Build Your Own Wind Turbine

This factsheet was prepared by Hugh Piggott who has written a book on this, available from the Centre for Alternative Technology - in the Wind Energy Books section.

Wind energy is both green and fun, so the idea of building one's own wind turbine is a good one. The following will give you an idea of what is involved and point you toward sources of information on the subject.
A free lunch?

Wind energy on a large scale is now competitive with other sources of electricity on the national grid. However, small domestic-sized wind turbines have not yet reached this point. The wind is free, but small wind turbines are expensive in relation to what they produce, and cannot realistically compete with mains electricity. Building your own machine saves some of the cost, but please do not underestimate the difficulty of the task. If it were easy to save money by using small wind turbines, then they would be a major feature of the landscape by now.
Is my site windy enough?

Most people think they live in a windy place, but in fact most residential locations are not suitable for windpower. Trees and buildings break the force of the wind, and create turbulent gusts which can be very destructive. Open hilltop sites or coastal situations with unobstructed views may be suitable for siting a wind turbine. A very tall tower is helpful, but these are frowned on in the UK. Do not forget the effect your wind turbine may have on neighbours, who may not share your enthusiasm!
What size of wind turbine do I need?

Wind turbines work with thin air, so they need to be large in relation to the power they produce. To power a modern home on a good site, the blades would need to span about 5 metres from tip to tip. This is known as the rotor diameter. With careful conservation of energy a smaller machine may suffice. A rotor diameter of 2 metres might yield about 500 kWh of electricity per year, compared with an average annual household consumption of roughly 4,500 kWh.
What sort of generator should I use?

Most small wind turbines are used for charging batteries, to provide a reliable stand-alone power source where grid power is not available. The obvious choice of generator for self-build is the car alternator. However this has major drawbacks. It must be driven at a high shaft speed (over 2000 rpm) to give full output, so you will need to gear it up or modify it in some way to drive it with rotor blades, which typically only manage a few hundred rpm. This reduces the efficiency. In low windspeeds there is very little power available in the wind, and you need a highly efficient generator to capture it. Most, if not all of the power in light winds will be used up energising the magnetic field in the alternator, so the results are disappointing. Nearly all small commercial wind turbines use purpose-built permanent magnet generators for this reason. The DIY enthusiast can make one too, but this is not simple to do. Or you can reuse a permanent magnet motor as a generator. The generator is the key to success or failure of the project, and by far the hardest part to get right.
Can I make my own blades?

The good news is that yes, many beginners have made very useful wind turbine blades, often carved from wood. Or there are sources where you can buy them ready made. If you plan on making your own, it is well worth doing some research and finding out all you can about it in advance. Not only will this save you from 'reinventing the wheel' but it will also be safer. Safety is an important issue even with the smallest wind turbines. Never underestimate the destructive power of a runaway windmill rotor in a high wind. Make sure that you have built-in protection against all eventualities. Control systems are as important as any other part of the wind turbine.
Where do I start?

There are many sources of information about building your own wind turbine. You will need to use discrimination, as there is as much rubbish written on the subject as there is useful information! Building wind turbines is not easy, but if you succeed, the satisfaction is enormous. Best of luck to you all!

This factsheet was prepared by Hugh Piggott who has written a book on building your own wind turbines, available from the Centre for Alternative Technology - in the Wind Energy Books section.

BWEA has no further information on this or other books; please follow the links above.

For more information try this link for Hugh Piggott's website.

Source:http://www.bwea.com/you/byo.html

Wind turbine plant to expand, add 287 jobs

Siemens Power Generation Inc. plans to create 287 additional jobs with an expansion of its Fort Madison turbine-blade production plant, the company announced this morning. The expansion will more than double employment at the high-tech plant, which currently has 246 workers.

Siemens plans to build a 75,000-square-foot addition to the existing 311,000-square-foot plant and construct a new 125,000-square-foot building and a rail yard to expand production of wind turbine blades. The total cost of the project is expected to exceed $33 million. Construction is expected to be completed by October.

"In less than a year since opening, we are already expanding our facility to increase our ability to competitively serve the growing North American market," said Randy Zwirn, head of Siemens Energy Americas, said in a press release. "The dedication and skills of our work force in the existing manufacturing plant have played an important role in our decision to expand the facility," he added.

The announcement solidifies Iowa's reputation as a U.S. renewable energy leader, Gov. Chet Culver said in a release.

"Our leadership in wind continues to energize Iowa's economy by creating high-quality, green-collar careers," Culver said. "This announcement in Fort Madison is proof that Iowa's leadership in wind energy continues to grow, Iowa's economy is strong and our brightest days are ahead."

The 287 positions are expected to pay an average of $17.14 per hour. State officials said the company has applied for economic development incentive funds.

Source: http://www.businessrecord.com/main.asp?SectionID=4&SubSectionID=8&ArticleID=5735&TM=55644.65

Anatomy and characteristics of the wind generator

A typical small wind generator has rotor that is directly coupled to the generator which produces electricity either at 120/240 volt alternating current for direct domestic use or at 12/24 volt direct current for battery charging. Larger machines generate 3 phase electricity. There is often a tail vane which keeps the rotor orientated into the wind. Some wind-machines have a tail vane which is designed for automatic furling (turning the machine out of the wind) at high wind speeds to prevent damage. Larger machines have pitch controlled blades (the angle at which the blades meet the wind is controlled) which achieve the same function. The tower is of low solidity to prevent wind interference and are often guyed to give support to the tower.


Depending on the circumstances, the distribution of electricity from a wind machine can be carried out in one of various ways. Commonly, larger machines are connected to a grid distribution network. This can be the main national network, in which case electricity can be sold to the electricity utility (providing an agreement can be made between the producer and the grid) when an excess is produced and purchased when the wind is low.

Using the national grid helps provide flexibility to the system and does away with the need for a back-up system when windspeeds are low. Micro-grids distribute electricity to smaller areas, typically a village or town. When wind is used for supplying electricity to such a grid, a diesel generator set is often used as a backup for the periods when windspeeds are low. Alternatively, electricity storage can be used but this is an expensive option. Hybrid systems use a combination of two or more energy sources to provide electricity in all weather conditions. The capital cost for such a system is high but subsequent running costs will be low compared with a pure diesel system.

In areas where households are widely dispersed or where grid costs are prohibitively expensive, battery charging is an option. For people in rural areas a few tens of watts of power are sufficient for providing lighting and a source of power for a radio or television. Batteries can be returned to the charging station occasionally for recharging. This reduces the inconvenience of an intermittent supply due to fluctuating windspeeds. 12 and 24 volt direct current wind generators are commercially available which are suitable for battery charging applications. Smaller turbines (50 -150 watt) are available for individual household connection.

K-12 Energy Lessons plans & activities

On this site you'll find links to more than 350 lesson plans and activities on energy efficiency and renewable energy for grades K-12. Each includes a short summary that identifies curriculum integration, time, materials, and national standards.

http://www.eere.energy.gov/education/lessonplans/

How To: Build Your Own 1000 Watt Wind Turbine

The latest project over at DIY site Instructables (the same place we found Microwave Mitten Warmers) is a 1000 watt wind turbine. Complete with pictures of the construction, from the magnet disks to coils and other necessary parts to a home-made wind turbine, it looks like a work in progress, so we're interested to see how it turns out. For anyone interested in the technical details, it's a permanent magnet alternator, generating three-phase AC, rectified to DC, and fed to a charge controller; if you can't decode the last sentence, beware that this project is for mechanically-inclined DIYers only.

Source: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/06/how_to_build_yo_1.php

Homemade Wind Generator

A very useful tutorial for homemade wind generator.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Renewable-Energy/1981-09-01/The-Wind-Power-Book.aspx

$6 million project to bring solar power to electrical grid

By Bob Klanac
Thursday, February 14, 2008

A groundbreaking project spearheaded by researchers from The University of Western Ontario and the University of Waterloo will enable small solar farms to connect to large electrical grids.
The $6 million project will develop efficient technologies to convert solar energy to electricity and produce weather-predicting software to assist in managing climate challenges. Through these tools, the researchers hope to encourage utilities to adopt solar technologies.

Led by Western and Waterloo researchers, project partners include Hydro One Networks, OptiSolar Farms Canada, Bluewater Power Distribution Corporation and London Hydro. The project was one of six provincial clean energy projects unveiled recently by the Ontario Centres of Excellence.

Rajiv Varma of Western’s Electrical & Computer Engineering department says the project will dovetail nicely with the recent initiatives by the Ontario government.

“The government has instituted a standard offer program,” says Varma. “Solar power producers will get 42 cents per kilowatt which is seven times more than is paid for electricity.”

Varma says the provincial government also ensured that any company that wants to produce ten megawatts or over of solar power will be allowed to connect to the grid and have the 42 cents / kilowatt price guaranteed for 20 years.

“There is a rush from all of these solar producers to connect to the grid, about 1,200 to 1,300,” he says. “Last year the number of solar farm applications were half of the wind farm and now just in the last month solar has superseded wind applications.

Hydro One, which handles 95 per cent of the power distribution for the province has been connecting as many of these applications as possible mitigated by evaluating the impact of additions in terms of voltage levels, line losses, tranformer impact and such.

Varma says that this is where their new project comes in.

“Our power group and Waterloos group have been working with Hydro One in recent years to resolve the challenges in connecting wind farms,” he says. “We have all this experience and now the new challenge is to connect solar farms. The team has lots of experience in this.”

Varma says that having Hydro One as a project partner is a distinct positive for the long-term impact of solar power given that they handle 95 per cent of the province’s electricity and are working closely with project leaders to bring solar farms into the grid.

Key to the project Varma says is that Hydro One will integrate technology developed by the project into the grid as it is developed, a big difference he says from a typical pilot project scenario.

The project team consists of 16 members from both universities, ten coming from Western. Varma’s team includes five from Western’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, two from the Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel and two from the Richard Ivey School of Business.

“It’s a terrific team,” says Varma. “The boundary layer people will the looking at the issue of wind and snow loading with regards to the farms and the Ivey people will help us with exploring land usage policies for installing renewable sources.”

Varma is Western’s project lead with M.M.A. Salama fulfilling the same role at the University of Waterloo.

The Western project team consists of T.S. Sidhu, A. Yazdani, J. Jiang, and G. Moschopoulos from the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Leo W.M. Lau from Surface Science Western, H. Hangan and J. Galsworthy from the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department & Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel and Guy Holburn and Tima Bansal from the Richard Ivey School of Business.

source: http://communications.uwo.ca/com/western_news/stories/$6_million_project_to_bring_solar_power_to_electrical_grid_20080214441427/

What is wind energy?

In reality, wind energy is a converted form of solar energy. The sun's radiation heats different parts of the earth at different rates-most notably during the day and night, but also when different surfaces (for example, water and land) absorb or reflect at different rates. This in turn causes portions of the atmosphere to warm differently. Hot air rises, reducing the atmospheric pressure at the earth's surface, and cooler air is drawn in to replace it. The result is wind.
Air has mass, and when it is in motion, it contains the energy of that motion("kinetic energy"). Some portion of that energy can converted into other forms mechanical force or electricity that we can use to perform work.

More reading: “Where Does Wind Energy Come From” and its subsections contain a very extensive description of the various geographical and geophysical factors that drive the circulation of the winds around our planet.


What is a wind turbine and how does it work?
A wind energy system transforms the kinetic energy of the wind into mechanical or electrical energy that can be harnessed for practical use. Mechanical energy is most commonly used for pumping water in rural or remote locations- the "farm windmill" still seen in many rural areas of the U.S. is a mechanical wind pumper - but it can also be used for many other purposes (grinding grain, sawing, pushing a sailboat, etc.). Wind electric turbines generate electricity for homes and businesses and for sale to utilities.
There are two basic designs of wind electric turbines: vertical-axis, or "egg-beater" style, and horizontal-axis (propeller-style) machines. Horizontal-axis wind turbines are most common today, constituting nearly all of the "utility-scale" (100 kilowatts, kW, capacity and larger) turbines in the global market.

Turbine subsystems include:

a rotor, or blades, which convert the wind's energy into rotational shaft energy;
a nacelle (enclosure) containing a drive train, usually including a gearbox* and a generator;
a tower, to support the rotor and drive train; and
electronic equipment such as controls, electrical cables, ground support equipment, and interconnection equipment.

*Some turbines do not require a gearbox
Wind turbines vary in size. This chart depicts a variety of historical turbine sizes and the amount of electricity they are each capable of generating (the turbine's capacity, or power rating).

The electricity generated by a utility-scale wind turbine is normally collected and fed into utility power lines, where it is mixed with electricity from other power plants and delivered to utility customers. Today (August 2005), turbines with capacities as large as 5,000 kW (5 MW) are being tested.

What are wind turbines made of?

The towers are mostly tubular and made of steel. The blades are made of fiberglass-reinforced polyester or wood-epoxy.

How big is a wind turbine?

Utility-scale wind turbines for land-based wind farms come in various sizes, with rotor diameters ranging from about 50 meters to about 90 meters, and with towers of roughly the same size. A 90-meter machine, definitely at the large end of the scale at this writing (2005), with a 90-meter tower would have a total height from the tower base to the tip of the rotor of approximately 135 meters (442 feet).
Offshore turbine designs now under development will have larger rotors—at the moment, the largest has a 110-meter rotor diameter—because it is easier to transport large rotor blades by ship than by land.
Small wind turbines intended for residential or small business use are much smaller. Most have rotor diameters of 8 meters or less and would be mounted on towers of 40 meters in height or less.

How much electricity can one wind turbine generate?

The ability to generate electricity is measured in watts. Watts are very small units, so the terms kilowatt (kW, 1,000 watts), megawatt (MW, 1 million watts), and gigawatt (pronounced "jig-a-watt," GW, 1 billion watts) are most commonly used to describe the capacity of generating units like wind turbines or other power plants.
Electricity production and consumption are most commonly measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh). A kilowatt-hour means one kilowatt (1,000 watts) of electricity produced or consumed for one hour. One 50-watt light bulb left on for 20 hours consumes one kilowatt-hour of electricity (50 watts x 20 hours = 1,000 watt-hours = 1 kilowatt-hour).
The output of a wind turbine depends on the turbine's size and the wind's speed through the rotor. Wind turbines being manufactured now have power ratings ranging from 250 watts to 5 megawatts (MW).

Example: A 10-kW wind turbine can generate about 10,000 kWh annually at a site with wind speeds averaging 12 miles per hour, or about enough to power a typical household. A 5-MW turbine can produce more than 15 million kWh in a year--enough to power more than 1, 400 households. The average U.S. household consumes about 10,000 kWh of electricity each year.
Example: A 250-kW turbine installed at the elementary school in Spirit Lake, Iowa, provides an average of 350,000 kWh of electricity per year, more than is necessary for the 53,000-square-foot school. Excess electricity fed into the local utility system earned the school $25,000 in its first five years of operation. The school uses electricity from the utility at times when the wind does not blow. This project has been so successful that the Spirit Lake school district has since installed a second turbine with a capacity of 750 kW. (For further information on this project, see at the Web site of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives.)

Wind speed is a crucial element in projecting turbine performance, and a site's wind speed is measured through wind resource assessment prior to a wind system's construction. Generally, an annual average wind speed greater than four meters per second (m/s) (9 mph) is required for small wind electric turbines (less wind is required for water-pumping operations). Utility-scale wind power plants require minimum average wind speeds of 6 m/s (13 mph).

The power available in the wind is proportional to the cube of its speed, which means that doubling the wind speed increases the available power by a factor of eight. Thus, a turbine operating at a site with an average wind speed of 12 mph could in theory generate about 33% more electricity than one at an 11-mph site, because the cube of 12 (1,768) is 33% larger than the cube of 11 (1,331). (In the real world, the turbine will not produce quite that much more electricity, but it will still generate much more than the 9% difference in wind speed.) The important thing to understand is that what seems like a small difference in wind speed can mean a large difference in available energy and in electricity produced, and therefore, a large difference in the cost of the electricity generated. Also, there is little energy to be harvested at very low wind speeds (6-mph winds contain less than one-eighth the energy of 12-mph winds).

How many turbines does it take to make one megawatt (MW)?

Most manufacturers of utility-scale turbines offer machines in the 700-kW to 2.5-MW range. Ten 700-kW units would make a 7-MW wind plant, while 10 2.5-MW machines would make a 25-MW facility. In the future, machines of larger size will be available, although they will probably be installed offshore, where larger transportation and construction equipment can be used. Units up to 5 MW in capacity are now under development.

How many homes can one megawatt of wind energy supply?

An average U.S. household uses about 10,655 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity each year. One megawatt of wind energy can generate from 2.4 to more than 3 million kWh annually. Therefore, a megawatt of wind generates about as much electricity as 225 to 300 households use. It is important to note that since the wind does not blow all of the time, it cannot be the only power source for that many households without some form of storage system. The "number of homes served" is just a convenient way to translate a quantity of electricity into a familiar term that people can understand. (Typically, storage is not needed, because wind generators are only part of the power plants on a utility system, and other fuel sources are used when the wind is not blowing. According to the U.S. Department of Energy , "When wind is added to a utility system, no new backup is required to maintain system reliability." Wind Energy Myths, Wind Powering America Fact Sheet Series, http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy05osti/37657.pdf .)

What is a wind power plant?

The most economical application of wind electric turbines is in groups of large machines (660 kW and up), called "wind power plants" or "wind farms." For example, a 107-MW wind farm near the community of Lake Benton, Minn., consists of turbines sited far apart on farmland along windy Buffalo Ridge. The wind farm generates electricity while agricultural use continues undisturbed.
Wind plants can range in size from a few megawatts to hundreds of megawatts in capacity. Wind power plants are "modular," which means they consist of small individual modules (the turbines) and can easily be made larger or smaller as needed. Turbines can be added as electricity demand grows. Today, a 50-MW wind farm can be completed in 18 months to two years. Most of that time is needed for measuring the wind and obtaining construction permits—the wind farm itself can be built in less than six months.

Source: http://www.awea.org/faq/wwt_basics.html

GIANT wind turbines may be coming to North Dorset.

GIANT wind turbines may be coming to North Dorset.
Parish planning chiefs will consider a proposal to build six turbines with blades 120 metres long near Gillingham.
The "wind park" is planned for the Silton district, and will require access roads and a sub-station.
The nearest dwelling would be just 500 metres from the turbines, with Gillingham town centre just over a mile away.
Ecotricity, the company behind the proposal, says the site at Silton was chosen after considering factors including wind speed and ease of connection to the national grid.
The aesthetic impact on the district has also been considered, says the company, which claims to have taken into account effects on the landscape, ecology, and culture of the district.
Noise from the giant blades, and the flicker of shadows, had been factored in to the proposal, the company adds.
The turbines could produce nearly 20 per cent of the suggested target for renewable electricity generation in Dorset by 2010.
Electricity for nearly 9,000 homes could be generated by the giant propellers, reducing North Dorset's carbon footprint by about 10,000 tonnes a year, according to Ecotricity.
Dorset environmentalist Angela Pooley said an environmental impact assessment would have to be made, but backed the use of wind farms in the county to produce renewable energy.
"We have to reduce our carbon footprint and that means looking at renewable sources of energy," said the Friends of the Earth co-ordinator.
But Bob Walter, the MP for North Dorset, opposed the turbines, saying they were unsightly, heavily subsidised and inefficient.
Gillingham Town Council's development control recommendations committee received a scoping report at their meeting on Monday.
Town councillors asked for a range of information prior to the planning application being submitted, ranging from reports on the access to the effect of bird migration.
Parish councils in Silton and Bourton have also been asked for their views.
source: http://www.thisisdorset.net/display.var.2038834.0.giant_wind_turbine_scheme_proposed.php

Destroying Native Ecosystems For Biofuel Crops Worsens Global Warming

Turning native ecosystems into "farms" for biofuel crops causes major carbon emissions that worsen the global warming that biofuels are meant to mitigate, according to a new study by the University of Minnesota and the Nature Conservancy.
The work will be published in Science later this month and was posted online Thursday, Feb. 7.
The carbon lost by converting rainforests, peatlands, savannas, or grasslands outweighs the carbon savings from biofuels. Such conversions for corn or sugarcane (ethanol), or palms or soybeans (biodiesel) release 17 to 420 times more carbon than the annual savings from replacing fossil fuels, the researchers said. The carbon, which is stored in the original plants and soil, is released as carbon dioxide, a process that may take decades. This "carbon debt" must be paid before the biofuels produced on the land can begin to lower greenhouse gas levels and ameliorate global warming.
The conversion of peatlands for palm oil plantations in Indonesia ran up the greatest carbon debt, one that would require 423 years to pay off. The next worst case was the production of soybeans in the Amazon, which would not "pay for itself" in renewable soy biodiesel for 319 years.
"We don't have proper incentives in place because landowners are rewarded for producing palm oil and other products but not rewarded for carbon management," said University of Minnesota Applied Economics professor Stephen Polasky, an author of the study. "This creates incentives for excessive land clearing and can result in large increases in carbon emissions.
"This research examines the conversion of land for biofuels and asks the question 'Is it worth it?," said lead author Joe Fargione, a scientist for The Nature Conservancy. "And surprisingly, the answer is no."
Fargione began the work as a University of Minnesota postdoctoral researcher with Polasky, Regents Professor of Ecology David Tilman; he completed it after joining the Nature Conservancy. They, along with university researchers Jason Hill and Peter Hawthorne, also contributed to the work.
"If you're trying to mitigate global warming, it simply does not make sense to convert land for biofuels production," said Fargione. "All the biofuels we use now cause habitat destruction, either directly or indirectly. Global agriculture is already producing food for six billion people. Producing food-based biofuel, too, will require that still more land be converted to agriculture."
These findings coincide with observations that increased demand for ethanol corn crops in the United States is likely contributing to conversion of the Brazilian Amazon and Cerrado (tropical savanna). American farmers traditionally rotated corn crops with soybeans, but now they are planting corn every year to meet the ethanol demand and Brazilian farmers are planting more of the world's soybeans. And they're deforesting the Amazon to do it.
The researchers also found significant carbon debt in the conversion of grasslands in the United States and rainforests in Indonesia.
Researchers did note that some biofuels do not contribute to global warming because they do not require the conversion of native habitat. These include waste from agriculture and forest lands and native grasses and woody biomass grown on marginal lands unsuitable for crop production. The researchers urge that all fuels be fully evaluated for their impacts on global warming, including impacts on habitat conversion.
"Biofuels made on perennial crops grown on degraded land that is no longer useful for growing food crops may actually help us fight global warming," said Hill. "One example is ethanol made from diverse mixtures of native prairie plants. Minnesota is well poised in this respect."
"Creating some sort of incentive for carbon sequestration, or penalty for carbon emissions, from land use is vital if we are serious about addressing this problem," Polasky said.
"We will need to implement many approaches simultaneously to solve climate change. There is no silver bullet, but there are many silver BBs," said Fargione. "Some biofuels may be one silver BB, but only if produced without requiring additional land to be converted from native habitats to agriculture."

The work was supported by the University of Minesota's Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment and the National Science Foundation.
Source: Patty Mattern University of Minnesota

25 ways to make a profit in 2008

David Budworth
INVESTORS faced a turbulent start to the year after the oil price surged to $100 a barrel, stoking fears that America will head into recession and sparking a rush to shelter cash in gold.

The FTSE 100 index of leading shares slid 2% to 6,349 in the first three trading days of 2008, as weak jobs data on Friday added to the recession fears.

Oil pushed above its previous record of $99.21 a barrel, reached in November, to within sight of its inflation-adjusted peak of $101.70 hit at the beginning of the Iran-Iraq war in 1980. Meanwhile, gold, seen as a safe haven in times of turmoil, jumped to $861 an ounce surpassing the nominal peak hit 27 years ago. It is still a long way off its inflation-adjusted peak of more than $2,000 though.

Many commentators expect further turmoil, especially those who follow the January indicator. In eight of the past ten years, the first day’s market direction has foreshadowed the outcome for the succeeding 12 months. With the market down 40 points on Wednesday, the indicator suggests a negative year.

Furthermore, if at the close of business on the fifth trading day – Tuesday – share prices are lower than they started the year, then they will almost certainly end the year lower too. The indicator has worked in seven out of the past ten years, although last year was not one of them. The Footsie had fallen 0.4% by the end of the fifth day but finished the year 4% up.

It is easy to scoff at such pointers but it does chime with many experts’ fears. The consensus view is that the Footsie will end just 1% higher at 6,550, according to a poll of analysts by The Sunday Times.

There’s no need to despair, though, as there are always ways to beat the market.We asked some of the nation’s top fund managers, analysts and advisers where they would invest to beat the market. Whether you are cautious or feeling brave, you’ll find more than a few ideas to help you profit in 2008.

THE GUNG-HO INVESTOR

If you like big risks, these are the tips our panel think will make the biggest returns. They are highly speculative and you should only invest what you can afford to lose.

1 Bullish on Russia

The Russian market is turning out to be many analysts’ top pick. It rose 19% last year, a decent return in most people’s eyes, but well behind the performance of many other emerging markets, especially the 97% gain in China. Investec Asset Management describes it is the most attractive of the Bric (Brazil, Russia, India and China) markets.
Martin Majdaniuk at Baring Asset Management said: “Russia is known to be a rich supplier of oil and gas, however it is also a significant provider of nickel, copper, palladium and iron ore, all of which satisfy some of the China’s insatiable demand.”
Mark Dampier at Hargreaves Lansdown, an adviser, picks Neptune’s Russia and Greater Russia fund.

2 Earn more from bank shares than savings accounts

This one is for the very brave: the crisis that has caused leading banking shares to lose nearly 25% of their value over the past six months is not over yet. However, the sector is now at its cheapest for a decade, with an average dividend yield of 5.2% against 3.1% for the Footsie.
David Buik at spread-betting firm Cantor Index would back Barclays on the hope of a recovery in the second half of the year. Jane Coffey at Royal London Asset Management recommends Lloyds TSB and HSBC.

3 Go nuts for Brazil

The Brazilian market has had a storming run: last year it came in third, trailing only behind China and Peru. But that doesn’t mean the Brazilian boom is over.
Jim Slater, the City veteran, is a big fan of agricultural commodities and believes the best way to profit is to buy into Brazil. It is second only to Australia as a producer of natural resources and its stock market is dominated by oil and mining firms such as Petro-bras and Companhia Vale do Rio Doce. One way in is to buy the iShares MSCI Brazil fund, an ETF tracking the Brazilian index.

4 Sun rises on Korea

Last year was another good one for billion-aire investor Warren Buffett, and one of his best investments was Korean steelmaker Posco, which rose 86%. Buffett describes Korea as “one of the world’s most attractively priced markets”.
The easiest way to follow him is to buy a managed fund such as Baring Korea, up 40% over the past year, or Barclays Global Investors’ South Korea ETF.

5 Build profits

Last year was not a good one to be in house-building shares: they fell 38% as the credit squeeze and fears about the housing market cast gloom over the sector. Some professionals, including Fidelity’s star stockpicker, Anthony Bolton, are betting on a revival. To get exposure to the sector, Goldman Sachs backs British Land. Analysts also like Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey.

6 Indian property

The UK commercial property market is in the midst of its most severe downturn since 1990, but there are still parts of the world where analysts think shops, offices and factories will make double-digit returns.
Mick Gilligan at Killik, a stockbroker, suggests Trinity Capital, a fund that invests in Indian property – principally commercial property, although it plans to buy a some residential housing developments.

7 Ride out the storm

Shares in the American motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson has slumped 36% in the past year amid fears that sales of “dream-fulfilment” goods will be one of the biggest casualties during an economic slowdown.
Alan Steel of adviser Alan Steel Asset Management disagrees. He said: “Harley is exporting to emerging markets, including China, so even if there is a US consumer slowdown its sales should remain strong.”

8 Debt relief

Company collapses are expected to rise this year as a slowing economy and higher borrowing costs take their toll. The number of firms going bust is forecast to rise to 13,492, an 8% increase on 2007 and the highest annual rate since the bear market in 2003, according to Euler Hermes, a credit insurer.
Giles Hargreave, manager of Marlborough Special Situations, thinks investors can exploit this trend by buying into corporate-recovery and rescue firm Begbies Traynor.

9 Israel on the move

British investors have tended to ignore Israel, but its stock market will be thrust into the limelight this year when it is promoted from emerging to developed market status.
FTSE, which creates stock-market indexes, is planning to reclassify Israel in June, forcing many tracker funds to buy into the market for the first time. There are more than 20 Israeli companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. Technology firm BATM Advanced Communications is the biggest: in 2007 its shares fell 5%.

10 The Middle East

With the oil price at a high, City experts are starting to take notice of the Middle East. Growth is being fuelled by huge public spending on roads, airports and other infra-structure as the authorities invest their petro-dollars. Gilligan recommends the Arab Gateway fund, run by Shuaa Asset Management. Profits are taxed as income rather than capital so the best way to invest is through a self-invested personal pension.

COMMODITY INVESTORS

The soaring price of gold and oil, as well as the surge in food prices, has attracted a new band of investors to commodities. Here are the best ways to benefit from the boom.


11 There’s money in fertiliser

Potash is being tipped as one of this year’s hot commodities. Demand for the raw material has soared as the increasing use of biofu-els and growing demand for grain in Asia has led to an increase in demand for fertiliser. Potash is one of its key components.
Potash Corp of Canada is the biggest company in the sector. Other stocks to consider include Mosaic and Agrium.

12 Gold to shine

Ross Norman of the Bulliondesk.com, the top forecaster for the London Bullion Market Association for the past four years, said: “Our view is that there is a possibility of breaking above the $1,000 mark and quite conceivably reaching $1,170 in 2008.”
One way investors can get exposure is to invest in Lyxor Gold Bullion Securities – shares that move roughly in line with the gold price. The set-up costs are 0.1%, the annual charge is 0.4% and one share is equivalent to a 10th of a troy ounce of gold.
If the gold price is $850, each share is worth about $85. Otherwise, there are managed funds such as Blackrock Merrill Lynch Gold & General.

13 Precious returns

Gold isn’t the only precious metal breaking records. Platinum surged to a new high of $1,553 an ounce last week. But the surprise of 2008 could be silver, which is still a long way off its record high of more than $40 in 1980. On Friday it cost $15 a troy ounce.
You can invest directly in platinum or silver via an exchange-traded commodity. Offered by ETF Securities, ETCs track the physical price of both metals.

14 Oil surge

While many analysts think the surge above $100 will be shortlived, oil company projections are still based on crude at $50 – and some small exploration firms look to be a particularly good bet.
Analysts recommend Aminex, which has interests in America and East Africa and exclusive rights to drill in North Korea. Gavin Oldham at The Share Centre, a stockbroker, backs Petrofac which designs, builds and operates oil and gas facilities.
If you prefer to invest in a fund that focuses on the smaller end of the market, Dampier at Hargreaves Lansdown backs the CF Junior Oils trust.

15 Rising food prices

Experts including Jim Rogers, the former partner of hedge-fund guru George Soros, believe the bull market in agricultural commodities could continue for at least another decade, despite its strong run last year.
Syngenta, a Swiss firm that produces herbicides and insecticides to protect crops, is tipped by Deutsche Bank. Another company to watch is Yara, a Norwegian manufacturer of fertilisers.

GREEN INVESTORS

Alternative energies will become big business if the oil price stays above $50. We asked the experts for some tips.

16 Trading profits

A key part of the developed world’s strategy for reducing greenhouse gases is carbon trading. Credits are bought by firms that are unable to remain within their CO2 allocation, and sold by those that have a surplus.
To profit from the market, analysts tip Trading Emissions and Camco International.

17 Wind in the sails

Money has been piling into wind power because of the high oil price, especially following the government’s announcement at the end of last year that every UK household could be powered by offshore wind farms.
You can reduce risks by buying a fund such as the Merrill Lynch New Energy Technology or Impax Environmental Markets investment trusts.

18 The other black gold

Coal is increasingly been seen as an alternative fuel to oil. The first new coal-powered station was approved in the UK for more than 30 years last week, China is building two coal-fired power stations every week and America is also expanding its coal consumption. This should benefit mining groups such as BHP Billiton, Anglo American and Rio Tinto.
ATH Resources, which operates open-cast mines in Scotland and supplies three of the UK’s main electricity generating companies, is another tip. It has a dividend yield of 5%.

CAREFUL INVESTORS

If you want to invest in shares but don’t want to be exposed to excessive risk, analysts recommend a switch into defensive areas. Here are their top picks.

19 Supermarket sweep

In troubled times, big is beautiful and in the retail sector no-one is bigger than Tesco. The supermarket receives £1 of every £7 spent in UK shops and is growing fast overseas so it should remain immensely profitable even in an economic downturn.
Richard Hunter at Hargreaves Lansdown, the broker, said: “Without taking its eyes off the core UK market, the success of its international division continues apace, with a flagship Chinese store and the US roll-out yet to make their own notable contributions.”

20 Telecoms look good

Many investment banks are tipping Vodafone because it generates plenty of cash and pays good dividends, so has a better chance of withstanding further turbulence.
Last year the world’s biggest mobile-phone company increased its dividend by 11% to 6.76p.
After a good run last year its shares no longer look outstanding value at 185.8p but they are still a long way from the peak of 399p in March 2000.
Jeremy Batstone-Carr at stockbroker Charles Stanley said he would buy rival telecom firm Cable & Wireless.

21 Smoking can pay

Another firm that should be able to maintain its profits is British American Tobacco. Even though it doesn’t look cheap, many analysts think it has further to go.
Hunter said: “British American Tobacco’s marketing ability, the sheer size of its operations and a keen eye for cost containment are all underlying positives. The shares defensive qualities could help investors during a potentially volatile 2008.”

22 Drugs do work

Drug firms have been unloved following scare stories suggesting existing products and new ones are not up to scratch. As a result, pharmaceutical stocks have lagged the market. Glaxo Smith Kline and Astra Zeneca were down 5% and 21% respectively in 2007, while the FTSE 100 rose 4%.
But many fund managers think drug stocks are ripe for a revival. Jane Coffey at Royal London Asset Management said: “The derating discounts a lot of the bad news. I am positive on Astra, Glaxo and Shire.”
In the healthcare sector Bat-stone-Carr recommends Smith & Nephew, a leading provider of hip and knee replacements.


NERVOUS INVESTORS

23 Funds for storms

If you are looking to hedge your bets in an uncertain market, consider multi-asset funds. Invesco Perpetual Distribution invests in equities and bonds and has managed to produce a return of 2% over the past six months compared with a fall of nearly 6% in the average UK equity fund, according to fund analyst Financial Express.

24 Back bonds

While equity investors have enjoyed a great time over the past few years, those with money in bond funds have seen little in the way of growth. However, the tide for bonds could turn as they tend to perform well when interest rates fall. Darius McDermott at Chelsea Financial Services likes Aegon Sterling Bond.

25 Make the most of cash

Nervous investors who want to shun shares can benefit from some of the highest savings rates for years. Chelsea offers a one-year fixed-rate bond at 6.9% on balances above £1,000. Given that rates could fall, this is a great time to lock into a fixed deal.

CASHING IN ON BOOM-TIME RUSSIA

KEN and Lynne Livesley from Ashton in Makerfield, near Wigan, are hoping that a soaring Russian stock market will give their pension a huge boost.
The couple, aged 60 and 56, pictured here with their grandchildren Daniel, nine, and twins Matthew and Adam, six, invested in the Neptune Russia and Greater Russia fund through their self-invested personal pension just over a year ago.
Last year the fund gained 39%, but analysts are predicting even better returns from the market this year – even if the global economy slows.
Ken, who is the manager of a food services firm, said: ‘It has been an excellent investment so far and the outlook is even brighter.
‘Whatever you think of President Vladimir Putin, you can’t deny that the Russians know how to make money.’

[source:http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/money/investment/article3136555.ece]

Guides for Homemade Wind Generator

A list with useful information about projects on wind generators. Details and instructions to construct your own wind turbine.

Andy Littles Homemade Wind Generator
Carving Your Own Wooden Wind Turbine Blades
Experimental Wind Projects
Jeremy Bernal's Wind Generator
Make A Wind Direction Indicator
Make A Wind Vane
Make An Anemometer
Make Your Own Windmeter
Picoturbine
Protecting You Wind Turbine From Excessive Wind Speeds
The "Blue Max": Affordable Wind Power : Harvest power from the wind for your own economical, efficient small-scale home power with this 350-watt generator wind plant. Includes information and instructions for building the generator and blades. The blades and tail are covered with polyethylene tarp material. This plan was featured in a 1985 issue of Mother Earth News .
Tlg Windpower's Remote Electric Fence Battery Maintainer System
Tri-Nado Extreme Flying In Canada
Windmills and how they work: A 'How To' approach in the processes of Vintage Windmill Restoration. All phases of windmill construction is covered from rebuilding the motor to making sails & vanes to help in your restoration.
Wooden Blades

[source: http://www.discoversolarenergy.com/DIY/wind.htm]