OT: DIY Wind Generator

[kevin007]

Now how awesome is this!? A DIY Turbine that you can build for under $100.00. Where I live this would be handy as the wind never stops blowing.

[Sydney]

Re: OT: DIY Wind Generator

RE: Mother Earth News.
Around 1982 went to the Eco-Village in Hendersonville, North Carolina and took in some seminars and saw the various projects. Interesting place

[lowpolyjoe]

Re: OT: DIY Wind Generator

awesome.

it's a crime that we're not making better use of wind and solar. free and abundant.

[Melby Audio]

Re: OT: DIY Wind Generator

Except that in practice it is not free and not continuous. Cool project though.

[billfitzmaurice]

Re: OT: DIY Wind Generator

Generating electricity isn't the least bit difficult, or expensive. Storing it to use it when you need it is a different story.

it's a crime that we're not making better use of wind and solar. free and abundant

Trouble is every time someone wants to put up a wind farm the locals adopt a NIMBY stance. IMO when they whine about windmills disturbing their views they should be immediately unplugged from the grid.

[kenrhodes]

Re: OT: DIY Wind Generator

You know all those inductors you have in the parts box? pair them up with some n50 magenets and go make some power!
http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-...-magnet-disks/

[time]

Re: OT: DIY Wind Generator

I've looked heavily into DIY wind. Usable wind power is neither cheap nor easy.

And the problem with the local windfarm is not the looks. It is the large increase in my power bill. There is nothing smart about forcing the power company to buy off peak power nobody is using simply because the wind blows more at night. I literally pay for unused and unneeded power.

[Paul Ebert]

Re: OT: DIY Wind Generator

Effectively and equitably integrating renewable energy into our current energy infrastructure is definitely a considerable challenge. One that we need to overcome. Cost effective, utility scale storage would make a huge difference.

[Whitneyville1]

Re: OT: DIY Wind Generator

The wind doesn't blow all the time strong enough to turn that alternator shaft 1000 RPM. It doesn't produce any usable amount of current below that. A new $40 alternator is going to be a 32 or 36 amp unit. 36 amperes x 14.4 volts =a theoretical 518 watts not counting parasitics and losses. With even a 24" "stagger blade" fan, you'll lose more and more torque to the shaft as the wind speed increases, as the fan is designed to not be as much of a load on the engine at higher speeds (RPMS). Northern Tool sells a real half Kw wind turbine, with 48" blades for about $700. You supply the mast, charge controller, etc. The unit feather's up at too high wind speeds and gimbals 360*. Wind is like solar power. An idea whose time will never come. OG&E has built wind turbine farms in Western Oklahoma, most of the units are 3 kilowatts. By the time the power from one gets the 500+ miles to Tulsa, less than 100 watts net is added to the power grid capacity according to THEIR FIGURES filed with the State Corporation Commission and included, by law, with your electric bill, and the cost of the electricity per kilowatt hour from wind turbines is charged to you @ 14.87 cents per kilowatt hour vs: 7.831 cents per kilowatt hour for natural gas or coal (not including taxes and surcharges or seasonal adjustments). They are asking this month for a 78% rate increase for wind power rates.

[kenrhodes]

Re: OT: DIY Wind Generator

All too true. Many systems have very little (if any) reward. Those that are actually "off the grid" spent a lot of money and resources to do so and they still don't use as much power as a normal family. A wind turbine like the original link might help keep you phone charged or laptop working while camping but that is about it, 1 device with limited use.

[djg]

Re: OT: DIY Wind Generator

Yes, this device, combined with an unknown quantity of solar generation, charges golf cart batteries to run a very modest low voltage DC system for a cabin. The author claims no more than that. I wonder how long it would take him to make a pair of 3/4" mdf bookshelf speaker cabs at his cabin. I suppose he could go all Amish and use old time tools, they worked fine for many years.

[billfitzmaurice]

Re: OT: DIY Wind Generator

Yes, this device, combined with an unknown quantity of solar generation, charges golf cart batteries to run a very modest low voltage DC system for a cabin. The author claims no more than that.

The blades are too small. With large enough blades to provide sufficient torque and a gearing system to translate that torque into high RPMs one could generate a pretty fair amount of current. The problem remains in having enough storage capacity for when the wind don't blow and the sun don't shine. That takes a lot of batteries, which don't come cheap. I guess you could make your own salt water storage capacitor if you've got a swimming pool you're not using. ;)

[doctormorbius]

Re: OT: DIY Wind Generator

I have a wind generator, but you do not want to be around when it's functioning. Trust me. :o

[Pete Schumacher]

Re: OT: DIY Wind Generator

Generating electricity isn't the least bit difficult, or expensive. Storing it to use it when you need it is a different story.
Trouble is every time someone wants to put up a wind farm the locals adopt a NIMBY stance. IMO when they whine about windmills disturbing their views they should be immediately unplugged from the grid.

Why should people be forced to put up with huge windmills that kill birds and create noise?

If they want to put up wind farms, they can do it where people actually want it, or don't live.

Wind is among the most expensive forms of electric power. Nukes are the cheapest and have the least environmental impact overall (when properly designed and managed). Wind farms that can produce what one nuke plant does will take up far more land. I can't tell you how many times I've driven past wind farms in Illinois, Kansas, California, when over half the windmills weren't even turning.

Large wind turbines for power generation are purely the result of crony capitalism. If it weren't for government subsidies, no one would actually put those up because the return on investment renders them uncompetitive with coal, hydro, natgas.

[piazzafatb]

Re: OT: DIY Wind Generator

Sorry
Solar and wind power technology is just for capitalism...
Lot of free energy Technology, but isn't time yet...