How-To-Build-A-Wind-Turbine-On-The-Cheap

Learn how to build a low voltage DC wind turbine and what is required.

Introduction

I have read a countless books, mails, how to guides and the rest on how to build a wind turbine and none of the so called guides actually help, hence I will show you what is required, step by step.

The guides where OK but did not really get to the point, which was in simple terms what do I need to obtain to make one!

As you can see from the picture above, my wind machine is in motion and it is almost all of the time, so long as there is a breeze it is making free power to supply my battery bank, all day and all night!

My wind machine specifications

6 x Carbon fibre reinforced plastic blades 3ft long
1 x Circular steel hub 3mm steel (Home made) 150mm Diameter
1 x 10Ft standard steel scaffolding pole
1 x 4ft Angle Iron type steel for tail
1 x Custom mounting swivel bracket (Home made)
12 x M6 roofing bolts, nuts and washers for blade mounting
1 x Brooke Crompton 90VDC 3000W permanent magnet DC motor (PMDC)
1 x Length of 16MM 2 core copper twin wire for power transfer
1 x 600MM x 300MM x 5MM Perspex clear Perspex for tail fin
1 x Lucas blocking Diode to prevent batteries spinning wind machine!

A down to earth explanation of how it works!

The reason I chose this particular motor is because when you spin a PMDC motor then it produces DC, DC is what charges SLA batteries so PMDC motors are the ideal solution for a Homebrew wind machine, these can be found world over in surplus shops, look out for them!
So if we spin up a PMDC motor then we produce a DC voltage, the faster you spin it the higher the voltage will get.

When you connect a PMDC motor to a battery then the motor spins, this is using power from the battery bank to produce motive force, now if you where to manually spin the motor at the same speed as it was trying to go connected to the battery then effectively the motor would be producing the same voltage the battery was supplying, so the battery would not be under any load i.e. 12V battery connected in parallel to a PMDC motor spinning at a rate to produce 12VDC produces an equal and opposite electric force.

However, once you begin to spin the motor faster than the battery bank voltage then you are effectively charging the battery bank i.e. 12VDC battery bank connected in parallel to a PMDC motor producing 13.5VDC is charging the bank or in simple terms putting power into your batteries!

Now we could go into overcharging, regulating, desulfating, trickle charging and more but for now we have the basics in place and we are producing power and storing it in a chemical form (Batteries) for later re use.

More information

Blocking Diode
Purpose is to allow the produced voltage to flow from the wind machine (PMDC Motor) into the batteries but not the other way, so in wind the batteries will charge but in no wind the wind machine will NOT rotate.

SLA Batteries
Purpose is to store electricity in a chemical form

PMDC Motor
Purpose is to effectively use it in reverse to induce a current flow into the motor windings from magnets and provide us with a useful charging current at the right voltage.

16MM Copper cable
Purpose is transport our voltage from the wind machine to the battery bank with the least amount of electrical resistance, copper is a good electrical conductor but of course it has a resistive value, the larger the cross sectional area of the copper conductor, the less resistance we have. Big really is better when it comes to your cabling!

Renewable-Energy-Discussion-Forum

Just a reminder about the HomeBrewPower - Renewable energy free forum.

Please visit the following link and be sure to bookmark it for future reference.

http://apps.homebrewpower.co.uk/Forum/TopicGroup/

Renewable-Energy-Types-And-Uses

Types Of Feasible renewable energy for domestic homes.

Below are the types of renewable energy groups that can be implemented into a domestic home.

Solar Panels: Domestic Grid Tied.

Solar panels are NOT a cheap option but are a low maintenance option for anyone considering using renewable energy to supply part of their electricity needs at home. To give you an idea of costs associated with a solar PV installation then budget on £6.00 per watt of installed solar, considering you will need (for a three bed roomed typical family home) something like 3000 Watts of solar panels on the roof to give you electricity for free (Most of the time - On Average) then you are looking at an £18,000.00 investment with a typical payback time of 15 to 25 years!

Solar Panels: Remote Building / Shed / Workshop / Hobby Shop.

I would recommend Solar PV panels for a remote type building where you only require a small amount of electricity, i.e. Low energy CF lighting / domestic sockets for laptops / low energy appliances etc. The great thing about remote power is you have the solar panel connected to a battery bank via a charge controller which looks after the batteries and keeps them charged and ready for use. From the battery bank you have an inverter to convert the batteries power into domestic 230VAC (Volts Alternating Current)

Solar Hot Water Panels: Domestic Use.

There are 2 main types of solar hot water panels 1. Flat plate collectors 2.Evacuated tubes collectors. There is much debate over which technology is the best and I am not going to go into the 'for and against' argument here but in my opinion if you are here to look for the best way of reducing your gas or electricity bills then installing Solar Hot Water panels is the way to go. In the UK we could produce at least 70% of all our hot water requirements from the sun that shines on our house roofs! That is one big saving for the average UK home. If you think that you might pay £3,000.00 for a simple solar hot water installation and your hot water heating bill comes down by 70% then the payback time for the installation is not too far away!

Wind Turbines: Domestic Grid Tied.

Wind turbines mounted on the side of your house are one way to reduce your electricity bills considerably. When you hear the phrase 'Grid Tied' all it means is that the electricity the wind turbine produces is pushed back in to the electricity network grid, in effect if the wind turbine is producing electricity in excess of what you are using then your meter will run backwards lowering your electricity bill. This is one way to save money but when the grid goes down (In the event of a power cut) your grid tied wind turbine automatically disconnects from the grid so you have no power! Great for energy saving, no good at all if you want to keep on using power in the event of the national grid shutting down (Power Cut).

Wind Turbines: Off-Grid Power / Remote Power / Shed Power / Workshop Power.

If you require power away from the electricity supply then a wind turbine is a great option. They typically output 12VDC or 24VDC and can be used to charge a battery bank for later use via an inverter. They are much cheaper than Solar PV but you must remember that the wind does not blow all the time so you may want to consider combining a wind turbine with some solar panels.

DIY-Wind-Turbine-Blades

How to make cheap, easy to build, PVC Wind Turbine Blades.

Most Renewable Energy enthusiasts have a good grasp of how to use a PMDC Motor as a generator to make a DIY Wind Turbine but the sticking point is usually how to make a set of good wind turbine blades.

Below we will show you how it is done with cheap, accessible materials, for little or nothing.
PVC Wind Turbine Blades are becoming more and more common for homemade wind turbines. The raw material, PVC pipe, is easy to find, cheap, easy to work with, and performance is more than acceptable for a small basic wind turbine generator.

PVC wind turbine blades can simply be bolted onto a Permanent Magnet DC Alternator or suitable Stepper Motor and you already have a basic wind turbine.One of the most difficult parts of making your own wind turbine is producing turbine blades. Wind turbine blades go through enormous stresses and must be made to quite exacting tolerances if they are to balance and not send destructive vibrations through your wind turbine resulting in a catastrophic failure of your wind turbine.

In strong winds the flexibility of the PVC blades is useful as it takes some of the energy out of the wind preventing the wind turbine generator from excessive spinning (Overrun) and being damaged. Obviously you need to take care to ensure that the blades cannot bend back far enough to hit the wind turbine mast.Individual wind turbine blades can be cut out of the pipe using a jigsaw or hacksaw blade, or a one piece pair of blades can be made.

Below is an example design of a one piece (two blade) PVC wind turbine propeller.This design may be adapted with more turbine blades to fit a 3 blade or even 5 blade turbine configuration setup.

Domestic-Wind-Turbines

There are 2 main types of wind turbine that are suitable for use with a domestic house.

1. Grid-Tied Wind Turbine:

Grid-Tied, simply put, means your wind turbine is connected in line with your national grid electricity supply. When you are using less electricity than your wind turbine is producing then the excess power is pushed past your electricity meter and back into the nation grid. This enables your meter to run backwards and reduce your bill you have to pay to your electricity supplier.
The disadvantage with a grid tied wind turbine is that in the event of your electricity supply shutting down (Power Cut) then the wind turbine supply shuts down also meaning you will have no electricity supply until the grid supply is restored. This is a safety feature to prevent your supply back feeding the national grid in the event of a power cut.

2. Isolated Wind Turbine Feeding Batteries:

A system that supplies batteries is not as efficient as a grid tied wind turbine due to the losses in storing electricity in batteries instead of directly feeding the national grid but the plus side is that the electricity you produce can be stored for later use.
You require a wind turbine designed to charge your battery bank. You also require suitable, maintenance free batteries for power storage, if you require domestic AC (Alternating Current) power then you will need an inverter to convert the DC (Direct Current) back to 230V AC that can be used with mains powered domestic appliances.

Learn-More-About-Wind-Turbines-For-Kids

http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/kids/

Fantastic website for kids and grown ups alike.