Discussions

Your Questions About Wind Generators For Home

Helen asks…

Is wind power generator at home really work ?

I heard about wind power generator and I want to make a wind power generator to power things in my house. Although I am not sure where to find good information. I want to save money. Is there any reliable information on how to make wind power generator at home?

admin answers:

I made mine wind power generator and its saving me some good money 🙂 I use it to power various things inside and outside my house. I found the best source of info for this at:

http://retirerichguide.com/WindGenerator.html

Good luck 🙂

James asks…

How do I make my own wind power generators?

I want to make my own wind power generator at home because I want to use it to power my laptop and a small portable TV. How do I go about building wind power generators?

admin answers:

I make my 2 wind power generators at home and you will need
a generator, blades battery and inverter.

I use them to power my lighting along my balcony.

Actually I got the infomation from http://www.makewindpowerathome.com. Thats where I got my blade designs from and learnt how to wire it up.. Its saving me some good money 🙂

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Your Questions About Wind Turbines Oklahoma

Nancy asks…

where on the web can i find reasonably priced windchargers?

i live in windy oklahoma, i know wind power would b a great option for power here, but the equipment is so dang expensive, ne 1 know of a cheap place to buy equip.?

admin answers:

You don’t mention what would be reasonable to you so ebay would be my first choice, but you wouldn’t get the warranties and such for a used unit. Your best bet would be to check out this site that has lots of information about wind turbines including cost factors.
Http://www.awea.org/faq/rsdntqa.html

Sharon asks…

Where can I find an app. for a federal grant?

I’m part of my school’s Key Club. in Northeast Oklahoma. I’m looking for an application to receive a federal grant to help pay, mostly, for a wind turbine we want to purchase for the school. If you know of where to get an app. for solar panels, hot water heaters, wind turbines, or recycling bins, please let me know! Just in case, the grant needs to be for a school.

admin answers:

Good luck with that. Be sure you ask for enough to cover the EPA studies you will require. A lot of alternative energy projects have been sunk because they can’t afford to do the studies on the impact on fish, fowl or other wildlife, even when they are trying to work on existing sites. Here in SC we have hundreds of old Mill Dams. They already exist, nothing new is being built. But nothing can be done with them because the costs of the studies are so ridiculously high.

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Your Questions About Wind Generators Indiana

James asks…

where can I go to find the rightinfo about installing solar or wind power where I live? State/federal credits?

I live on a farm in NW Indiana. I want lower my energy bill and put up solar panels or windmills. Does Indiana have a program to help walk me through this, and where do I go to get the information?

admin answers:

Let me start off by saying we (my family and I) live completely, 100% “off of the grid and are completely self sufficient”

The house is built utilizing natures natural elements, in the shape of an octagon with 8ft wide arch doors on every wall to catch every angle of wind (typical 4 sided homes have half the chance as one with 8 sides. A circle being the most efficient design). Woodburning stoves, solar chimney, solar AC, solar heating, solar water heating (pool and home), solar stove, solar power, wind power, hydrogen powered back up generator, hydrogen back up water heater, hydrogen stove, 2 hydrogen powered trucks, 1 EV (electric vehicle) and satellite internet.

There are no utility lines, no water lines, no roads, tv, cell service, etc. On our ranch. EVERYTHING needed is produced here. All electricity comes from 27 solar panels, 2 main wind gens and a back hydrogen generator if needed (typically we can last 9 days with all luxuries of sunless windless weather, hasn’t happened yet). Water is caught and storaged from the rain. Hot water is made with solar batch water heaters with an on-demand hydrogen hot water heater as backup. Even our vehicles use alternative energy (2 hydrogen trucks, 1 EV electric vehicle converted). Because of this we have no bills, no debt and no mortgage.

The fallowing steps were taking directly out of a DIY guide I offer to those who would like to run their homes on solar power safely, reducing their monthly utility bills or even selling power back the the electrical companies. The entire guide is available at www agua-luna com. Its pretty simple but if you have any problems feel free to contact me directly I can walk you threw the process.

Materials you will need
A sheet of copper flashing from the hardware store. This normally costs about $5.00 per square foot. We will need about half a square foot.
Two alligator clip leads.
A sensitive micro-ammeter that can read currents between 10 and 50 microamperes. Radio Shack sells small LCD multimeters that will do, but I used a small surplus meter with a needle.
An electric stove. My kitchen stove is gas, so I bought a small one-burner electric hotplate for about $25. The little 700 watt burners probably won’t work — mine is 1100 watts, so the burner gets red hot.
A large clear plastic bottle off of which you can cut the top. I used a 2 liter spring water bottle. A large mouth glass jar will also work.
Table salt. We will want a couple tablespoons of salt.
Tap water.
Sand paper or a wire brush on an electric drill.
Sheet metal shears for cutting the copper sheet.

The first step is to cut a piece of the copper sheeting that is about the size of the burner on the stove. Wash your hands so they don’t have any grease or oil on them. Then wash the copper sheet with soap or cleanser to get any oil or grease off of it. Use the sandpaper or wire brush to thoroughly clean the copper sheeting, so that any sulphide or other light corrosion is removed.
Next, place the cleaned and dried copper sheet on the burner and turn the burner to its highest setting.
As the copper starts to heat up, you will see beautiful oxidation patterns begin to form. Oranges, purples, and reds will cover the copper.
As the copper gets hotter, the colors are replaced with a black coating of cupric oxide. This is not the oxide we want, but it will flake off later, showing the reds, oranges, pinks, and purples of the cuprous oxide layer underneath.
The last bits of color disappear as the burner starts to glow red.
When the burner is glowing red-hot, the sheet of copper will be coated with a black cupric oxide coat. Let it cook for a half an hour, so the black coating will be thick. This is important, since a thick coating will flake off nicely, while a thin coat will stay stuck to the copper.
After the half hour of cooking, turn off the burner. Leave the hot copper on the burner to cool slowly. If you cool it too quickly, the black oxide will stay stuck to the copper.
As the copper cools, it shrinks. The black cupric oxide also shrinks. But they shrink at different rates, which makes the black cupric oxide flake off.
The little black flakes pop off the copper with enough force to make them fly a few inches. This means a little more cleaning effort around the stove, but it is fun to watch.
When the copper has cooled to room temperature (this takes about 20 minutes), most of the black oxide will be gone. A light scrubbing with your hands under running water will remove most of the small bits. Resist the temptation to remove all of the black spots by hard scrubbing or by flexing the soft copper. This might damage the delicate red cuprous oxide layer we need to make to solar cell work.
Cut another sheet of copper about the same size as the first one. Bend both pieces gently, so they will fit into the plastic bottle or jar without touching one another. The cuprous oxide coating that was facing up on the burner is usually the best side to face outwards in the jar, because it has the smoothest, cleanest surface.
Attach the two alligator clip leads, one to the new copper plate, and one to the cuprous oxide coated plate. Connect the lead from the clean copper plate to the positive terminal of the meter. Connect the lead from the cuprous oxide plate to the negative terminal of the meter.
Now mix a couple tablespoons of salt into some hot tap water. Stir the saltwater until all the salt is dissolved. Then carefully pour the saltwater into the jar, being careful not to get the clip leads wet. The saltwater should not completely cover the plates — you should leave about an inch of plate above the water, so you can move the solar cell around without getting the clip leads wet.
Now place in the sun with the magnefied on top.
The solar cell is a battery, even in the dark, and will usually show a few microamps of current.
That’s it it’s that simple. If you’d a more detailed process and some pics (ouldn’t put them here) it’s available along with some other DIY alternative energy projects at www agua-luna com

Hope this helped, feel free to contact me personally if you have any questions if you’d like assistance in making your first self sufficient steps, I’m willing to walk you step by step threw the process. I’ve written several how-to DIY guides available at www agua-luna com on the subject. I also offer online and on-site workshops, seminars and internships to help others help the environment.

Dan Martin
Alterative Energy / Sustainable Consultant, Living 100% on Alternative & Author of How One Simple Yet Incredibly Powerful Resource Is Transforming The Lives of Regular People From All Over The World… Instantly Elevating Their Income & Lowering Their Debt, While Saving The Environment by Using FREE ENERGY… All With Just One Click of A Mouse…For more info Visit:

www AGUA-LUNA com
Stop Global Warming!!!

Sandy asks…

Will we survive if solar flares increase and power grids are shut down for 1-3mths?

admin answers:

Power companies power down their satellites now several days before Solar flares reach earth, that doesn’t mean the power grid Might NOT go out over a particular area because there’s is too much demand put on a power grid that is 80 years old. But the power outages will NOT be world wide, , Yes people will survive, but maybe not all people. People do have their own generators, and usually people with generators are good Samaritans. 3.8 million had power grid collapse for several days in July, 2012, One person with a generator provided ice and water to several hundred people for three to five days. That Power outage was caused boy a line of thunderstorms, severe weather.

“…On 29 June, a line of thunderstorms with hurricane-force winds swept from Iowa to the Mid-Atlantic coast and knocked out power to more than 3.8 million people in Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, North Carolina, Kentucky, and metropolitan Washington, DC.[104]…”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_power_outages#2010.E2.80.932013

“…HIDDEN PORTALS IN EARTH’S MAGNETIC FIELD: A NASA-sponsored researcher at the University of Iowa has developed a way for spacecraft to hunt down hidden magnetic portals in the vicinity of Earth. These gateways link the magnetic field of our planet to that of the sun, setting the stage for stormy space weather.

ACTIVE SUNSPOT: Sunspot AR1513 is crackling with impulsive M-class solar flares. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the extreme ultraviolet flash from one of them at 0920 UT on June 29th: …”

http://www.spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=29&month=06&year=2012

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_power_outages#2010.E2.80.932013

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Your Questions About Wind Turbine Manufacturers

Charles asks…

Does any one have any information about wind turbine manufacturers dresses in New Zealand?

I have a plan to live in New Zealand, as I work in a wind turbines I prefer to continue my work in this branch, so it would be most appreciative if you could give me email or address of main wind turbine manufacturer in New Zealand

admin answers:

I did a google search on: wind turbine manufacturer in New Zealand

A few hits
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_New_Zealand
http://www.windenergy.org.nz/
http://www.windflow.co.nz/

The wikipedia article has lots of links.

Richard asks…

Why not sell wind turbines by having an agreement to buy if certain amount of people sign-up to buy at price?

I’m thinking start a website for people to sign up saying they will buy a wind turbine at a set price if so many other people agree as well. That way the manufacturers can know how much they will be making, and the prices will come way down. Do it.

admin answers:

Better yet why not just build one! You can build a wind turbine for a 5th of a commercial one and you get better efficiencies.

Check out this blog. There is a ton of information on this. Plus some cool vid’s of homemade turbines.

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Your Questions About Wind Turbine Generators For Home Use

Sandy asks…

How can wind turbines tackle pollution problems?

Can you give me three points of how can wind turbines tackle pollution problems in the modern days?

admin answers:

They can’t and never will.

Since wind is unreliable and unpredictable, conventional generator plants have to be on constant standby for when the wind is calm. While on low efficient standby, they actually produce more CO2 than when in full high efficient operation.

Electricity can not be stored and has to be produced on demand. When the wind is calm, the coal and gas genertodrs have to be poised to power up in a minutes notice. Low power in the grid burns out motors and burns up equipment. Wind farms are being paid to shut down in Scottland and Germany, as well as other countries because wind urbines are unpredictable and are causing undervoltage and overvoltage problems since the wind is variable and unpredictable.

It only costs about $0.02 per KWH to generate (not including transmission and maintenance costs) for coal, and about $0.03 per KWH for gas. Wind turbines cost about $2.40 per KWH to generate power. We are already paying about 10% more for electricity to pay for the expensive wind turbines, and if more are used, electric rates will go even higher, like gasoline prices. We should only be paying about $1.80 per gallon for gasoline.

Since CO2 is now classified as a pollutant, we all need to stop breathing, and eliminate all animals on the planet, according to what the the ideologists are telling us.

Wind turbines have other flaws, as well as solar electric panels. I am a contractor and have turbines large enough to power 4500 homes or more, so I know all the problems with them that the government and ideologists are not telling us. It is all about eco-guilt and not much to do with real problems and solutions.

Sandra asks…

Would a wind generator trickle charge a couple of car batteries in 14 hours?

I’m just trying to get an idea of how long it takes a wind turbine to charge batteries with regular win, could you just provide some examples?

admin answers:

Hey Joesh, wind turbines come in all different sizes, but your biggest variable here is the rate at which those batteries will accept a charge. Typical car batteries will have a capacity of around 60 amp hours. If you had a 60 amp charger, or turbine, in theory you can completely charge that battery in one hour, but you can never get power into a battery that fast without damaging it. A good rule of thumb is not to charge your battery in less than 5 hours if it is completely discharged. A couple car batteries might hold 120 amp hours, which means anything that puts out more than 30 amps is oversized. You can take a larger than needed turbine and use a charge controller to keep from charging the batteries too fast, but that is like using an indy 500 race car to haul a camping trailer, most of the capability of your turbine would be wasted. The best thing is to get a turbine that is just big enough, or maybe a little undersized, to do the job. For 100 to 150 amp hours of 12 volt batteries, I would suggest something in the 200 to 300 watt range, like a Southwest Windpower Air 303. They cost just a few hundred dollars, are designed to work on a sailboat to keep the boat batteries charged, and they have their own internal charge controller. So you just mount one on top of a 1 and 1/2 inch diameter conduit pipe, then connect the two wires from the turbine straight to the batteries. We used one for a couple years here at our remote cabin, but later upgraded to a larger World Power Technologies 900 watt unit. There are lots of other turbines on the market that can do that job for you, just remember that even the best turbine will not pan out if you do not have good wind, or a tall enough tower to get to the wind above the tree tops.

There are some great places to learn more about this if you’re interested, but I’m curious, have you considered solar? Solar panels are so much easier to use, install and wire up, and they never need maintenance, you can take my word on this, I’ve had both for over 11 years now. A solar panel is basically a battery charger, they deliver their rated amperage when the sun shines, no more, so in a sense they are self regulating. If you really want to get up to speed on this stuff, get a sub to Home Power Magazine, we did 12 years ago, now our home is completely powered by the wind and sun.

If you get frustrated by all the numbers thrown around, remember that watts is voltage times amps. So a 300 watt wind turbine that runs at 12 volts will put out 25 amps at full power, 25 X 12 = 300. Solar panels are basically the same animal, but they are all usuallly set for 18 volts to charge a 12 volt battery, so a 36 watt panel will actually put out 2 amps in full sun, 36 divided by 18 volts is 2 amps. Hope this helps, take care, Rudydoo

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Your Questions About Wind Turbines Oklahoma

Paul asks…

do you think wind energy is viable if the government decides to stop extending subsidies?

. Energy from wind power is becoming an increasingly significant source of energy, considering that the price of oil is getting dearer. This is especially so for oil-deficient developing nations like India which meet their energy needs by importing oil. Providing facts and figures, analyze the opportunities and challenges that wind energy companies face in setting up wind farms in India.

admin answers:

Hi there, I work for one of the world’s leading renewable energy consultancies. While my background is more technical in nature (I’m an engineer), I’ll take a shot at answering your question.

Wind energy certainly is viable in many parts of the world without subsidy. We came dangerously close to finding out exactly how viable it would be this year in the U.S., when an extension of the Production Tax Credit (PTC) was extended into 2009 at the last minute as one of the “sweeteners” that got the $700 billion Wall St bailout passed.
Http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/nicholas/insider/thegreengrok/the-700-billion-bailout-bill-goes-green-not-quite

The current subsidy for wind energy in the U.S. Is PTC, which is a tax credit currently equal to 2 cents per kWh. The price for electricity varies significantly by region, so some regions are more closely tied to the PTC than others to make the economics of a wind project work out. For example, the price for electricity is only about 4.5 cents per kWh in the Midwest (e.g. Oklahoma, Kansas, North Dakota), so that extra 2 cent per kWh makes a huge difference. In other parts of the country (California, Hawaii, New England), the price of electricity is over 10 cents per kWh, so the 2 cent tax credit is relatively less valuable there.

The bottom line is that there are several places under development now in the U.S. That are good enough to justify being built without the 2 cents per kWh tax credit – these select locations are very windy, close to a transmission line, and/or in areas with high electricity prices. Without the subsidy, the growth of wind energy in the United States (same goes for the rest of the world, to my knowledge) would be severely affected. Thousands of people would be laid off, a significant portion of projects would be canceled, and we’d all go back to burning lots of cheap and dirty coal, nuclear, hydro, and finally natural gas to fill off the balance of our energy needs.

Regarding your question about oil imports in countries like India, I think you might be slightly misguided. Wind energy does not provide fuel for transportation, just electricity. Until we have a way to develop the hydrogen economy (http://auto.howstuffworks.com/hydrogen-economy.htm, convert electricity to hydrogen fuel, distribute it through a nationwide infrastructure we don’t have, and put it in cars that are currently cost-prohibitive), we will remain addicted to oil. The alternative to oil (for now) is ethanol. Especially in places like Brazil, which have plenty of land and a great climate for growing sugar cane ethanol rather than the subsidized corn ethanol we produce here in the U.S.

Wind energy is the cheapest form of renewable energy currently available, and it will get cheaper in the coming years as the credit crisis corrects what has been a massive seller’s market for wind turbines in the last few years. Competition in wind turbine manufacturing is up, and the cost of steel (the 80 m towers) and cement (the massive foundations) is down. These factors will lead to wind energy becoming cheaper in the next few years. Wind energy can be cost-competitive with natural gas, offsetting our need for this finite resource and (hopefully) lowering prices for consumers. That’s the long-term benefit of the subsidy – get the industry built up now so we will be well set for a future of increasingly scarce oil and natural gas, which will be imported from unstable regions of the world.

Ken asks…

how many wind turbines would it take to power the united states?

not quite sure how to figure it out myself, i’ve never really been good at math! anyone who can explain how to do it and what i need to find out, or just tell me the answer, please help!

admin answers:

Hey Sunshine, here’s a better way to word your question: How much real estate would it take to install the wind turbines necessary to power the United States? There is no real answer to how many turbines because they vary in size and output depending on the wind variations where they are installed. A turbine in Oklahoma might have different blade configurations than one in North Dakota because in one state, the winds blow really hard in the fall and winter, in the other, they blow fairly steady all year. But here is something you can bite into: “There is enough wind in North and South Dakota to power the entire country.” That was made about 15 years ago after the American Wind Energy Association did some research on the subject. It would be stupid to install all the wind turbines there, because we would waste lots of it running it through millions of miles of transmission lines, but you get the idea.

The real beauty of wind power is that it is spread fairly evenly over the middle third of our globe, which is where most of the people live. So we can put turbines near population centers and reduce how much we ship around, taking the load off our grid, and reducing air pollution from coal fired plants and other traditional sources. There are some great places to look into this subject, I will list some below. Take care, Rudydoo

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Your Questions About Wind Turbine Jobs

Nancy asks…

What employment opportunities can we get from wind energy industries?

What are some jobs or careers offered by wind turbine manufacturing companies and industries of wind turbines technology?

admin answers:

Aerodynamic engineering and a turbo charger.

William asks…

I would like to relocate myself and my family to Europe, where do I start?

My husband would like to find a job that will relocate us. My dad also would like to find a job. They both do electrical work. We first thought about wind turbine companies. We don’t know which ones will relocate.

admin answers:

Bechtel National is a good company to look into. Their employees are often known as “Bechtel Families” because they encourage the families to re-locate for different jobs, thus resembling a situation similar to the military. It’s also a good choice, because they have everything from office work to heavy manual labor, so there’s a wide range of jobs.

As for choosing a country, I’d honestly start at Wikipedia, researching religions, monetary exchange, school systems (if applicable to you), weather, average cost of living and so on. It would certainly be horrible to wind up in a nation where you aren’t catching onto the language (if different from what you speak) or the cost of living was so drastically different that you didn’t realize your job wasn’t going to be as good as you thought! Keeping that in mind, it might be wise to go on a vacation to a handful of countries to see if they’re as good a fit in person as they appeared to be in a traveler’s guide.

Good luck

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Your Questions About Wind Generators Ebay

Donna asks…

how can you make a wind powered generator with solar panels as back up?

I am in the process of building a wind powered generator and I want to put on some solar panels on it as a back up source of energy. So pleas HELP!!!!!!

admin answers:

Hi, This is a good question and I have your answer, This is a very simple thing to do you can buy all your materials in any store as simple as using a 6″ PVC Tube to make the blades for your wind generator. E-bay has a lot of DC Generators that are good to use as a wind generator. I bought a guide named earth4energy and they show how to make a wind generator in 3 simple steps. You can find this guide at : www.greenproductsolutionpr.com and also a lot of information about renewable energy.

Steps to make a wind generator :

Definitions:

Generator:
This wind turbine transforms wind power into electricity, with the use of an A DC Motor that generates the power to spin the blades,
Options include:
 Electric lawn mower motors that have been recycled.
 All motors made by Ametek.
 Alternators with a permanent magnet (car alternators).

In order to find a DC motor you can check eBay, or look for inexpensive power tools. Drills, screwdrivers and other tools are a great way to find inexpensive DC motors although they do not generate much energy they are great for smaller projects. A great DC motor/generator is the Ametek 30VDC as pictured below. I purchased this DC motor for about $50 from ebay.

Http://www.earth4energy.com/recommends/ebay-ametekwindgenerators.php

Blades:

building PVC blades from an old pipe please watch our instruction video from the members page.
 Acquire a 6-inch wide, 24-inch long PVC pipe.
 Quarter the piece of pipe around its circumference, cutting it lengthwise into four pieces (diagram on the next page).

This is only a preview of the step-step guide that they include in their package for more information please visit : www.greenproductsolutionpr.com

I can share with you more information because is a copyright information

Robert asks…

Will a 90v DC motor produce a good amount of power as a wind generator?

I just bought it on eBay a bit ago. It is the size of a blower motor and has a built in magnet. Will I get a sufficient amount of wattage and amps?

admin answers:

It would depend on the rpms. Also, how many amps is the motor?

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Your Questions About Wind Turbine Generators Types

Sharon asks…

What is the dollar cost of a megawatt wind turbine?

The megawatt size wind turbine seems to be a standard so why not have the cost of these machines available to compare with other type of electric generators?

admin answers:

In terms of the initial cost, just to purchase a commercial scale turbine, the usual price is roughly $1 million per megawatt of capacity. So, a GE 1.5 MW would cost around $1.5 million. Installation and development of the site would be additional costs.

Robert asks…

What type of bearings to use in a savonius wind turbine?

Hi all

I am currently building a savonius wind turbine that will be around half a meter tall. I have the general plan drawn up but just need some answers on what type of bearing to use – I really have no idea about different bearings/lubricants/size restraints etc. Would really appreciate any help that could be provided.

Thanks!

admin answers:

Basically you need a thrust bearing somewhere in the process to take the weight and another one or two bearings to take the wind force and keep it upright. If you are mounting above a generator, there might be a thrust bearing in the generator.
In your design, you have to provide for mounting the bearings. Lets suppose you were putting the unit on a shaft with a pulley on the bottom to drive a pump or generator off to the side via a belt. You would go to www.grainger com or local bearing firm and tell them you wanted a flat mount ball bearing for your shaft diameter – this would be the top support – and you wanted a flat mount thrust bearing for the bottom, as well as a shaft collar all to match the shaft. For your project these might total $15-20.
The simplest possible mount would be a stiff frame rectangle to which you mount the ball bearing in the middle of the top and the thrust bearing at the bottom. What the shaft collar does is screw to the shaft and rest against the bearing, transferring the weight. Since I have proposed a pulley, the shaft would have to be long enough to go through the frame to put the pulley below, so you didn’t have to take the unit apart to change the belt.
To be honest, most ball bearings even if not thrust, will take much more weight than your turbine and you could probably get the shaft collar and two bearings at your hardware store or home center where they are sold as replacements for wheel barrow and cart wheels
for another view
http://www.macarthurmusic.com/johnkwilson/MakingasimpleSavoniuswindturbine.htm

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