Development of a Rugged and Reliable, Farmstead Sized Wind Turbine

Rural communities have a substantial and rapidly growing need for reliable, small-scale, wind power. This need cannot be filled without new and innovative designs that offer substantial improvements over the technologies currently available. The successful completion of this research will bring rural communities throughout the United States substantially closer to this goal. The purpose of this project is to develop a wind turbine blade design and manufacturing technique that results in a rotor system that costs less than $200 to manufacture, that will withstand 120 mile-per-hour winds,and that has a high efficiency, low start-up speed, and effective governing mechanism.