Cost to build 10 foot turbine

[dagmine]

How much does it cost to buy all the material to build a 10 foot turbine just like the one in the kit. Some of us ( machinist and industrial electricians ) are thinking about doing a group build.

Complete 10 foot axial flux wind turbine kit

http://www.forcefieldmagnets.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=22_30&products_id=188

[electronbaby]

not sure on the specific cost. It depends on what materials you could source cheaply,...or free. I imagine, if your not very familiar with the design, and you have not done this once or twice, it will be more expensive than you think. The price comes down as you learn tricks and shortcuts. Learn where to not make mistakes. Make some mistakes here and there, and change the design to better suit YOUR needs based on those learning experiences.

Probably not what you wanted to hear, but very true nevertheless. Take this into account before you proceed.

[luv2weld]

Exactly like Roy said---It could cost a lot or it might not

cost much at all. Depends on your ability to substitute or

if you must buy every nut and bolt. A machinist in the group???

Can he/she get scrap steel for the metal parts???

If you have access to a lot of metal, maybe you

can trade with someone for blades, etc. I traded a set of

blades for 12" disks. Electricians?

What can they contribute? Wire??? Can you barter/trade for

the parts and pieces??? Do you know anyone that has a sawmill???

Maybe you could negotiate for the wood for the blades.

Just because the plans say "use a piece of 3" channel iron"

doesn't mean you have to go buy it. Got a 2 pieces of inch and a

half angle iron?? Weld them together and you've got 3" channel!!!

If you are really good at scavenging you might only have to

buy the magnets ($100-$150) and the wire (approx $90-$100 for a

6 or 7 pound spool, which will be enough for more than 1 generator).

Also the epoxy or resin for sealing/covering. If you can do that,

your generator can be really inexpensive.

Keep us posted on how your progress and best of luck.

Ralph

 

[cdog]

I'd say first thing is to do a group scrounge on a truckload of tower material, to me this was the biggest part of the project,

Cdog.

[jwilson]

You could probably figure about a dollar a watt to build your own machine; that said, I'm sure others on this forum would add that scrounging skills, availability and access to used/scrap materials could decrease that figure a bit.

By all means keep an eye out for tower materials, as they will be as expensive, if not more, than the turbine.