I understand that vertical axis wind turbine has limitations, cannot produce that much energy. But, for example, how many Helix turbines would be enough for an average family needs? If you live on a farm, I guess you could build 15 of those, right?

if you are looking for ideas on a generator go to www.qsl.net ins80/indution-generator it is an html size 18 k. or type in induction generators,they are using squirrel cage motors and capacitors -motors are off of dryers ,washing machines& water pumps . good thing is there are no brushes to replace and no radio frequency interference from them. all ideas and plans are on the first page.

This is cool and very useful information.

People need to realize what kind of application this can be used in, and how its applied overall, in a useful system.

From a survivalist approach all you need is any kind of charging setup, since you can add multiple sources (a wind turbine, a solar panel, a gravity pump, a hydro generator, etc) to a single inverted (12v-110v etc) power array (bank of deep cycle 12v batteries, but car batteries work in a pinch, and are widely available in a crisis situation (a working, charged car battery will look like a bag full of money to someone in a true survivalist situation).

Some monkeys will tell you that using small available motor supplies as a viable, working power sources is idiotic and cannot work. They are misguided and misinformed and have failed at denying their ignorance.

I have a friend who is living a comfortable, off the grid, self-sustaining, self-reliant lifestyle. He did NOT have to go broke or in debt doing it. Yes, he did have to be intelligent and resourceful, and implemented existing motors like this to create a working system: this is paramount in your understanding that you don't have to accept the current model of energy consumption as a form of controlled slavery.

I think there ought to be way more useful DIY threads in this and other forums. S+F