Considering the tough times we are now living in, you may likely be thinking of other options that could make living easier and inexpensive. Since we live our every day lives fully dependent on electricity, it is indeed beneficial to make use of the recyclable energy that is quite abundant in our surroundings. One good bet would be to take advantage of the wind that we have around us. To be able to do this, a device called a wind generator would come in handy. But how to build a wind generator?
Good question. Here are some tips to guide you:
- First you need to know where you are going to put it. You need an area with at least a 300 to 400 foot radius of open space and a 30 to 40 foot vertical clearance. There are two types of towers you can choose from, a tilt-up or a freestanding design. Tilt-ups are more widely used in residential areas because they are easier to maintain, since you don't need to climb them to clean them. However, since free standing towers are taller, they help maximize the output of your wind turbine.
- Next up on your list are the materials you are going to use. You can start with a high voltage, low current DC motor that runs at low rpm's. This is the heart of the unit that will convert the wind into electrical current.
- Now you need to create the blades of your windmill. These can be made of wood, plastic, sheet metal, or better yet, PVC pipe. Keep in mind that the longer the blades, the better. A wider covered area means the more energy it can extract from the wind.
- The next step would be about fixing the hub, that which connects the blades onto the motor. One easy way would be to look for a scrap steel disc with which you can drill holes into and attach to a shaft that would connect the blades.
- In order to keep your wind generator turned to the wind, you need to make a tail and pivot. You can use some scrap sheet metal for the tail and a flange for the pivot, along with some square tubing and pipe nipple.
- After setting up your wind generator, one more important step must be covered and that is the battery. Batteries are essential basically because it is where the converted energy is stored. Keep the batteries close to the generator as much as possible to monitor the charging, and look for highly efficient batteries, which are low in maintenance.
You need to look for special batteries called "deep cycle", because they are rated in amp-hours and have indicators of their charge-discharge cycles. They are best for power system applications such as this.
In knowing how to build a wind generator it's best to remember that placing a diode between the battery and the generator is good in order to prevent the energy from being wasted and flowing directly onto the generator itself. Adding a secondary load is helpful as a depot for excess energy produced.
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