VAWT 035 - Update August 30, 2014

An update on progress with the VAWT 035 wind turbine. We had some wind today and for the first time there is evidence that the turbine could produce at least 20 Watts under reasonable wind conditions. I'm using a new controller based on an MC34063 buck converter and an ATTiny85 micro-controller. The micro-controller sends a PWM signal based on turbine RPM and current sensing to the feedback pin of the converter to control current. Although, it appears that the MC34063 is operating near its maximum current capacity. I think I might try the same approach using an LM2596.