I Love this site, been reading it for a year or more, I have read the home brew book twice. I have a michigan master electrican lic. and I am the Group Leader Electrican at Eastern Michigan University, Our College Of Technology students will be helping me build my 17 footer. I bought an old 45' four post windmill tower, had it delivered to my back yard. Ten neighbors helped unload it from a trailer. A week later my home owners association sent me a letter stating that I needed to ask for approval and met Township and County codes. I was denied by the Township because they we uneducated on the matter. 9 mo. later they were ready to take applications. They will only allow me to have max height of 55'. I have a friend who has a business restoring old windmills, has assures me that the tower I have will support what I am going to build and that the old windmills had gear boxes that weighted 500lbs and had large diamiter multiblade setups.
My tower is 40' to the top, I had to cut 5' off the top so that I could weld up a 16" square top. I made it with 3" square x 1 / 4" double weld, it has a 10" hole throuh the center to allow a mast to stick out the top and support the turbine. Right know I have an Air Brease 24v 4' diamiter turbine on it.
I Thinking that if I had six 8.5' blades it will be exposed to twice as much energy and may would reach peak safe output at a lower wind speed than the three blade model. I know that it would be turning slower because it has 6 blades. I think I would have to build a larger generator to make up for the slower rpm. I dont know how big to build the generator.
I could still have the multiblade look with five blades, I think the closer I stay to your plan the better but I dont mind shelling out an extra $1000.00 for the generator if it could produce more KWHs per year.
My goal is to make an Obscene amount of electricity, but I am limited on cash and height. I am ready to spend six thousand on the turbine. I have 30 100 lb lead acid deep cycle batterys and two, two inch pvc conduits to the tower. The tower is two hundred feet from my electric closit. I am planing on keeping the batties in the basement next to my electric room. I plan to buy a grid tie inverter.
Has anyone been successfull with a multiblade.