The Zoetrope is a vertical-axis wind turbine made from common materials. Many of the materials can be found at your local hardware store and the rest can purchased online or made at home, for the truly industrious amongst us. 

The Zoetrope was conceived when renewable energy advocate, Mike Marohn commissioned Applied Sciences to design a small scale wind turbine he could use to provide supplemental water heating. Applied Sciences then decided to make the design widely available to others along with an introduction to wind power, hoping that others might improve the design and functionality. Hence the beauty of open source design. 

The freely downloadable construction guide includes a list of necessary materials, recommended tools and details the build process. 

Interested? Cruise over to the Applied Sciences website and check it out for yourself. 

Or check out the construction tutorial animation below.