We taught this workshop near Mangualde in Portugal.
Wind Turbine Building Workshop Braganca Portugal
We just finished a wind turbine building workshop near the village of Gimonde in the district of Braganca North Eastern Portugal.
Here is the crew in front of the 2.4m turbine
We built a 2.4m 12v turbine for the workshop organisers CoraNE
Making the coil winder
We worked in the veranda of the function room at an agri-tourism location, a working farm – Quinta das Covas, with holiday apartments, restaurant, bar, pool and a flock of sheep
Winding the coils
Although this is Portugal the temperatures were about 2degrees and very chilly in the shade so we often carried the workbenches out into the sunshine to work. We used local pine wood for the blades, some knots however pretty good wood for carving.
Rotor time
Soldering the coils
Getting the moulds ready
Cutting out the islands
Action stations!
Placing the coils in the mould, some resin is already in the mould
Pouring the resin
The blades are getting nicely carved down
The paparazzi have found us again – RTP, one of Portugal’s four tv stations came to have a chat with the workshop participants
You can see the flock of sheep grazing in the background, ironically near the garden bar-b-que. The sheep are accompanied by a shepherd all day as they wander around the grounds
Drilling the four holes for the hub in the blade assembly
Nice tail, it’s an oak leaf, the emblem for CoraNE, the organisation who put the workshop together
4.8m wind turbine update
We ran a Build Your Own Wind Turbine workshop in 2009 where we built a 4.8m wind turbine. Now after four years it looks like the turbine might be flying in the new year. The mast has been made and the steel is undercoated. Next big job is to get the mast up the hill and that will be quite an undertaking. Another job is to wind new coils for the alternator, the coils were originally wound for a battery system (24vDC) however now the turbine is to be grid connected so it needs new windings in the alternator.
Presidential visit to Lough Graney Youth Club in flagmount Co Clare
The President of Ireland Michael D Higgins unveiled a plaque for the ‘Tree of Generations’ sculpture made by Lough Graney Youth Club.
Our involvement was working with the Youth Club to explain how the small wind turbine works. First they wound the copper coils for the alternator, they painted the blades, then they designed and painted the beautiful Peppa Pig tail. The turbine is a Hugh Piggott design 1200mm and charges a small battery with the help of a little PV panel and a few LED lights are run off the system.
