The following steps were taking directly out of a DIY guide I offer to those who would like to run their homes on solar power, reducing their monthly utility bills or even selling power back the electrical companies. The entire guide is available at http://www.agua-luna.com/diy_guides.html It’s pretty simple but if you have any problems feel free to email us directly at info@agua-luna.com we can walk you threw the process.

Anyone interested can check it out at..

www agua-luna com

Electricity from the wind is one of the simplest forms of alternative energy. I’ve personally built over a dozen wind gens & currently run 50% of our electrical needs off of wind & the rest off solar.

Basically think of the little motor in your car (the alternator), but instead of it being turned by a belt driven by your car’s engine powered gas, it’s turned by the wind.

The following steps were taking directly out of a DIY guide I offer to those who would like to run their homes on wind power safely, reducing their monthly utility bills or even selling power back the electrical companies. The entire guide is available at www agua-luna com

"This manual is based on using a 260 VDC, 5 A continuous duty Treadmill Motor with a 6 inch threaded hub. These motors are available for under $50 from most motor surplus stores. We are getting about 7 amps in a 30 mph wind. In other words, it is a simple, cheap little machine to get you started. "

"ASSEMBLY
1.Place the motor on top of the square tubing & bolt it in, using the two 5/16” x ¾” bolts.
2.Place the diode on the square tubing, about 2” behind the motor, & screw it into position using the self-tapping metal screw.
3.Connect the black wire coming out of the motor to the positive incoming terminal of the diode (Labeled AC on the positive side).
4.Connect the red wire coming out of the motor to the negative incoming terminal of the diode (Labeled AC on the negative side).
5.Center the tail over the square tubing, at the back end. Clamp your tail onto the side of the square tubing.
6.Using 2 self-tapping screws, screw the tail in place.
7.Place each blade on the hub so that all the holes line up. Using the ¼" bolts & washers, bolt the blades to the hub. For the inner three holes, use two washers per bolt, one on each side of the blade. For the outer three holes, just use one washer next to the head of the bolt. Tighten.
8.Hold the end of the shaft of the motor (which comes through the hub) firmly with pliers, & turn the hub counterclockwise until it tightens & stops.
9.Screw the nipple tightly into the floor flange using a pipe wrench.
10.Clamp the nipple in a vice so that the floor flange is facing up & level.
11.Place the square tubing (and everything that is on it) on top of the floor flange & move it so that it is perfectly balanced.
12.Through the holes of the floor flange, mark the square tubing at the point of balance.
13.Drill these two holes using a 5/32" drill bit. You will probably have to take off the hub & tail to do this).
14.Attach the square tubing to the floor flange with two sheet metal screws.
For a longer life span of your wind generator, you should paint the blades, motor sleeve, mount & tail."

Hope this helped, feel free to contact me personally if you have any questions if you’d like assistance in making your first self sufficient steps, I’m willing to walk you step by step threw the process. I’ve written several how-to DIY guides available at www agua-luna com on the subject. I also offer online & on-site workshops, seminars & internships to help others help the environment.

Dan Martin

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090402050242AAe34S9

I plan on buying 6 volt golf cart batteries, I would like to hear some opinions on inexpensive charging controllers..
I plan on linking several kits together also if that helps…

solar arrays are quite expensive and the payoff period is measured in decades.

Re the link, 45 watts is not much. It will power 1 or 2 CFL lamps, that’s all, and that is when the sun is shining. and exactly at right angles to the array. Typical output is probably half that.

You will need a charge controller, and one or more large sealed marine lead acid batteries, as well as an inverter. A good charge controller is essential, as the voltage and current output of a panel varies a lot. A good charge controller has a DC-DC converter that presents the optimal load to the panel to get the maximum power from it, and converts that to the right DC voltage to charge the batteries.

.

The light is a small fluorescent tube light (single tube, typical length). I was wondering if it is possible to run it off a car battery. I understand that car batteries are usually designed for short bursts and not deep cycles; the light in question will probably only be used for about 5-10 minutes whenever we come home after dark.

The generator is what I am stuck on. I was considering using a simple 3W dynamo that is on my bike, considering the battery isn’t being used much and can charge all day and night and only be used for a few minutes per day. Light is about 15W I believe. Wind is plentiful, probably averaging 1-2m/s each day.

Main questions are
A) Would the 3W dynamo be any good for this application?
B) Do I need something between the battery and the dynamo (like a shunt to stop it from overcharging)?
C) The rotation is a bike wheel so I could also gear the shaft where the dynamo is, to make it spin faster. Would this, in your opinion, be effective or should I not bother?

Many thanks, have a good Christmas.
Lachy.
Re-reading the question, it is pretty sketchy.

- The only thing the shed needs is a light. So the setup is Turbine <> Car Battery <> Light.

- The rotation DISC is the bike wheel.

you can get all types of lights designed to work on 12 volt battery if you go to a camper place. that would make that part easy and reliable. I’m not sure that the bike generator will put out enough to do any good on a car battery. 3 watts at 12 volts would only be 1/4 amp, and I think that would just be lost in heat etc. even the trickle chargers designed to keep up with natural losses in a battery in storage put out 2 amps. Perhaps a smaller battery would be the secret, or a bigger alternator. On the other hand, a single light would last a long time on a fully charged battery. maybe you could just charge the battery at home once in a while and carry it back out to the shed. It’s a cool Idea, so just keep experimenting till you get it.

The only reasonable budget I’ve seen from someone installing a full off grid system was in a house which was far from the existing power lines. The cost to run poles and wires was on the order of $15000. That immediately created an option for solar / wind and off grid independance. The home owner installed solar panels for heat and battery charging. A wind turbine supplemented the photovoltaic system. He budgeted energy consumption and purchased very efficient appliances. In the end his total energy created was just slightly over calculated requirements.

If you are entering this project with dreams of living forever with free unlimited electricity you will be sadly disappointed. The equipment and installation is expensive. The amount of energy being created is greatly limited and you will have to cut back greatly. You will learn not to leave the television on with no one in the room. No more lights on in every room either.

It is a very positive project, and absolutely worthwhile. I’m working on a small wind turbine project. It will consist of a 800 watt generator mounted on top of an 80 foot guyed tower. Right now it’s tied up in municipal permits and other nonsense. In the end I hope to generate about 10% of my household electrical requirements. Payback time, assuming no downtime, maintenance or repairs will be about 12 years. Clearly it is not a money saving investment. I view it as a hobby to learn with and explore. I could blow an equal amount of money in a few months on cigarettes or beer and have nothing to show for it in the end. My justification for the money spent is to have fun with it.

Have a look at the project as it has proceeded so far. I have the wiring diagram, charge controller circuit, pictures of foundations, and so on online. Contact information is there as well.

http://members.rennlist.org/warren/wind.html

Good luck with your project!

You will need additional info to size your wind turbine, but lets assume you are in a really good area for wind — maybe in Texas, Iowa, etc. The "Capacity Factor" for wind generation in the best "prime areas" is about 25 to 27%. That means the wind turbine will only generate full power an average of about 25% of the time. So for example, a 10 kW wind turbine would only generate an average of 2.5 kWh every hour.

So if you need around 600 kWh per month, then you need about 20 kWh per day — or roughly an average of about 1 kWh per hour. Therefore, if you are in the very best wind area of the country, with a 20% to 25% Capacity Factor, you will need a unit that would be capable of producing about 4 or 5 times the 1 kWh each hour. Meaning — you would need a 4 or 5 kW wind turbine — to produce 1 kWh each hour on average.

A 3 kW wind turbine costs about $20,000 to install — so a 5 kW wind turbine might be $30,000 installed. A this is the minimum to get you started. If you want to watch TV when the wind is not blowing — then you need battery back-up storage. This will cost you about $10,000 for batteries, that will last maybe 5 years before needing replacement. So now you are at about $40,000 in cost — not to mention the extra $10,000 every 5 years for more batteries. And this is only if you are in the best wind areas. If not — you need a larger wind turbine, which is much more expensive.

Even if you current electric bill is $100/ month — that is only $24,000 over 20 years (which is probably about the expected life of a wind turbine). So just staying with the electric company will cost you about 1/2 or less as opposed to buying a wind turbine.

BTW — Wind generation in general needs a fairly high average wind speed to be even close to cost-effective. I believe that the average wind speed that I have heard used is an average of about 14 mph. It takes a wind speed of about 7 or 8 mph just to turn the blades of the wind turbine. So in a slight 5 mph breeze, the blades won’t even turn. This limits the wind generation to certain areas of the country — mostly in Texas and the mid-west plains, and some on the west coast in Oregon, Washington, and is limited to about 3 specific areas of California.

Hope this helps.