| RSS Web Feed for Renewable Energy UK |  | REUK Shop | Directory | Bookmark Site | About Us  

DIY 2kW Wind Turbine



DIY 2kW Wind Turbine

Read about a home built 2kW wind turbine constructed from scrap

wind | recycling
Printer Friendly Version Print Article     

A large number of our site visitors have found our article How I Built a Wind Turbine to be interesting reading and a useful resource. That relatively simple wind turbine was constructed using an Ametek PM motor as its electricity generating alternator.

In this article we will look at a DIY wind turbine generator constructed from scavenged parts with 3.4 metre diameter wooden wind turbine blades and a homemade alternator.

Building a Wind Turbine

This wind turbine was not built following exact plans, instead the information from a selection of books and online resources was pooled and the turbine built accordingly. Of particular use was Hugh Piggot's book Windpower Workshop which is essential reading.

Wind Turbine Blades


Three wind turbine blades each with length of 1.7 metres for a swept diameter of 3.4 metres.

First the wooden wind turbine blades were carved with an efficient aerofoil section and twist much like a propeller. Three 1.7 metre long blades were hand-carved (following calculations from Windpower Workshop) aiming for a tip speed ratio of 8, and a rotation speed of 450 rpm in a 22mph wind.

The Alternator (Generator)

The generator was designed with a 24 Volt three phase stator (3 coils each phase) and two rotors with twelve 46x36x12mm rectangular shaped NdFeB (Neodymium) magnets each. The hub and rotor assembly was built out of scrap 1995 BMW front strut with a pair of brake discs.

Rotor made from brake disc with 12 Neo magnets

The magnets were first superglued in place on the brake discs, and then cast permanently in resin.

Casting the magnet rotors in resin


The nine stator coils were wound using a homemade coil winder and reclaimed enamelled magnet wire. To keep the coils tight they were taped and superglued while everything was put together waiting to be cast in resin as per the rotors.

Wind turbine stator coils waiting to be set in resin.

Metalwork

A turbine this size must have a mechanism to prevent it from spinning too quickly in very strong winds. A simple self-furling system was chosen and constructed from scrap parts. This limits the wind turbine output to around 70 Amps (2.2KW) stopping the turbine from going out of control.

Base of wind turbine tower


The wind turbine tower was constructed from 4" pipe with a piece of 3" pipe welded to its base to act as a bearing when the tower is to be raised or lowered. This is in turn fitted to an 'H' shape welded from RSJ offcuts to be buried as the base anchor in concrete in the ground.

With everything put together, the completed wind turbine was raised for the first time (using a gin pole and a car to tow everything to vertical). The finished tower is held vertical by three (wire) guy ropes.

Wind turbine


The total financial outlay so far was a miserly £350!

Wiring and Controls

On a wind turbine of this size a great deal of care and attention needs to be paid to the wiring, controls, and battery bank. Firstly it is essential to have a suitable dump load to prevent the (expensive) batteries from being overcharged. Keeping on with the recycling and reusing ethic, an old 240 Volt fan heater was converted to operate as a three stage 1kW dump load (pictured below with 42 Amps passing through it):

Old 240V fan heater used as a wind turbine dump load

A water heater dump load was also put together to turn excess energy into useful hot water, and a 1.5kW (3kW peak) power inverter purchased to convert the 24VDC from the battery bank into 240 VAC for use in the home.

Relays were wired into the domestic electrical system to automatically switch between (wind charged) battery power and mains electricity. (See our article Switch from Inverter to Mains Automatically for more information).

More Information

A detailed photo-journal of the construction of this wind turbine can be found by clicking here and viewing the It's Not Easy Being Green web forum. The wind turbine was put together by diablo and his father-in-law during 2007.

Many thanks to Richard Blackburn (diablo) for his permission to reproduce some of his excellent photographs here where they will hopefully be inspirational to the many home built wind turbine enthusiasts that visit this site. He plans to purchase a smallholding in the near future with space for proper workshops and may start selling 3.4m and 5m wind turbine kits. If the kits are of the same quality as this turbine they will be worth every penny.
Article Last Modified: 08:46, 4th Oct 2007

Comment on this Article

If you have any comments on this article, please email them to neil@reuk.co.uk.


Recommended Related Articles

People who read this article also enjoyed the following articles:

Permanent Magnet Generator
Build a wind or water power system with around a PM Generator
Article Last Modified: 16:43, 6th Apr 2010
wind | hydro

PVC Wind Turbine Blades
Learn how to make your own PVC wind turbine blades
Article Last Modified: 15:16, 19th Aug 2008
wind

How I Built A Wind Turbine
Read how a wind turbine was built for under US$150
Article Last Modified: 15:16, 19th Aug 2008
wind | education

Photos of PVC Wind Turbine Blades
Photographs of PVC wind turbine blades
Article Last Modified: 13:09, 22nd Dec 2006
wind

Three Phase Basics
Get an understanding of three phase wiring in wind turbine alternators
Article Last Modified: 15:13, 19th Aug 2008
wind | electric circuit | websites

Free VAWT Wind Turbine Plans
Make your own 250 Watt vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT)
Article Last Modified: 14:47, 17th Feb 2009
wind | education

Enamelled Magnet Wire
Find out more about the wire used to wind coils for generators and alternators
Article Last Modified: 14:34, 5th Apr 2007
general | shopping

Neodymium Magnets
Find out more about neodymium magnets used in renewable applications
Article Last Modified: 17:00, 21st Mar 2007
general | education | wind

Make Your Own Wooden Wind Turbine Blades
Find out how to carve your own durable wind turbine blades from wood
Article Last Modified: 11:58, 24th Jan 2007
wind

VAWT Vertical Axis Wind Turbine
Understand the advantages and disadvantages of VAWTs
Article Last Modified: 15:35, 30th Jan 2007
wind

© 2006-2010 REUK - All Rights Reserved
Page Last Updated on 2nd September 2010 at 02:24:32pm

Latest
Articles


Eco Kettle 2 Chrome
Save electricity with an efficient eco kettle - new improved chrome version
energy efficiency
15:25, 18th Aug 2010

OWL CM119 Wireless Energy Monitor
Find out more about the new OWL CM119 wireless electricity monitor
shopping
15:23, 18th Aug 2010

KC7783R PIR Module
Find out more about the economical and easy to use KC7783R PIR motion sensor module
electronics
15:16, 18th Aug 2010

PIR Sensors
Find out how to integrate PIR (passive infra red) sensors into renewable energy applications
electronics
15:16, 18th Aug 2010

LM317 High Current Voltage Regulator
Find out how to build an LM317T based high current voltage regulator
electric circuit
12:29, 17th Aug 2010

LM317 Voltage Calculator
A handy online output voltage calculator for the LM317, LM338, and other linear voltage regulators
electric circuit
12:29, 17th Aug 2010

Optocouplers
Find out more about optocouplers/optoisolators and their uses
electronics
13:33, 14th Aug 2010

Relays and Renewable Energy
Find out more about relays and their uses in renewable energy applications
electric circuit
13:33, 14th Aug 2010



REUK Shop

Popular Items


REUK SUPER TIMER
User programmable 12V powered 10A rated repeating relay timer. 1 second to 99 hours ON and OFF times
£19.99 each.
Complete Circuits



SOLAR PUMP CONTROLLER WITH RELAY
Solar water heating system microprocessor controlled circuit with fitted 10A relay
£25.99 each.
Complete Circuits



12 VOLT 5 WATT SOLAR PANEL
Waterproof 12 Volt 5 Watt Solar Panel with aluminium frame - 290mm x 205mm x 17mm with fitted 5m leads
£33.99 each.
Solar Power



300 WATT POWER INVERTER
Convert 12V DC battery power into 230 AC to power portable televisions, computers, video recorders etc. 300 Watt power rating - peak power 600 Watts
£29.99 each.
Renewable Energy System Parts



CONVERTED PROGRAMMABLE DIGITAL TIMER RELAY
Mains powered programmable timer converted to low voltage with relay board
£21.99 each.
Renewable Energy System Parts



12 VOLT REGULATOR
Supply a fixed 12.0 Volt DC to your devices (up to 1 Amp output)
£4.99 each.
Complete Circuits



MR16 CERAMIC BULB HOLDER
Bulb holder for 12 Volt LED spotlight bulbs
£1.39 each.
Energy Efficient Lighting