wind turbine

[cantwell.colton]

been doing a bunch of research on building one and i think i may give it a go...
about 95 % sure i can do this effectively
-- has any one tried?
seems to be the power inverter wouldnt be necessary at all - if youre charging a 12 volt system - and running 12 v accessories -
with how far theyve come with LED lights seems like i could spotlight my yard, light my work space and charge my cell phone all off of wind - even run a radio/cd player !!!

 

[Sniper]

I've looked into it for my place up north, but haven't tried anything yet.

 

[cycledog]

Haven't messed with wind yet but my back up lighting for my shop is solar.

 

[cantwell.colton]

I've looked into it for my place up north, but haven't tried anything yet.

http://www.mdpub.com/Wind_Turbine/
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250624752250&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

thinkin just a little motor like that - and a little fan up in the breezeway of the backyard could keep a 12v battery charged -and LED lights and cellphone chargers dont draw all that much energy

 

[Sniper]

I figured if I used a tower, even an old TV tower I would either use a Darrieus windmill or a 90 degree drive box to run a drive shaft to the ground. A 90 would be driven by a conventional three or four blade 'prop' and then to the ground by driveshaft to the generator. Two reasons, 1, everything is at ground level and easy to work at, and 2, no slip rings and brushes needed for a swivelling head at the top of a tower for the electrical connection. Sounds good in theory, have to try it someday and see what to expect for power loss etc. Might not be feasible at all, we'll see.

 

[andreasklapp]

i've thought about it a little, i lean more towards solar and water, but i think if you did it like a barrel with vertical blades on a vertical shaft driving your generator (possibly through a series of bicycle gears and chains to change the ratio) you might be able to catch the wind a little better. but that's just my thought. i know some places around here they collect rainwater and run it downhill into lots of small reservoirs each feeding a small high output generator, but i guess they don't have as much water down there in south texas. there are a lot of free books on the internet about rebuilding solar panels out of old broken ones. i just don't have any old broken panels to work on yet. but i'd say go for it. i've also thought a little about a falling sand generator (based on a cross between an hourglass and a falling water generator[S) but i guess the sand would probably cause a lot of wear. but in theory you would just have to go flip the hourglass at whatever interval. there is a book called "producing your own power" that has a lot of information about different setups in it. you may also be able to hook up water turbines on the inlet side of your houses water system. i've had thoughts about making lampshades out of solar panels, i don't think they would power the lamp, but they would produce a little bit. i also thought about water power on some of the drains in the house, by collecting it in a large reservoir and running it through a series of small high output generators that would handle any particulate matter. i had a thought about a laundry mat whose roof, walls(inside and out) incoming and outgoing water and ventilation from the dryers all producing some kind of power. i also think just one source of power is not enough, and that some combination of all of them would probably be the best.

 

[cantwell.colton]

i agree - all im hoping to do right now is maybe have a couple led spotlights and such to light up the area and porch - and maybe charge cell phones - or have if i can accomplish that - next would be to just run a system for say the living room or bathroom lights - not a lot of water but a ton of wind and sun thats for sure ... if i can get away with spending say about 400-600 dollars putting together a small system of wind/solar powering lights for a few rooms and my yard and it reduces the power bill by 50 id be happy

be certain this is about self sustainability and not caring too much for my electric company or the bill i get -

might pick up some led lights and a battery this weekend and just plop them on to see how long theyll stay on with out charging

 

[pistolpete]

This post will not help out at all... but I know a guy who used 40 gal drums cut in half and had them mounted two high, with I think 4 or 6 sets that drove a verticle shaft. The generator was set up verticle as well so there was no need to have the 90 change the direction of the drive. He did however have an inverter set up as well, I'm not overly sure how much energy he actually created with the set up, he was one of the first people that I knew who had a reversing power meter. He did also have solar set up on the roof of his barn as well, so not sure he even knew how much power was created from what. Overall it looked a little hookey as far as how he build it and such, but in the end if did work. He died a few years ago and the new owners tore it down along with the solar panels recently or I would try to get some pictures for you.

^^ andreasklapp - I had for a design class in college came up with an idea that incoperated waste water treatment and power generation, in an almost perpetual motion type idea. Basically two reservoirs of waste water, one at a high elevation with a spout that fell onto a paddle wheel which turned a generator as well as a belt/bucket system that then tranfered water from the lower reservoir back to the top one. It was only a preliminary design type thing but I thought it had possibilities as people arent going to stop flushin the toilet...

 

[Lightning]

Years ago just outside of Lancaster Ca. I helped a friend build some home grown wind mills. We used some old large bladed fan blades and automotive alternators to charge a bunch of used automotive batteries for his house - he used all 12v light bulbs from motor homes and the batteries came from customers doing a battery change, some would hold 12v and some were holding about 8v but when they were all connected it was enough to power his things that were 12v - you just couldn't run to many of them at one time.Most of the alternators were from motorhomes and high out puts, he learned how to rebuild them just by replacing the diodes and could even make them a really high out put alt. This was back in the early 70's

 

[cantwell.colton]

thats impressive automotive alternators arent the best choice because they require such a high rpm to produce the volts - it works - just not as effective -

 

[Sam_Fear]

Wow ... thought I was the only one...

My thoughts are a vertical shaft using either aluminum fins, possibly plastic barrels as below, or 1/2 buckets in a double configuration like the bottom pic.
With a large pulley on the bottom and a small one on an old generator. Very simple.

 

[cantwell.colton]

Wow ... thought I was the only one...

My thoughts are a vertical shaft using either aluminum fins, possibly plastic barrels as below, or 1/2 buckets in a double configuration like the bottom pic.
With a large pulley on the bottom and a small one on an old generator. Very simple.

could run pvc pipe cut in 1/2 also.

 

[cantwell.colton]

good thing about that set up is theres no worries for making the set up turn to catch wind - no matter which way the winds blowing it will be spinning --

 

[PA41]

I've messed with them a little. Ebay blades, front spindles from a Dodge PU as shaft and also one as a center mount. Had it running a couple years as a proof of concept with no gen, just to see if it'd hold up to weather--Did great. After considerable study I decided the best thing I could do with the alternators--considering all the limitations- is to heat water as energy storage, and use it to assist a boiler in a floor heating system. I don't have a steady wind like you probably do in Texas.

I have the high power magnents and windings for a Hugh Piggott style 'axial Flux' generator, just never went to completion--check the design out on the web--If ya need some winding coils, I made a winder and can probably get some to ya at about cost and shipping if interested.

PA41