The Dutch have a reputation for using windmills to generate energy. This energy was used for a variety of purposes, including raw material grinding, water pumping, and so on. The windmill is now a viable source of renewable energy.
Marinus Mieremet, a Dutch MSc, has been working on a new and more efficient wind turbine generation method since 2003.
It’s a windmill that generates more electricity, emits less noise, is bird-friendly, and looks great.
The Archimedes windmill is a novel wind turbine that consists of three circular blades that are wrapped around each other and then enlarged. This results in a three-dimensional conical turbine that looks like elongated beach shells. The turbine’s unique design ensures that wind is pulled into it. When compared to a typical urban windmill propeller, the average yield is many times higher.
Is it possible to construct your own wind turbine?
Being started with home wind energy projects can be expensive if you buy a finished product, but if you’re handy and don’t mind scrounging for supplies and getting creative in the garage or backyard, you can make one of these DIY wind turbines for under $30 in materials.
What is the best way to create a wind turbine for a project?
Steps to take:
- The first step is to construct the rotor.
- Step 2: Create the blades.
- Step 3: Construct the tower.
- Mounting the motor is the fourth step.
- Step #5: Construct the home.
- Connecting the light is the sixth step.
- Step #5: Turn on the turbine.
How much does a 1 megawatt wind turbine cost to construct?
Per megawatt, the cost is $1,300,000.00 USD. Because the average wind turbine has a power output of 2-3 MW, most turbines cost between $2 and $4 million.
Which wind turbine is the quietest?
Renewable Energy Solutions Australia (RESA), based in Brisbane, has presented the first functional installation of the world’s quietest wind turbine. Despite being around half the height and having half the blade diameter of more familiar three-bladed alternatives, the Eco Whisper Turbine is capable of producing 20kW of electricity and can automatically modify the position of the blades to optimise wind capture.
Small wind turbines generate a lot of noise as air pours from the tips of the blades, but the Eco Whisper Turbine is touted to operate quietly because to its innovative cowl/ring construction. According to RESA, its design can generate more than 30% more energy than previous turbine systems throughout a wide variety of wind conditions, equating to up to 45,000 kWh per year in ideal conditions.
The company anticipates their green energy solution to address medium to high power needs in urban and rural applications such as airports, business parks, commercial sites, and universities, whether on or off the grid. Since the first installation was recently unveiled at Austeng Engineering in Geelong, Victoria, the company’s Michael Le Messurier notes that industry demand has been tremendous.
A 6.5 meter (21.325 foot) diameter blade stands at the top of a hinged steel pole that may be lowered for maintenance or during harsh weather conditions, despite the construction being built to resist wind speeds of up to 220 kilometers per hour (136.7 mph). The center hub is constructed of aluminum, as are the 30 blades that fan out from it, and the solution uses dynamic slew drive technology to eliminate the need for a tail.
Other notable features of this turbine invention include a low start-up speed and great visibility, which should assist protect the surrounding avian species.
The Eco Whisper Turbine is demonstrated in the following video:
What is the purpose of a water screw?
Is there a method to get water to flow uphill without needing electricity? This is exactly what the ancient Greeks figured out! They invented the Archimedes screw to transport water from one point to another. This tool is still in general usage today because it is so useful. You will make your own hand-powered Archimedes screw out of simple materials in this project.
In the third century B.C., Archimedes of Syracuse was born. He was one of the most important inventors of his day and enjoyed solving difficulties. Archimedes was commissioned by the king to construct the largest ship imaginable. Archimedes had to invent a method to remove water from this ship since it was leaking. As a result, he created what is now known as the Archimedes screw. It worked well since it removed the water and just required one person to operate. Water was swiftly transported from low-lying areas up to irrigation ditches using the Archimedes screw. The design is still in use today since it is so successful. It’s used to elevate wastewater in water treatment plants and even water in some amusement park attractions, for example. It’s a classic tool that’s never gone out of fashion.
Positive-displacement pumps, such as the Archimedes screw, are a type of positive-displacement pump. A positive-displacement pump collects fluid from a source and drives it to flow to a discharge point. The Archimedes screw consists of a hollow cylinder and a spiral portion (which can be placed inside or outside the cylinder). One end is inserted into a low-lying fluid source, while the other is angled upwards to a higher discharge region. All you have to do to move water is rotate the screw. As the screw turns, a small amount of water is scooped up and placed in the first pocket. The first pocket of water transfers to the second pocket on the next turn of the screw, and a new scoop of water enters the first pocket. This process is repeated until the first scoop of water emerges from the other end.
The length, angle, and radius of the Archimedes screw are just a few of the elements that impact how well it works. You will construct and display your own Archimedes screw in this project. You can also experiment with other screw designs to see if you can make it raise water faster!
- PVC hose (at least 1 inch in diameter and at least 1 foot long)
- Clear vinyl tubing (at least 1/4 inch diameter and 2 feet in length; these materials are available at most hardware stores)
- There are two water containers.
- Two things, such as small boxes or supplementary containers, to elevate one of the containers
- A work environment that can withstand spills
- Spills can be cleaned up with a cloth towel (optional)
- Colored food (optional)
- PVC pipe comes in a variety of diameters and lengths (optional)
- Vinyl tubing comes in a variety of sizes (optional)
- Using duct tape, secure one end of the vinyl tubing to one end of the PVC pipe. Make sure the tubing’s opening is open (and not blocked by the tape).
- Wrap the tube tightly around the pipe in a spiral.
- Use duct tape to secure the tubing to the other end of the pipe, taking care not to obstruct the tubing’s opening.
- Allow an adult to snip off any excess tubing using scissors.
- Use extra duct tape to evenly place the tubing along the length of the pipe if necessary.
- One of your containers should be filled with water. Food coloring can be added to the water to make it easier to see when it’s in the tube.
- Elevate the second (empty) container to the same level as the first.
- Place one end of the Archimedes screw in the lower water container and the other end of the screw over the higher water container.
- With each spin of the screw, the bottom end of the tubing “scoops” water. With each revolution, it should go underwater and then return to the surface, rather than remaining entirely submerged the entire time. You may be twisting the screw in the wrong way if your tubing does not begin to fill with water after a few spins. What do you see when you glance at your screw from the side? In the tube, how is the water distributed?
- Continue to turn the screw and watch the water rise into the higher container!
- Experiment with different ways to use your Archimedes screw. What’s the highest you can lift water? Raise the upper container and tighten the screw at a higher angle upward. Is there a point where the water starts to flow back down the tube rather than up?
- Extra: Experiment with other Archimedes screw designs. What happens if you adjust the tube spiral’s spacing, bringing the individual turns closer or farther apart? What if you adjust the PVC pipe or tubing’s diameter?
What makes the Archimedes screw so effective at moving water uphill? Because the tubing curves upward on both sides when bent into a spiral shape, it creates distinct pockets where water can get trapped. These pockets of water can be seen if you glance at your screw from the side. As the screw is rotated, it captures alternating pockets of air and water, which migrate up the screw to the higher container. If you turn the screw up too far, one edge of each pocket will eventually point downhill, enabling the water to flow back down. If you hold the pipe vertically, you’ll note that there’s nowhere for the water to get “stuck” without flowing downhill.
Is it possible to use a car alternator as a wind turbine?
If you’re new to the idea of making a wind generator out of repurposed parts, you’ve undoubtedly asked yourself a few questions like these:
- Why are automobile alternators suitable for wind energy?
- What adjustments are required to convert an automobile alternator into a functional wind generator?
- What is it about Delco-style alternators that makes them so popular?
- Which WindyNation blades work best with Delco-style PMA wind generators?
Perhaps we asked that last question ourselves! In any case, if you’ve ever wondered about repurposing automobile alternators, now’s your chance to learn everything you need to know.
Wind power enthusiasts are increasingly common around the world, taking advantage of excess supplies of alternators or motors that were originally intended for purposes other than generating electricity from the wind. Fisher & Paykel washing machine motors are quite popular in Australia and New Zealand, as these machines utilise big permanent magnet motors. Ametek, Inc. is best known in North America for their tape drive motors, which were once readily available and immensely popular for constructing wind generators.
However, when it comes to DIY modest wind power, the Delco brand of permanent magnet alternators is likely the most popular.
Why are Delco-style Alternators So Popular?
The Delco moniker is derived from Dayton Engineering Laboratories Co, a long-time supplier to General Motors. Delco had a long and illustrious history, which included the invention of the first practical battery ignition system. Hundreds of key components for American-made autos were manufactured by the enterprise, which was absorbed into a variety of larger mega-corporations. GM still uses the Delco brand name, especially for its ACDelco components division, but the corporation has come a long way since its early pioneering days.
Since the early 1980s, the American auto industry has had a lot of excess production capacity, which has often gone into generating a lot of components that don’t always wind up in automobiles. Even though these alternators didn’t find a place under a hood, they found a way to be useful. Delco has experienced a rebirth among wind power aficionados. For usage in small wind generators, repurposed vehicle alternators have become exceedingly popular and relatively cost-effective.
Most ACDelco generators that are sold specifically for use as a wind generator have been repurposed or rebuilt. The reason for this is that when a Delco automobile alternator is employed in a wind turbine, it operates under different conditions than a permanent magnet alternator.
What Modifications are Necessary?
The stator of an automobile alternator is wound to function at extremely high RPMs, owing to the alternator’s luxury of being turned by a powerful, high-rpm engine. The operating rpm of a Delco vehicle alternator is around three times that of the crankshaft of the car engine. The crankshaft of a car rotates between 1000 and 4000 revolutions per minute. As a result, a Delco automobile alternator is built to provide adequate charging voltage and amperage at 3000-12000 rpm.
In 25 mph wind, a modest wind turbine with a rotor diameter of about 60 inches may reach 850 revolutions per minute! The threshold for a normal Delco automobile alternator to even begin charging a 12 volt battery bank is 850 rpm!
When using a Delco automobile alternator as a wind generator, it is imperative that the alternator be modified to run at low RPMs. This is achieved by two complex modifications:
- The stator windings on a Delco vehicle alternator are replaced with a stator with more turns of lower gauge wire.
- On the rotor, high-powered Neodymium magnets are used, which produce more power than conventional magnets.
Where Can I Buy Quality Delco Alternators for Wind Turbines?
WindBlue manufactures high-quality Delco Permanent Magnet Alternators (PMAs), and they are ethical and transparent in their assessment and presentation of the PMAs’ expected power output. They generally achieve this by displaying a Power Curve that shows the output of their alternators under load. This is in contrast to some other re-sellers of modified Delco PMAs that only show open-circuit voltage readings, which are essentially useless indicators of a PMA’s output.
Have Reasonable Expectations
When it comes to Delco alternators, it’s critical to have realistic expectations for the amount of power these devices will provide. In other words, you shouldn’t anticipate a Delco PMA to produce a power production miracle because the amount of power a wind generator or alternator can produce scales with:
- The maximum amount of copper that can be crammed into a stator.
- The number and size of powerful neodymium magnets that can be used on the rotor.
Because a Delco automobile alternator is about the size of a cantaloupe fruit, the amount of copper and magnets it can hold is limited.
A automobile alternator, maybe more importantly, was designed to be installed under the hood of a vehicle. This is not meant to be a criticism of their quality or even their suitability as wind generators. It is a basic reality that the specs for a car alternator and a wind generator are vastly different. A car alternator, for example, will not be weather-proof because it is normally protected from rain and mist because it is located under the hood. Second, the stator must be rewound in order to provide a voltage adequate for battery charging, as we’ve just mentioned. Third, because it is turned by the automobile’s engine, which may produce at least 100 horsepower (76000 Watts! ), a car alternator does not need to be particularly efficient at generating energy.
Great Way to Learn How to Build a Wind Generator
Nonetheless, we are heartened by the thousands of people who have learned the foundations of wind power via Delco PMAs and are now using them to generate significant amounts of electricity.
We’ve put WindyNation blades through their paces on a variety of WindBlue alternators, and we prepared this section to serve as a resource for consumers considering WindyNation aluminum wind turbine blades in conjunction with a WindBlue alternator.
On the WindBlue 540 and 520 series PMAs, we tested numerous sets of our blades. The load for all of the experiments was a 12 volt battery bank.
Three of our 28-inch HyperSpin blades performed admirably with the WindBlue 540. In 11-13 mph winds, we measured 2-4 Amps of power into a 12 volt battery bank. We measured roughly 10 amps of output into a 12 volt battery bank in very high gusts (20-25 mph). The 540 is ideally suited for the HyperSpins. The 540 PMA is wound for high voltages at low RPMs, allowing it to charge in low to medium winds. As a result, the unit’s Amperage output suffers slightly.
The WindBlue 520 worked best with the 5-blade HyperSpin set, which offers a good balance of torque and speed. This alternator produces more amps than the 540, but it takes a steady 9 mph wind to start charging a 12-Volt battery. The alternator was able to produce 3-5 amps in a 12 mph wind. The 540 produced 12-17 amps in 20-25 mph wind, which is a reasonable amount of power for a little PMA.
Overall, we were impressed with WindBlue’s alternator’s performance. If you’re dead set on employing a Delco for your wind turbine project, we recommend the WindBlue. If you’re looking for something a little more powerful, we recommend the Windtura 500 PMA.
Anyone can see the appeal of modified Delco automobile alternators for do-it-yourself wind power: LOW COST.
Thousands of DIYers utilize these devices to build modest, low-cost wind turbines all around the world. It’s critical to have realistic expectations regarding how much power a Delco-style alternator will produce when acquiring one. Furthermore, because the Delco alternator must be “rebuilt” for use in a wind turbine, it is critical that you obtain a Delco alternator from a reliable and honest company. A Delco car alternator that has been adjusted by an inexperienced person or a company that takes shortcuts will have poor performance, cogging, and will most likely fail on you.
What is the best motor for a wind turbine?
Brushed DC motors are primarily used in home-made wind turbines. The power in a brushed DC motor comes from a commutator rotating the brushed motor’s electromagnets. A properly brushed DC motor can achieve high efficiency levels of up to 70%. An axle constructed of hardened stainless steel, a stack of laminations, wire, and brushes make up a high-quality brushed motor. One of the benefits of using a brushed DC motor is that it does not require any gearing while still charging a battery with voltages produced by light wind. Brushless DC motors are also easily accessible.
Step 1Determine the wind speed
Before you start investigating how to build a windmill, you’ll need to figure out what the average wind speed is in the area where you’ll be installing it. A minimum speed of 7-10 miles per hour is recommended most of the time (11-16 kph).
You may be able to access this information online (search for wind maps) depending on where you reside, but you can always use an anemometer to measure wind speeds at regular intervals. Keep in mind that seasonal variations in windspeed can have a significant impact on how a windmill is constructed.
Step 2Check local codes
Every municipality has its own set of rules and regulations governing where and how windmills can be built. Windmill height, distance from an occupied structure, and even proximity to an adjacent property are all subject to regulations in some areas. If you’re building a large windmill, it’s also a good idea to talk to your neighbors about your plans.
Step 3Evaluate the area
It is pretty simple to learn how to construct a windmill. However, you must ensure that there is sufficient room around the windmill to allow it to function properly. Smaller windmills should be surrounded by at least half an acre of open area, according to most experts. A full acre should be set aside for full-size windmills. Look for any trees or structures that could obstruct the airflow to your windmill.
Step 4Choose your blades
When it comes to creating a windmill, you essentially have two alternatives. You can either buy pre-made blades or go the extra mile and construct your own. It’s normally best to buy pre-made blades if you’re not sure what you’re doing. If you still want a real hands-on experience, you may always manufacture the shaft and other components of the windmill yourself to use with pre-made blades.
The windmill’s blades catch the wind and use it to revolve it on its axis and create electricity. To gain the most power from the wind, the blades must be properly formed and sculpted. For stability, almost all windmills have an odd number of blades. The most frequent configuration is three blades, while five or more blades force the windmill to spin more slowly.
