"This was my first experience of an EWB training weekend and I’m happy to say it was a positive one! The course is suitable for anyone with an interest in Wind Power, regardless of experience, but also provides enough technical information and expertise for those with background knowledge.

The Field Centre is situated in the countryside just outside Shrewsbury. The accommodation is comfortable, with excellent facilities and tasty food! The group ranged from 2^nd year engineering students to recent graduates working in a variety of industries. With this diverse group there was plenty to discuss; it turns out that there just aren’t enough hours in a weekend to solve the world’s energy problems, resolve the nuclear debate and build a wind turbine from scratch!

The well aimed talks and background sessions consisted of basic wind theory, its use in a development context and larger scale installations. Without exception the speakers - who had been involved with EWB and development projects in the past - were knowledgeable and approachable folk. They were happy to discuss the ideas and opinions of everyone in the group. We also looked at evaluating sites and measuring the wind resource.

The main part of the weekend was the practical construction of a wind turbine, run by members of v3power. The design used only materials and construction techniques available in developing countries, so no computers, fancy linkages or costly items. In a development context the community would be involved at every stage of the project: site choice, building, installation and ongoing maintenance. Therefore a simple turbine design that can be understood and maintained easily is better than a hi-tech closed box system. What this meant for us was plenty of opportunity for hands on experience of welding, grinding, resin casting, wood carving and wiring. It also gave us the opportunity to fully understand the principles of operation.

The culmination of the weekend was raising our wind turbine – a somewhat precarious operation – and watching it generate wonderful clean and free energy! Despite relatively low wind speeds (and snow!) we managed to generate enough voltage to charge a set of car batteries, which would be invaluable in the developing world where diesel generators are often used for this purpose.

This course demonstrated the necessity for appropriate design, showing what is achievable with only basic resources and skills. It was also an interesting and sociable weekend that anyone with an interest in EWB or development could enjoy."

Dan Sands, Graduate Engineer

You can see photos of the Advanced Wind Weekend here.