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Small wind turbines have been in existence for several years but it seems they are not used where they are needed the most-distant off grid communities in developing countries. Cost and maintenance have been attributed to be reasons for this. One of its expensive constituents is its generator. The automotive alternator is considered as a cheaper alternative for generators in small wind turbines. In this project work, an off-the-shelf recycled automotive alternator is experimentally parameterized and modeled with an assumed small wind turbine. The wind turbine’s characteristics have been designed to match the power requirements of the alternator. The dynamic response of the alternator to wind speed variations is modeled in Matlab simulink and the effect of turbine blades’ inertia on the generator speed and by extension on the wind turbine’s performance coefficient indicates the need for a speed control mechanism to attain turbine optimal power operation. The speed control serves the purpose of tracking the turbine’s maximum power characteristics. Other requirements for adaptation of the alternator are investigated and discussed in this report. A speed transformation method for up scaling wind speed to generator speed, field winding control for automating the field excitation, and a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) scheme for improving energy yield are found to be requirements that go along with the alternator. A chain drive is proposed for up scaling wind speed while a centrifugal switch is proposed for field winding control. An MPPT scheme based on microcontroller and dc chopper technology is proposed for tracking the turbine’s maximum power characteristics. The dynamic responses of the wind turbine system to wind speed variations with and without the MPPT are simulated and compared and the advantage of the MPPT scheme is justified for a wind energy conversion system that can automatically adapt to various battery capacities. This report also comprises of measurements (No-load and load tests) carried out on the recycled alternator