DIY wind turbine

[Kola]

I thought this was pretty cool. Thoughts?

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-1000-watt-wind-turbine/

[thoner7]

How much is 1000 watts? I have no concept of how much power that is. Is that how much it makes per year or how much it makes while in use?

I hate electricity.

[rreidnauer]

He he he! OK, picture 1000 watts as running ten 100 watt incadecent light bulbs. Most toasters, microwaves, hairdriers, and such run at around 1100 to 1500 watts.

"Watts" is a term used to describe the amount of power flowing 'in that instant'. But what we are billed for is power over time. (watts used over the course of an hour) Let's see if this example will make it easier to understand:

Lets say you left a 100 watt light bulb on for one hour. That would be 100 watt-hours.

Now lets say you only had it on for 30 minutes of that hour. That would be 50 watt-hours.

Now for windmills, you usually figure power generation in bigger blocks of time, like 'per day' or 'per month'. So another example:

Lets say for a 'per day' senerio, at 12am until 7am the wind didn't blow and you made no power. From 7am until 12pm the wind blew a steady amount whereas the windmill was generating 600 watts. Then from 12pm until 5pm the wind picked up to have the windmill producing 800 watts. The from 5pm until 9pm the wind slowed to have the windmill producing just 300 watts. Finally, from 9pm until midnight. No wind blew and again produced zero watts. So lets add it up:
12am to 7am: 7hrs x 0w = 0 watt-hours.
7am to 12pm: 5hrs x 600w = 3000 watt-hours.
12pm to 5pm: 5hrs x 800w = 4000 watt-hours.
5pm to 9pm: 4hrs x 300w = 1200 watt-hours.
9pm to 11:59pm: 3hrs x 0w = 0 watt-hours
Total: 8200 watt-hours 'per day'. And as a bonus, you can easily calculate average production rate by dividing the produced wattage by the hours of the time period, so 8200 watts / 24hrs = an average production rate of 341.7 watt-hours.

Oh one last thing. Commercially available wind turbines are almost always over-rated from realistic numbers they will produce. The given wattage is at maximum wind speed the turbine can function in. (which in the real world will very rarely occur) Further, power output is exponential, so if the windspeed is cut in half, it will only be producing one-eighth the power.

[StressMan79]

1000 watts of solar energy falls on one m2 of area, in general. Commercial panels are about 20% efficient, so that is about 5 sq meters of solar, panels. Around 1000 bucks worth. Wind (more so than solar) is sporadic. I suspect that is peak output. You'd be lucky to get 150 continuous.

[Kola]

I am living on 350 watts of solar array, a FX 80 Outback controller, 2 six volt batterries hooked up for 12 volts, and a cheapy inverter . It gives me lights, runs my laptop, my satellite dish and a few other little gizmos. Of course here in CO we got lots of sun which helps. I rarely use my generator...mostly for power tools or when we get the rare few days of no sun and extreme low temps.

Once you start living on less you will easily see you need very little electric to live happily. Trust me on this. ;)

Propane fridges IMO are the best way to go. YMMV.

We have pretty good winds here too.

Hey Rod? what your thoughts on this gizmo... is it hokey-pokey or what? You no likey?

[rreidnauer]

Hey Rod? what your thoughts on this gizmo... is it hokey-pokey or what? You know likey?You mean the instructables link above? It describes a three-phase, linear flux, permanent magnet alternator. That's what I've built, as I believe it to be the best type of power generator for wind or hyro applications.

[loghousenut]

The real beauty of the gizmo is what making it does for your attitude about living off the grid. Failures and successes on the workbench, and out by the creek in the middle of the night at 8 below zero, will put a person on the fast track toward learning what he/she is willing to sacrifice for watts. That Coleman lamp was a real Godsend once I got used to living by candle light. Same goes for that first homemade generator, first store bought generator, first Honda 600W generator, first solar panel, first microhydro, etc., etc., etc.

I think that handmade wind machine would be a killer project, but it would teach a person to improve the tinkering skills. Probably make a person really get into Home Power magazine also.


In the end, nothing is free. Kola is proving that for us all right now in every way possible.

[Kola]

LHN-guy nails it. Doing things by yourself has it's finest rewards. If you start out bare-boned living every little new thing becomes a luxury. You start to get a new (and better) appreciation for the simple things. Gratitude took on a complete new definiton for me.

And yes freedom is not free. It's work. But it's GOOD work. There is good work, bad work.... and shit-work. lol.

disclaimer: My way of life is not for everyone but it's the only way for me. Some people are very happy and content with a 9-5 job and the stability that comes with a nice steady job. In some ways, I do envy them but there are no right or wrong lifestyles....and happiness is defined differently for each individual.

I am an extremist (so I have been told) in many ways and I am often a risk-taker and reckless. I don't like money and how it can change some people and how it might distract them from truly living. I like adventure, the Wilderness, in all of her glory and my "Call to the Wild" started when I was very young. It was slow process but looking back everything I did, all my experiences and all my lessons of learning have helped me succeed to where I am now. For me, there was no other way as my ideas about living simply were engraved pretty early on. Yeah, the first year or two was pretty rough and there were times I questioned what the hell I was doing...and why. But there was no real way out (I had nowhere else to go) so I plodded along and took each new obstacle one by one. And it got easier and with every new challenge I conquered it built my confidence. And it slowly turned into a torrid love affair...and there was no turning back. Ever.

[eagle]

Kola, I think you should write a book on your lifestyle, it would be a great read.
To the OP, I was curious about using a car alternator to generate the power. It probably wouldn't have enough amps but a few together may, just change the pulley size for speed. Just a thought.

[Kola]

I never seem to have time to write stuff. Plus I am lazy that way. Maybe when I get older (and wiser) I can reflect on things and have a better idea of what to write. I

Off-roaders often convert their vehicles to put out some heavy juice. You can soup-up power with big ambulance or cop-car alternators, wire in inverters, etc.

I have thought about using a older 2 cyl diesel engine (low rpm=less noise) or a little metro geo engine as a homemade generator. But I have a great old Honda EU that never quits....which I rarely use. I think the wind turbine would be nice to have along with my small solar package.

I'd like to heat my greenhouse so I can grow all year round and I have some pretty cool ideas. I like the idea of using PEX plumbing tubing and a solar water heater/collector. The only thing needing power would be a small pump. I'd run the PEX into the soil (about a foot deep) to keep the roots warm and then have the lines pop up at every corner in the greenhouse. In each corner I would have a heater core from an automobile to disperse heat to the outside air. A water/antifreeze mixture would keep it from freezing.

2173

[StressMan79]

Kola, I think you should write a book on your lifestyle, it would be a great read.
To the OP, I was curious about using a car alternator to generate the power. It probably wouldn't have enough amps but a few together may, just change the pulley size for speed. Just a thought.

NEVER use auto alternators to generate power. Quick and easy, yes. But very inefficient. You have to dump significant power to energize the coils.

Peter

[rreidnauer]

To the OP, I was curious about using a car alternator to generate the power. It probably wouldn't have enough amps but a few together may, just change the pulley size for speed. Just a thought.For wind or hydro, they simply do not work. It's because of the rpm's required to actually produce power is way higher than most wind/hydro systems can generate. Yes, you could 'gear up' but the conversion losses would be huge. On top of that, an auto alternator is already terribly inefficient to start with.

[lilbluehonda]

The car alternators do work good as battery chargers,hooked up to a 5 or more HP motor ,they really come in handy when you have many vehicles with crappy batteries ,I have one in a small wagon,makes it EZ to move around and you can use it to charge your 12 V and 24 V (you can get a 24 V alt.) battery banks on days when there's not any sun for your solar. If you try and "gear them up " it does take a lot of HP to turn them with a 5 or 6 HP motor you can kill the motor by putting a big load on them. I have two one just uses the alt. internal regulator the other had a rheostat to control the out put,that one works best for a battery bank that can absorb as much amps as you can crank into it . they may not be the most efficient way of charging but parts are EZ to come by and inexpensive

[project]

If you want to DIY a wind turbine go to Www.otherpower.com.
I Have built a few of their 17' dia turbines for friends in Arkansas . They work great and don't cost an arm and a leg to build.

[Kola]

I was speaking more in terms of bare-boned living. In this case, any power is good power, IMO. It may just be a temporary thing or just a small amount of power to run a few lights...or to keep you warm. Most folks have a car or truck and you can easily modify and tweak things to use it as an optional power source.

[ChainsawGrandpa]

Kola, sign me up for the book if it ever appears.

I'm considering this: http://crispgreen.com/2012/02/tri-blades-get-the-axe-in-new-wind-turbine-design/

I like the idea of (starting to) generate power in 2.25 mph winds. Best of all, a wind system is totally free.
After of course you pay for materials, and maintenance....

G'pa