How to Build a Wind Generator With a 3-Phase Alternator

Build the Turbine Tower

• 1

  Pour the foundations for the tower and four guy wires equally spaced around the central tower. Pour the guy wire foundations in 1-foot diameter carboard tubes at a distance of about half the height of the tower from the base. Insert a bent rebar rod into the concrete before it dries for attaching the guys. Pour the tower foundation in a 2-by-2-foot form. Insert the bolts head down into the concrete and bolt on the angle irons once the concrete is dry. The angle irons should be parallel and about 12 inches apart. The depth of all the foundations must be at least 3 feet but must reach to below the frost line.

• 2

  Cut a 2.5-inch pipe to just fit between the angle irons. Cut a 3-inch pipe 2 inches shorter. Insert the 2.5-inch pipe inside the 3-inch pipe; weld the 2.5-inch pipe to the angle irons so that the 3-inch pipe rotates freely. Assemble the tower from lengths of 3-inch pipe and weld the bottom to the 3-inch pipe at the base.

• 3

  Weld a 2.5-inch pipe gin pole with a length one third the height of the tower to the 3-inch pipe at the base. It will be at right angles to the tower and will be used to raise the tower. Attach a wire between the top of the tower and the end of the 2.5-inch pipe gin pole.

Mount the Wind Turbine and Alternator

• 4

  Mount the alternator on the wind turbine structure behind the turbine so that the shafts line up, and connect the shafts with the bushing. Weld a 12-inch length of 2.5-inch pipe to the bottom of the wind turbine structure and drill an access hole 1 inch in diameter through the structure into the top of the pipe. Place the assembly near the top of the tower.

• 5

  Drill a 1-inch hole in the tower, 2 feet from the bottom. Thread the electric cable through the hole, up the tower and through the 2.5-inch pipe at the top to the alternator. Connect the cable to the alternator. Mount the wind turbine alternator assembly at the top of the tower by sliding the 2.5-inch pipe into the top of the tower.

• 6

  Attach the guy wires to the tower about one third of the length from the top with U-bolts. Raise the tower by hauling on the gin pole with a winch, a truck or a tractor. With the tower erect, attach the guy wires to their foundations and tighten. Run the electric cable indoors to the rectifier and connect as per manufacturer's instructions. You can use the power to charge batteries or supplement household power through an inverter.