Domestic Wind Turbines Blog

Archive for the ‘SMALL WIND GENERATORS’ Category

Here is a site with some of what you may be looking for. http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/03/21/micro-wind-turbines-small-size-big-impact/

i want to make a small wind turbine but i need to know what kind of motor to use and where to get it.

You would be better off using an alternator which has easily available voltage regulators.
To use a motor you need a small DC motor with permanent magnets and depending on how big you want, these may be expensive and hard to find and the voltage will depend strongly on rotation speed without easy regulation.

You must import a lot of materials to use. It would expensive to import coal for power generation. I have read some articles that you have windmills to generate electrical power for lighting, radios. Here in the USA we had small wind generators for pumping water, generating some electrical power for lighting. This was in the 1900’s.The power companies were stringing wires through the country and giving the farmers good incentives to use their power sources. Then they keep jacking up the rates. We are starting generating power on a larger scale of wind power.These are of course owned by the power companies. It seems to be pretty slow developing. I read about one farmer in La-Cross, wis. Who 20 years ago bought a giant windmill for $20,000,He ordered a new one ,more efficient. He also was selling electrical power. The electrical companies do not make it easy to allow people to generate power. From the history I See Australia, The Dutch Netherlands should be leaders in the production of wind Electrical energy. Why are You Not?
Wow 1 I did not realize Australia was almost as big as the Usa. That Is Great ! Aussi’s are great people ! A few I have met in Vietnamn ! I was on a restrickted base,did not get out much. I Hope to see more of Ausralia in the News,in energy saving devices. your country knows how to work and survive. Keep it up!

Some farms in remote areas have wind mills for power generation and there are also some commercially run wind farms. I copied the stuff below from a alternative energy page.

"South Australia’s ninth wind farm just opened on the Barunga Ranges near Snowtown. Its 47 turbines, installed by Trust Power of New Zealand, (who already operate that countries largest wind farm at Tararua), are said to have the capacity to deliver over 98MW of electricity. The company reckon this output should provide sufficient power for around 70,000 Australian households.

Not only was this project completed ahead of schedule, but it allows the state of South Australia to claim that they now produce almost 60% of Australia’s wind power. Additionally it means that South Australia is poised to meet Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s target for all states to produce 20% of their energy from renewable sources by 2020."

i want to get off-grid. we have lots wind on the coast. but the blades i looked at are huge and the poles are way too tall. just a small one in the yard would catch a lot of wind and spin. i only need at least 750 watts, but 1000 watts preferrably. is there a small wind generator or can someone link me to building plans for something like this? some freeplay machines i’ve searched for only make about 50 watts. thank you…

At 1000 watts, it is NOT a mini.
To get 1000 watts at 120V, you need 8 amps.
To get the same watts at 12v you need 80 amps.
THIS is assuming 100% efficiency. (NO conversion is 100% efficient, most are about 60% on smaller systems!)
Therefore you would need to generate aproximately 132 amps at 12v to allow for the losses in conversion to 120V.

NOTE: MOST automobile generators (alternators) only supply 60 amps, and the most common small wind units even less!!

Wind generators need to be a MINIMUM of 20 feet ABOVE any obstructions to wind flow within 100 yards, and HIGHER is BETTER. When you take into account trees, houses, etc. that usually means about 100 feet in the air MINIMUM, AND the unit must be able to withstand the wind forces.

There are many sites which can be found by searching "wind generators" where you can buy generators, parts, find plans etc.

Does anyone have good plans for a small 24" three blade wind generator ?

Hi,

You can try this set of plans :

http://www.agua-luna.com/wind_gene.html

But it will be good if you spray a protecting coating on it for make it marine grade.

The following steps were taking directly out of that 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.

"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
Alterative Energy / Sustainable Consultant, Living 100% on Alternative & Author of How One Simple Yet Incredibly Powerful Resource Is Transforming The Lives of Regular People From All Over The World… Instantly Elevating Their Income & Lowering Their Debt, While Saving The Environment by Using FREE ENERGY… All With Just One Click of A Mouse…For more info Visit:

www AGUA-LUNA com

Good luck.

My area has an average of 10.5 MPH wind yearly

Setup: Maybe an Ametek PM 30V DC generator with inverter, battery(ies) and homebuilt or purchased blades/hub, etc. nothing too fancy

Purpose: To be able to power light or small evaporative cooler if electricity goes out (and to learn/have fun)

Questions: 1) Is this setup able to power the above 2) when not used for emergency, will the inverters that plug in the wall actually make any difference in electric bill?

Thanks

If you wire it all up suitably your generator will be able to supply power to the batteries, and the inverter will supply alternating current in place of the power you normally get from your utility company. This power will be more than adequate provide lighting, and should provide more than enough power for the small evaporative cooler. Keep in mind that if you maintain your connection to the power grid you’ll have to have a method to automatically disconnect the wind turbine from the grid or to de-power the wind turbine in the event the grid goes down. This is to protect those working on power lines, since you are wind turbine is more than capable of back feeding the system, and the voltage from your wind turbine will jump each time it passes through a transformer into the power utilities main power lines.
Whether your system will actually make a difference in your utility bill is dependent on how efficient the entire system is, how much it costs to purchase, and how much it costs to maintain. Hope this helps!

My connection James for his final year project in Engineering. He spent most of his time on the prop design because the altenator has a lregulator and then he limited the speed with a clutch of sorts. He then charged a 12 Volt battery. You can drive the altenator with a belt and put the propeller shaft between two pillow blocks.

The question basically says it all. I’d like to store wind power or spin a small turbine manually to power something like my cell phone or ipod. Maybe a lamp or laptop if I can get enough power.
I’m basically clueless when it comes to electricity. I have some basic knowledge, but that’s about it.
But what I want to be able to do is have a smaller wind turbine (no taller than 5 ft) that I can either rotate by hand or put outside in the wind. I would like it to save to a battery which I can somehow attach an outlet to and plug in whatever doesn’t take more power than I have stored.

I’d also like to pay less than $75. $100 if you really want to push it.
I tried some sites already, but they were pretty difficult, and I don’t have access to the materials anywhere in my city.I know this is a big task, but help would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

Keeping it under $100 is tough. There is a great method to produce wind energy enough to feed your entire home, and that would be under $250. Actually, there is a tutorial (including superb customer support) that comes at a shade under $50, and then the way they teach costs $200.

If you are a school student, talk to your parents. Because, if they agree to extend the budget then they save the entire electricity bill for the rest of their lives for this extra $150 (since you are paying up to $100 anyway and this total cost including free customer support is $250). That way, you spend today but the cost recovers in the next 2-3 months depending on your power bill, and then you never spend anything.

Here is the tutorial URL for you (open the page and bookmark it right now):

http://www.cwglive.com/favorites/earth4energy.php

I am trying to make a small electric generator via a wind turbine( say make 5 volts ), i want to know what type of magnet to look for. I was told a neodyniam one is good, if so what strength do i look for ( what units do i measure in ).
I know all this depends on rotor speed and number of coils.
Thanks:

Try searching around for rare earth magnets. Thinkgeek.com sells them, or woodcraft.com.

Not the big giant expensive ones. Small generators sized appropriately for every pole. I have one that is only four feet in diameter and produces 800 watts. It goes on a flag pole, and with six blades it works even in low wind. Each one could have a grid tie inverter to feed the power directly into the power lines they sit above. The power companies could do this themselves one pole at a time. Think of how many power poles, and huge power towers, there are all across the country.
My generator requires no maintenance. It is a PMA type. And it pays for itself in the first year.
Since I put it up myself, and the basic unit cost $375 with the other equipment bringing it up to almost $1000, it will pay for itself in a year.

Great idea. Even at fewer watts it is worth it. A small vertical design I have in mind would be lite weight and less of an eye sore.