Local Power and Local Food

Homebrew wind turbine at the Handy Village Institute site on a bright day. Photo by Deborah Amaral.

Today, the stand-alone power system at the Handy Village Institute received a visit from a couple of very distinguished representatives of the Randolph Electric Membership Corporation. Fred Smith, Vice President of Economic Development and Compliance, and Michael Trent, Director of Innovative Energy Solutions, dropped by along with Doc Sydnor and Nick Harper for a late morning tour. Chris Carter began with a tour of his shop, where the March 2017 Homebrew Wind Turbine Workshop participants built another machine just like the one that will be going up at Doc's Braeburn Farm. Doc's turbine was built during the March 2016 Workshop at Handy Village Institute, and Nick Harper, Braeburn Farm Manager, participated in both workshops. Chris showed the visitors this year's turbine and explained in detail how it was fabricated and the advantages of the horizontal-axis, axial-flux, air-gap alternator design.

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