Never knew about these scrap parts

danielxavier

Hi guys. Thanks for having me in this forum.
I have made this Darrieus wind turbine from scrap parts. I was kind a glad to see it worked that well, but it doesn't seem to have much torque. What can i do to the design to make it pull more juice? Find it at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDXP-9HAV4A

westbranch

you need to make  all the surfaces that the wind flows over very smooth, like an airplane wing

Johann

Put it 80 feet high into the air.

BB.

The front 1/3 of the leading edge of the wing (at least) needs to be smooth. The turbulence from the grooves in the leading edge are (probably) acting like spoilers (spoilers create turbulence and kill lift).

In practice, you probably are not going to get much real energy anyway... Wind turbines need to be installed in non-turbulent air which is (typically) >~50-60 feet above the ground (and >30 feet above near by upwind obstructions like trees and houses). There is hardly any useful energy in turbulent airflow.

Easiest way to find the level of clean air in your area--Fly a kit and see how high it needs to be to find stable airflow.

-Bill