On Sunday I helped our neighbour put up a wind turbine to power the electricity at his house. It was a bit comical and even more death defying at one point trying to get a very top heavy metal pole, with propeller, lifted into the air with a stiff wind blowing against us.

When we hooked it up to the controller box and it started spinning, everyone left out a collective cheer and then a yelp as the box blew and a small cloud of smoke appeared.

I’m curious to see how the whole set-up works out, as Lisa and I would love to be off the grid and hope to one-day build a passive house.