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How to Calculate Power Produced by a Turbine

Some people build or buy turbines to provide a little electricity for camping and hunting trips. Others use them to produce electricity every day, to reduce electric bills or even live off of the grid. Still others build turbines as a hobby. Whatever your purpose, and whatever style of turbine you have, you need to figure out exactly how much power it produces. This will let you know what you can use it for, and plan how many more turbines you might need to acquire.

Things You'll Need

Multimeter
Calculator

Instructions

- 1
  Set the multimeter to read AC voltage if your turbine produces AC power. Set it to read DC voltage if your turbine produces DC power. If the multimeter reads on a variety of different scales, set it to the highest voltage scale. This will help prevent damage to the multimeter in case the turbine produces more power than you anticipated.
- 2
  Read the voltage produced by the turbine, following the instructions that came with the multimeter. If you are on the highest voltage scale and are reading zero volts, turn it down to the next-highest setting. Keep reducing the setting until you get a voltage reading. If you go all the way to the lowest scale and do not get a reading, something may be wrong with either the turbine or the multimeter.
- 3
  Set the multimeter to read AC current if you have an AC turbine. Set it to DC current if you have a DC turbine. Set it to the highest scale to prevent accidental damage to the multimeter.
- 4
  Read the current produced by the turbine. If you get a reading of zero, try setting the multimeter to lower current scales.
- 5
  Multiply the voltage, measured in volts, produced by the turbine by the current it produces, measured in amps. The result is the power the turbine produces, in watts.

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