I am building my own wind turbine ***UPDATE***

[BradT]

I have experimented with some small scale stuff, but I am making a much larger turbine now (Around 15' tall). I have plans for everything that I am going to do for this, except what I do with the power coming off from it. I know I will need a rectifier to be able to use the electricity to power some battery or other household items. I also believe that I will need some kind of charge controller to monitor the power so I don't overcharge the batteries, and also to dump the spare charges into some dummy loads. This is where I am stuck. I was getting a lot of suggestions from this guide:
http://www.mdpub.com/Wind_Turbine/index.html
This guy simply build his own charge controller. I dont even know what I would be looking for if I were to buy my own. Would it be very expensive to just buy one? Where could I get it?
As you have probably picked up by now, I am fairly ignorant when it comes to this stuff, but I learn best by just doing it. What can you suggest to me as far as a charge card, or how I can make the power usable?

Thanks!

EDIT: I haven't had much time lately to work on it, so it has been progressing slowly. It could have been completed more than it is now, but I am having trouble receiving my generator from windstuffnow.com (the guy who was featured in popsci). He supposedly isn't receiving my money orders, so I am trying to track what happened to them...but that's another story.
Right now all I have completed is the actual structure. This is all I can do until I receive the motor and get creative with how I will attach it and make it work. Here are some pics:
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/JoeFahey/IMG_0595.JPG
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/JoeFahey/IMG_0596.JPG
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/JoeFahey/IMG_0597.JPG
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/JoeFahey/IMG_0598.JPG
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/JoeFahey/IMG_0599.JPG
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/JoeFahey/IMG_0600.JPG

 

[djheater]

I would say highly technical would probably offer better answers...

 

[PepePeru]

if youre living in a city, you might check about any kind of code / height restrictions the city might have.
you might have to apply for a variance, depending how strictly they enforce code.

 

[BrownTown]

This is something I have looked into before and even as an electrical engineer it seems to be a very daunting task to get something like this working, are VERY difficult to get it working well. So good luck with this project, I would be interested in hearing your progress as you attempt to build this device and could maybe offer some advice if possible. I'm not entirely sure how much power you can generate with this setup, but at the very least with the batteries and all it could provide some backup power in case of loss of mains power, you know, hopefully enough to run some essential things until power is restored. Even if you don't go that route, its still just a cool project all around

 

[BradT]

Originally posted by: G Wizard
if youre living in a city, you might check about any kind of code / height restrictions the city might have.
you might have to apply for a variance, depending how strictly they enforce code.

Thanks for the advice.

I don't like in a large city, but it is far from a farm town. This won't necessarily be a permanent structure for now at least, but I will call to check. I am only a High School senior (reason for ignorance), so I am just doing this to feed my curiosity. My high school could never afford to do this kind of experimenting, so I am just doing it on my own.

 

[BradT]

Originally posted by: BrownTown
This is something I have looked into before and even as an electrical engineer it seems to be a very daunting task to get something like this working, are VERY difficult to get it working well. So good luck with this project, I would be interested in hearing your progress as you attempt to build this device and could maybe offer some advice if possible. I'm not entirely sure how much power you can generate with this setup, but at the very least with the batteries and all it could provide some backup power in case of loss of mains power, you know, hopefully enough to run some essential things until power is restored. Even if you don't go that route, its still just a cool project all around

Yeah, for now at least, this is simply for experimental purposes. I am not going large scale enough to make it practical. I am just a curious high school senior.

I have always thought that I would want to become a Mechanical or Aerospace Engineer, but I am really getting interested in this stuff which is more related to electrical engineering. I have learned so much about electric motors, magnets, alternators, stators, etc lately. Is this tinkering how many of you electrical engineers became interested in the field.

 

[So]

Originally posted by: BradT

Originally posted by: BrownTown
This is something I have looked into before and even as an electrical engineer it seems to be a very daunting task to get something like this working, are VERY difficult to get it working well. So good luck with this project, I would be interested in hearing your progress as you attempt to build this device and could maybe offer some advice if possible. I'm not entirely sure how much power you can generate with this setup, but at the very least with the batteries and all it could provide some backup power in case of loss of mains power, you know, hopefully enough to run some essential things until power is restored. Even if you don't go that route, its still just a cool project all around

Yeah, for now at least, this is simply for experimental purposes. I am not going large scale enough to make it practical. I am just a curious high school senior.

I have always thought that I would want to become a Mechanical or Aerospace Engineer, but I am really getting interested in this stuff which is more related to electrical engineering. I have learned so much about electric motors, magnets, alternators, stators, etc lately. Is this tinkering how many of you electrical engineers became interested in the field.

Pretty much. Good luck. Basically what you'll need to build a SCR / inverter set. Not that I ever have, but I took a course on switching power supplies and I'd say that this is simply one in reverse. "simply" being a watchword.

 

[T9D]

I can't help you but I was looking into that too. I live out where PGE has all those huge wind turbines. I wanted to have my own smaller one. They produce a lot of power. Would be great to be off the grid.

Here is a site that has a lot of different kinds of turbines with specs on them. I bet there are some links you can follow to get more info. Or pull some info off there and do searches on Google.

http://www.ecobusinesslinks.co...generators_gallery.htm

15 footers can put out about 3000 watts. I'd like to get a couple of those.

 

[BradT]

I have been looking around for something to do with power coming from it. I need a charge controller. Monitoring equipment isn't a huge deal now since I will jkust be experimenting with it for short periods of time.
Could I simply set up some rectifiers and wire them straight to the batteries? This is shown here:
http://www.reuk.co.uk/Making-a-Bridge-Rectifier.htm
I also saw this on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/TURBINE-WI...VWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

What do you suggest? What can I do? Thanks!


EDIT: Also, I keep seeing websites refer to "3-Phase systems." This is when there are 3 wires coming from the wind generator. The motors I am looking at only have two ( I am assuming one for negative and one for positive). What am I missing here? Thanks!

 

[BradT]

.

 

[futuristicmonkey]

Simplest plan goes like this: alternator -> rectifier(new automotive alternators have built-in rectifiers) -> battery -> inverter.

Few things to note: If you use a car's alternator as your "generator" you will not be able to get 120V 60Hz from it. There is simply not enough iron in the stator. You'll need to use this alternator and built-in rectifier to charge a battery bank, which will then feed an inverter/chopper. Building your own chopper may not be too much of a pain in the ass, but expect to do a metric shit-tonne of research. Commercial inverters are a little pricey.

About three phase power: 3-phase AC has to do with how the windings are situated in an electrical machine's stator. Electrically, the 3 sets of pole pairs are separated by 120 degrees. This is what a car's alternator puts out. When rectified, 3-phase power is "smoother" than single phase -- the voltage never drops to 0. You'll understand why when you see a 3-phase waveform. A good reference site that'll answer most of your questions is allaboutcircuits.com.

 

[BradT]

/

 

[Yreka]

Originally posted by: futuristicmonkey
Simplest plan goes like this: alternator -> rectifier(new automotive alternators have built-in rectifiers) -> battery -> inverter.

Few things to note: If you use a car's alternator as your "generator" you will not be able to get 120V 60Hz from it. There is simply not enough iron in the stator. You'll need to use this alternator and built-in rectifier to charge a battery bank, which will then feed an inverter/chopper. Building your own chopper may not be too much of a pain in the ass, but expect to do a metric shit-tonne of research. Commercial inverters are a little pricey.

Could you use a UPS type device ? Seems like they do the same thing, take DC battery power and convert it to AC. Can probably find some old heavy duty ones w/o cells for cheap, then use your own battery banks.

 

[BradT]

I am testing different motors to use as a generator since the ones on ebay will not be available for a little while anyways. I have been taking apart household fan motors. They hardly crank out anything. I must be testing the, wrong. I first just hooked a multimeter up to the AC prongs, but hardly any reading. I then took another one, stripped the wires by the motor, and testing, same thing happened. Up closer to the motor there are around 5 different colors coming out. I am sure that this is because many of them go the control board for the fan. Which wires can I use to test the fan? I am getting more of a reading from those tiny 1 inch toy motors than these fans, so something is wrong.

Help?

Thanks!!

 

[Jeff7]

Fieldlines.com The advice there can go from sketchy to expert.

Those folks will usually wind their own coils, and set them up with neodymium magnets. I don't know what they do about generating it at the right frequency though, or if they feed it through some diodes to a battery charger, or a regulator or what.

 

[Mark R]

Originally posted by: BradT
I am testing different motors to use as a generator since the ones on ebay will not be available for a little while anyways. I have been taking apart household fan motors. They hardly crank out anything. I must be testing the, wrong. I first just hooked a multimeter up to the AC prongs, but hardly any reading. I then took another one, stripped the wires by the motor, and testing, same thing happened. Up closer to the motor there are around 5 different colors coming out. I am sure that this is because many of them go the control board for the fan. Which wires can I use to test the fan? I am getting more of a reading from those tiny 1 inch toy motors than these fans, so something is wrong.

Help?

Thanks!!

Fan motors, etc. are often induction motors.

They run at a fixed speed determined by the mains frequency (60 Hz) and the configuration of the motor winding. By connecting the windings in an alternate method, the speed can be changed to a different multiple.

These motors require an AC input to generate their magnetic field, and without a magnetic field they cannot generate power. This has the rather curious meaning that while such a motor will act as a generator, it must be correctly connected to the mains in order to do so.

While this type of motor/generator is used in commercial wind turbines, it will act as a motor if the shaft speed is less than 'synchronous speed' (60 rps/3600 rpm for 60 Hz mains - or a suitable divided version depending on winding configuration), but will act as a generator if you force the shaft round faster than synchronous.

There are significant practical issues in controlling such a motor/generator. For a domestic project, you're best off using a synchronous alternator (like a car alternator) or using a permanent magnet generator.

 

[BradT]

I have a few last more mechanical questions. When I am looking at the different motors to purchase, I am trying to think of how I would mount a set of blades to it. Consider this one:
http://www.windstuffnow.com/main/ametek_motor.htm
With a non keyed shaft, what do I use to attach blades? I know that there are certain types of hubs tha fit good for these, but I have had trouble findind them. What could I find in a local hardware shop like Home Depot that I could use to attach blades to a shaft like that?

Also, with the 3-phase systems, I have done some reading and understand why it is better. However, every motor that I am finding on Ebay or other sites are not 3-phase, and only have 2 wires coming out. Am I missing something? Will these two wires from most motors suffice?

THANKS!

 

[skull]

You don't want 3-phase nothing in your house will run off of it. 3 phase electricity is for high voltage electric motors and such.

 

[Throckmorton]

It seems like using a car alternator, battery, and then a DC->AC invertor would work best

 

[BradT]

Originally posted by: Throckmorton
It seems like using a car alternator, battery, and then a DC->AC invertor would work best

Thank you for your advice. The problem that I have read about using alternators is that they require RPMs that are simply unrealistic for most wind generators. I wish I could use one, as it would be easier to find, but Im afraid it won't work.

 

[BradT]

So with the fans, what do the multiple wires do? On most of the fans that I am looking at thee are 5 wires coming form the motor. What are all of their purposes, and which ones could be used to generate energy?

 

[Monoman]

Originally posted by: BradT

Originally posted by: Throckmorton
It seems like using a car alternator, battery, and then a DC->AC invertor would work best

Thank you for your advice. The problem that I have read about using alternators is that they require RPMs that are simply unrealistic for most wind generators. I wish I could use one, as it would be easier to find, but Im afraid it won't work.

Look into gearing the alternator, this will provide you the RPMs required... 4-1 or 5-1 maybe? I'm not an expert by any means, it's just a thought.

 

[dug777]

Remember that you'll need it all checked and certified by your electricity network operator if you're planning to hook it up to any circuits on the mains. Has to turn off when the grid goes down too...

 

[Mark R]

Originally posted by: BradT
So with the fans, what do the multiple wires do? On most of the fans that I am looking at thee are 5 wires coming form the motor. What are all of their purposes, and which ones could be used to generate energy?

See my earlier post.

They connect various different parts of the windings, so that the windings can be reconfigured for different speeds.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: dug777
Remember that you'll need it all checked and certified by your electricity network operator if you're planning to hook it up to any circuits on the mains. Has to turn off when the grid goes down too...

Yup, it'd need a grid-tie inverter, and I think those can cost a few thousand dollars. I think that's why I'll usually hear about people using a wind turbine to charge a battery bank, which then runs a dedicated load off the grid. No need for grid tie inverters, and no need for electrical inspectors.