has everything in the box so I just plug it in and it works. Do you guarantee your system is like that?

Finally, do I need batteries and an invertor or can I wire it direct to my home? What about selling power back to the utility company? Do I need a big generator or should I use several small ones. Let me know what I need to buy, total please, and how much time it will take to install it all and flip a switch and have power.

Also, why should I get your system when there are firms that have been around for over 20 years. What is the advantage of your design over other designs?

Dear Arthur,

First, thank you for writing. We are an educational firm and love seeing new students interested in wind generator technology and will try to help you decide which path to choose; there are several.

Next, since we try to help folks get "the lowest cost per amp", it means most people would rather spend 10 minutes to build a mount for the generator and spend $25.00 in parts, than pay at LEAST $25.00 in shipping to have metal passed around the country, PLUS the cost of the purchase of that metal mount. To us, it is better to spend your money on things you cannot obtain locally, such as a 220VAC invertor or a grid tie package. It doesn't make sense to ship batteries or masts/towers around the country. It does make sense to buy an inexpensive wind generator so you have more money to spend on a big invertor or a lot of batteries.

Let's go over a few items you will need to either buy from us (or some firm) and the ones you can quickly make yourself and save a lot of money on:

The blade (technical term is rotor or turbine or airfoil):

If you want to save a lot make it yourself. We have classes.

Otherwise, (and especially if you want BIG blades), it pays to have someone make your blade for you. Ours are designed by a NASA Physicist with 30+ years of wind tunnel testing experience, who sails a large boat with a 9 foot wind generator on it (yes-9 feet) and who has worked on spy planes and gliders etc. and knows the numbers. This isn't to say our 'wood airfoil' is better than some computer cut/designed airfoil, but rather, just to assure you they are gorgeous, fast and they are quiet. Sound is a big factor in our design as I live with one over my bunk and wouldn't have anything to do with the industry or technology if I couldn't sleep at night.

Next, you asked about wood vs. modern materials. That is a personal choice and should include a few facts on the materials:

Wooden blades grow on trees. They in and of themselves, are a renewable resource.
Wood has one of the highest modulus of elasticity numbers on the planet. Bend and flex it 100,000 times and it doesn't care. Metals are not so forgiving and while fiberglass is better then metal and carbon fiber is also a very strong choice, none of them have numbers as high as wood. Keep it coated and they last practically forever.
Wood is a product you can learn to work with. If you have even a little time you can learn to make small blades and after about 5-10 blades you can make some pretty big ones too. This means you can always replace your blades if something happens (i.e. lightning strike) or if you decide to erect more generators.
Wood blades are very light and accelerate well. Yes, so are fiberglass blades and other types, but wood is right up there with LIGHT and STRONG, whereas you have to put some beef and weight into a metal blade to get them strong enough for the duty you want.
Fiberglass blades do rot; especially in the sun. Both epoxy blades and polyurethane or darn near any other material except metal needs to be protected from Ultra Violet sun or it grows weaker over time. So if you are going to have blades you are going to paint them no matter what they are made of.
Our airfoils are much QUIETER than hollow metal blades. There are discussions and graphs at this website about why and others about the noise associated with the concave hollow airfoil and it's low stall speed characteristics. NOISE comes from stalled tips and if you have 20-30 knot winds, hollow blades will drive you nuts. A real airfoil, full shape, is much quieter and provides a wider powerband, higher stall speed and powerful operation.
Wooden airfoils are easy to custom carve for a specific location; i.e. low wind, high wind, medium or gusty, gale driven etc. We do this for customers free of charge. No other firm that we know of delivers this type of care and custom design.
Maintenance is NOT that big of a TIME issue with a wind generator system, but some is required. For example, each autumn you should check the rig and go over the generator and blade and wiring and tower supports, battery water level (monthly) and inspect all componenets at least once a year - usually, just before the harsh storms of winter and again if you are smart, in the spring.
But it isn't that tough to maintain a gorgeous blade with natural oils in it to protect against rot (the premium hardwood blades we offer have this) and keep them coated so they can actually outlast all the other gear.
It isn't hard at all. Imagine a 1 inch thick by 4 inch wide plank (actually much smaller due to the carving/shape). I carve them and I coat them as do the crew in the shop. It takes me about 3 minutes to sand/prep a blade for a shoot (coating it) and about 3 minutes to do the shoot - MAX!
if you can't dedicate 5-10 minutes a year to recoat your blades, no matter what system you buy, you will have a failure because you don't have any time to maintain it. Wind Generator failures are not pretty. Whether it is a fire due to a dying gen/brushes/ bearings or a fried/corroded cable or a loose blade or bolt, face it...you are going into the POWER business. That means a lot of kinetic energy is going to be transferred to electron movement and that means you need a rig that can take all that energy/load. If you use big blades you need good struts/supports/bolts and a durable gen, thick wire, good batteries etc. In short, this isn't a little bike in the corner with a light generator on it. For homes you are going to be running 2 horsepower to 10 horsepower generators.
The good news is they need about 1/100th the maintenance of a 2 horsepower gas engine. Literally...about 1/100th the maintenance.
There are a lot of considerations to selecting the 'turbine/rotor/blades/airfoil' for your system, from the shape and material to maintenance and durability. While our blades have a huge advantage in many of these areas, we bring you back to the first thing we mention:
IF YOU OR ANYONE NEEDS TO
REPLACE AN AIRFOIL
OUR BLADES LITERALLY
GROW ON TREES AND ANYONE
CAN LEARN TO MAKE THEM.
For self-sufficient people, this is a big plus.

Next, the generator you select:

Some folks want a huge 10kw gen and rotor. Others want to consider smaller, more manageable units. We suggest this approach is best as it allows you to learn/grow without throwing $50,000.00 into the equation at a time when you know nothing except 'expert advice'. Be aware that these expert installers make their money selling huge systems; systems you can do yourself with just a little training. Again, we are an educational firm. We design classes for large EDU publishers. We don't think setting up a wind generator is that difficult and we teach kids (lots of kids) so most of our diagrams and webpages are geared for idiots. We even have a 'blonde-proof' wiring diagram, although we have to be careful about that term since Jerry, the NASA Physicist who designs our airfoils is blonde...well, sorta gray, but...

One thing to remember: 10kw gens require 20-30 feet diameter rotors.

They also need cranes to lift them and maintenance is a big problem if they ever need to come down or go back up. Everything becomes very expensive in this size. A neighbor of mine has a company in Canada and California and does these huge systems; typically for $40,000.00 to $70,000.00 and more. We can show you how to get just as much power for less than 1/4th that price, but it does require an educational process. If you don't want to learn about how to do it inexpensively and reduce long term maintenance costs along the way, get an expert, pay the big bucks and stop researching it on the internet; go back to golf.

If you want to know what you are doing, spending, expect to get for power, expect to have to maintain, then starting smaller is a better option; you can buy as you learn and don't have to break the bank for a system that can put out just as much power as a huge one.

Solar panel systems do not enjoy this type of advantage because the panels themselves are very very expensive no matter who installs them. Wind power is a different animal; much cheaper per amp and since that means most of the budget revolves around the batteries and invertor, which solar also requires, it means a little knowledge can quickly help you build the size of a system you need to do the job without wasting money.

For large homes we suggest a 2kw generator (there is one at our site that matches our 7 foot props) and if the site has a long run from the gen to the battery bank then you will need welding cable. We suggest you have a battery house right under the tower and if the run is long then you may want to consider a high voltage AC gen which can drive the power longer distances than DC.

However, inexpensive AC gens are not usually 60 hz; they vary with blade RPM and so it is called WILDCAT AC. This means you will probably have to convert it to DC with transformers and diodes and charge batteries to drive an invertor anyway, so if you want the most power for the least money, put the batteries under the tower and after you make nice stable 60 hertz AC power, THEN you can go a long long way with that power to a distant home.

So, assuming you are using (4) 2500 watt gens to make 10000 watts of power, you would spend about $800.00 on 4 gens.

Assuming you go with one big gen, such as the 10kw system from Bergey, that price tag is $21,000.00. If you went with 3 small ones from a firm such as the Whispers which have a 3200 watt model, those are about $5500.00 or $15,000.00 for three.

Compare that to $800.00 and you have a lot more to spend on (here is your first quiz)...

Batteries and Invertors

Shop smart and this doesn't have to be too painful on your wallet. Get lazy about learning and as usual, you will pay dearly for your ignorance. As you know, that's how life works.

Let's review blades and gens together: you need some rotors to put on the system.

At this website you can get a 2kw PLUS (2500 peak, rated for continuous duty at 2200 watts) gen and 7 foot diameter rotor for under $500.00 - take 4 of those and for under $2,000.00 you have a 10kw system which is much less money that anything else we have seen on the market and about 1/10th the price of the two 'name brand' systems listed above. This is a comforting figure down the road when something dies and you need to replace it. Think MONEY DOES NOT GROW ON TREES and things come into perspective.

It is true we haven't been making wind generators for 20 years; perhaps after 5 or 10 years we will double or triple our prices, but since we are an edu firm that delivers free PCs and wind gens to schools and kids in remote locations that have no power, that sort of increase in our pricing isn't likely. Again, our motto:

LOWEST COST PER AMP

You need a mount to put that gear on:

Our website has classes included with the purchase that show mounts starting at $25.00 you can build with no welding, in less than 10 minutes, with zero tools (a pipe wrench helps but isn't required) and is as strong as anything you can buy for $500.00 or whatever else is included in those $21,000.00 price tags.

if that isn't cheap enough, you can't afford the wire for the system anyway. Larger systems will require a somewhat larger mount, but again, this is easily done for $100.00 for even the most grand system you could imagine for your home, so....

And a mast/tower:

That mount and gen and blade have to sit on something that can rotate. The anticipated problems of cable twist are actually no problems at all, in fact, things like contacts on rotating rings etc. bring a lot of problems (such as cost and corrosion) into the equation and most, if not all designers prefer direct cable to the gen. There are methods for insuring the cable doesn't twist on this page. Read them after we finish this little lesson.

You can easily build 20 foot towers with simple water pipe and guy wires; it is done all the time in this industry and 20 feet is plenty high for power.

If you want to go higher, there are 50 and even 100 foot towers starting at $200.00 and going up to several thousand dollars. Again, we suggest a smaller, budgeted approach to the first tower you build and then, if you decide you have some extra cash to burn, go for some monster your neighbors can all see. Think about it, find out what works for you and your region and save some money by purchasing AFTER you get an education.

Then the cable:

Some folks spend a fortune on expensive 'exterior/coated' thick wire and most folks find that welding cable is much less expensive, lasts forever, can take a huge amount of current without losses and is easy to find anywhere. We don't deal with cable or towers as it never made sense to us to ship heavy, common items around the country/world. Use welding cable and you'll be fine. Get the largest "ought" cable you can afford. Thumb size is a good size for gens running over 1kw or that have long runs. Pinkie size (man) is the minimum for gens that are under 1kw or that have short runs. If you are going less than 30 feet and have a very small gen (you aren't lighting up a home), you can go even smaller, but we don't recommend it. Remember you are making electrons and they get hot, they can weld, they can start fires and will do it quickly if the cable is too small: spend your money here.

Next the batteries:

All over this website are the reasons you should plan on having them in the system and which types to use; golf carts (6 volts) or forklift batteries (2 volts), wired in series to make 12 volts DC.

They also help even out the gusts/lulls and surges on the entire circuit. Expect to have at least 10 golf carts, probably more (at about $100.00-$150.00 a pair or $500.00 for a set) and even better would be to have 12 or 16 or, after connecting them, 8 12 volt cells that can be split into different banks as needed for maintenance, swapping out old batteries etc.

Also, there are simple desulfating units you can get for as low as $69.00 and these will triple the life of the batteries.

Now the invertor(s):

You need to take that DC power and make a nice clean 60 hertz (50 in Europe) 110 or 220 volt AC line. Since you saved a fortune on the rest of the system, we recommend you consider a Trace Grid Tie - very expensive. So let's get this AFTER you hook up your first system and that way you will have a nice large invertor to spare for the day WHEN (not IF, it is WHEN) that Trace invertor dies and you need to run heavy appliances like microwaves and skillsaws.

So, a 3000 watt 110 VAC invertor or better still, a 5000 watt 220 VAC invertor is recommended if you are trying to run a home. These are on our website and available all over the world.

Also, consider smaller invertors for 90% of your power usage. This way you don't put all that load on the single most expensive piece of gear in the system. It is much better to fry a $50 or $100 piece of gear than lose a $500 or $1000 piece of gear. The only time you really need to use the big boy is for heavy appliances. We recommend using smaller ones whereever you have commonly used, repetitive duty appliances, like a freezer in the garage or a computer in a bedroom. Save the big boy for big appliances like electric dryers and welders and table saws, microwaves and heaters. This keeps the overall costs down dramatically over a 10-20 year period.

Want to sell power back to the utility company?

Fine. You can do it after you have built a system capable of handling all of your needs. Don't get pie in the sky at the start of your education. WHEN you have disconnected from the grid for at least a year or two, THEN you have had plenty of time to save all those big bucks not paying electric bills and can hire a certified, licensed, alternative energy electrician/engineer to do the job right. While it isn't that hard to learn how to do a grid tie, most states and utility companies require a licensed pro to do the job. Forget it for now: focus on you and your family now and after you get everything covered and don't have an electric bill, then you can easily afford the pro required to do the grid tie, plus the Trace (or other brand) gear to do the job. Compared to all the other costs mentioned herein, this is the largest and the one you really have no control over unless you are a licensed installer: you will have plenty of time to learn that if you so desire.

We suggest you get every other aspect in place, working and do it inexpensively while you learn before spending the money to do a grid tie. WHEN you have eliminated your need for eleectricty, THEN you can afford the PRO. There is no point doing it before that time; think about it.

Perhaps instead of buying a grid tie, you may want to get a rack of solar PV panels going. These are very very expensive compared to wind generators, but the fact is, a really reliable system will have a good rack of at least 1 or 2kw (80 - 160 amps at 12 volts) and at an approximate rule of thumb cost of $100.00 per amp, that is $8,000.00 in solar PV panels minimum if you want to have alternative energy on windless days. A few seasons of not paying electric bills can pay for those PV panels and then you are truely self-sufficient come rain or shine, wind or no wind, you are 100% off the grid.

THEN and only then should you worry about grid tie systems, selling power back to electric companies and all the new gizmos, forms, permits and expenses that expansion will require...lots and lots of expenses just in the paperwork alone. Some firms list all the local laws for what is required, but the bottom line is, the entire process of worrying about the grid tie is 100 times more expensive and complicated than the entire front end of just setting up a wind generator and battery/invertor system, so again, we suggest you start small, get your home 100% off the grid with the savings and then worry about selling power back to the utility company (or a neighbor).

WIRING YOUR HOME:

Most likely you will have a seperate panel for the AC that comes from the invertor and usually this will be near your main panel that your utility company ties into your home. You will either need to be able to disconnect the utility company from the main panel and tie the generator panel to the home (any licensed electrician or Union Electrician Foreman can do that job for $30-$50/hr in less than 8 hours), or you will need to install wiring from the invertor/gen panel to the places of your home where you want this power to be tapped. Going through the attic or basement and laying in new outlets is a good way to go as it completely isolates you from the utility company grid and yet delivers power to each room and anyone (most people) can lay wire and install outlets; almost any $10-$20 experienced handyman can do this job, although again, we recommend hiring a licensed electrical contractor who can do it blindfolded, and as they say in the electrical trade: "Get it right the first time."

I am a Union Electrician and was a landlord for 15 years; it isn't that hard to do this aspect of the job no matter whic way you choose.

I hope this answers most of your questions about what to expect during this 'transition' to alternative energy. Please review this page and ALL the pages at both our WindGenZen website, specializing in NASA, NACA and NREL airfoils and the SuperStore website where you can get the blades, gens and invertors to do the job inexpensively.

Thank you.

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