So, who wants to help me design a wind turbine?

[Ichbin]

If you going for efficiency? or power? Or both?

Whats the MAIN goal?

Is this just to make a turbine? lol

[DaJe]

Well wouldn't it being powerful equate to efficiency? If it's truly efficient, a high power output is a given. I'll see if I can find any information about what our overall goal is.

[Ichbin]

Well, look at smart cars. Energy efficient, not so much powerfull lol.

[Dilphat]

Well, look at smart cars. Energy efficient, not so much powerfull lol.

not to steal the topic. but i saw this one dude in a smart car, omg, it seemed as if he took up both seats of the front!

back to the topic.

well, wat jdbnsn said...is true, i mean it would be better to see and figure out how u want it to be like. then after that post pictures, and we're all here!

ideas:
1. Make it power a treadmill for a hamster! lol

[crenn]

Efficiency is in terms of how much power is used for the system versus the amount of power wasted (aka heat and noise)

[Ichbin]

Yay! now that we know what it is we can actually work with it!

I find it surprising that we, TBCS, didnt know the exact meaning of efficiency like, right away.

Maybe we've got a lil' Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor in all of us!

MORE POWA!

[crenn]

I'm an engineer in training.... you have to maximise efficiency to make sure your project does what it needs, but costing as little as possible. It's all about balance

[DaJe]

Especially when the money for it will be coming from the people in the group.

[Drum Thumper]

Especially when the money for it will be coming from the people in the group.

I would imagine that there is a cap on the dollar amount, right?

Also, bear in mind that for wind turbines to work, they need a minimum amount of air movement. I believe that the turbines in Montana require steady 15 mph winds in order to operate, although some of the newer projects here require ~7 mph winds.

And for those of you who don't know, Montana has one of the largest wind farms in the US. Montana is also the 'wind energy capital' of the US.

What I am getting at here is something you're going to hear a lot from all sorts of people in life: Location, Location, Location!