Neo

A 'Neo' is a short name for a 'Neodymium Iron Boron Magnet'. You'll see this term bandied around in windmill building circles a lot because 'Neo's' pack more punch than any other magnet known to man, which makes amateur alternator design and construction a lot easier than it was in the past.

Neo's are a relatively new development, in the past the magnets of choice for amateur alternators was the 'ceramic magnet', or another variety known as the 'rare earth' or 'cobalt' magnet. While these are powerful magnets neither of them comes close to the neo's.

China is now the main producer of the Neodymium Iron Boron magnets, and through a very smart takeover also owns the company that holds the patent claims wrt to neos. It is probably not a good thing that control of such a strategic resource (neo's are for instance almost singlehandedly responsible for the existence of very small form factor harddisks) has slipped away from the US.