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

How I Built A Wind Turbine



How I Built A Wind Turbine

Read how a wind turbine was built for under US$150

wind | education
  Printer Friendly Version Print Article     

Here is the story of how Mike Davis, an astronomer in Arizona, designed and built his own wind turbine generator spending less than US$150 and utlilising some scrap parts and items he already had.

His location is very remote and so there was no grid electricity available. With a bit of ingenuity and technical know-how he managed to put together a wind turbine generator to charge a 12 Volt leisure battery and give him power to run his laptop computer, shaver, to charge AA batteries etc.


Rather than trying to build his own alternator / generator, he chose to use a 30 Volt DC Ametek PM motor purchased for just $26 from eBay (eBay UK, eBay USA). Such a motor can easily put out a couple of hundred watts when used as a generator.

30 Volt DC Ametek Motor used as Generator

Just the cost of the magnets for a home made 200+ Watt alternator would have cost far in excess of $26, and it is also far cheaper than purchasing a ready made permanent magnet alternator, so using such a motor is a great way to get started generating electricity from the wind.

His turbine blades were home made from 6 inch PVC pipe. Again, PVC wind turbine blades are the quickest and cheapest way to get started. He made them 24 inches long giving an overall wind turbine diameter of over four feet.

Homemade 24 inch PVC wind turbine blades

He gives full details of the electronics he used to make his own DIY controller. Read the full article by clicking the link below:

How I Home-Built an Electricity Producing Wind Turbine
"It was easy. You can do it too".



Article Last Modified: 14:16, 19th Aug 2008

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: 15:43, 6th Apr 2010
wind | hydro

PVC Wind Turbine Blades
Learn how to make your own PVC wind turbine blades
Article Last Modified: 14:16, 19th Aug 2008
wind

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

Ametek PM Motors
Use an Ametek PM Motor as a DC Generator for Wind or Hydro Power
Article Last Modified: 08:14, 22nd Jul 2008
wind | hydro

DIY 2kW Wind Turbine
Read about a home built 2kW wind turbine constructed from scrap
Article Last Modified: 07:46, 4th Oct 2007
wind | recycling

Three Phase Basics
Get an understanding of three phase wiring in wind turbine alternators
Article Last Modified: 14:13, 19th Aug 2008
wind | electric circuit | websites

Electricity with Stepper Motors
Find out the basics of generating electricity with stepper motors
Article Last Modified: 16:07, 10th Jun 2008
wind

Buying Neodymium Magnets
Buying neodymium magnets in the UK
Article Last Modified: 09:15, 23rd Jul 2008
general | wind | wave

Hard Disk Drive Magnets For Wind Turbines
Obtain super strong magnets from old hard disk drives to use in wind turbine alternators
Article Last Modified: 14:25, 14th Apr 2007
wind

Build a Savonius Wind Turbine
Find out how to build a simple DIY Savonius type VAWT
Article Last Modified: 11:31, 23rd Jul 2008
wind

© 2006-2012 REUK - All Rights Reserved
Page Last Updated on 4th February 2012 at 12:42:53pm

Latest
Articles


Make a PICAXE Repeating Timer
Make your own repeating timer with our automatic PICAXE Basic code generator
education
12:42, 4th Feb 2012

Karasouli SCC 20 Wind Turbine Charge Controller
Find out more about the SCC-20 wind turbine charge controller and dump load controller
wind
12:42, 4th Feb 2012

UK Feed in Tariff to be Cut by 50 Percent
UK government announces 50% cut in feed in tariff payable on new solar PV installations
solar
12:42, 4th Feb 2012

PIR Sensor Circuits
Find out more about using PIR sensors within renewable energy applications
electronics
12:42, 4th Feb 2012

Water Heating with Surplus Solar PV
Heat water with surplus solar generated electricity
solar
10:58, 4th Feb 2012

Hacked PIR Sensor
Cannibalise a cheap PIR sensor to put it to other uses
electronics
10:44, 4th Feb 2012

Make a Still
Find out how to make your own still for distilling ethanol fuel
biomass
13:49, 31st Jan 2012

PICAXE Microcontrollers
Find out about PICAXE microcontrollers and their use in renewable energy projects
electronics
13:12, 30th Jan 2012



REUK Shop

Popular Items


REUK SUPER LDR DUSK DAWN RELAY CONTROLLER
Multi-function light detector triggered light/dark dawn/dusk relay controller
£18.95 each.
Complete Circuits



KARASOULI SCC 20 CHARGE CONTROLLER
20A rated wind turbine charge controller and dump load controller with blocking diode and heatsink
£43.95 each.
Renewable Energy System Parts



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



REUK SUPER POULTRY LIGHTING CONTROLLER
Control up to 8 Watts of LED spotlights to stimulate egg production in birds
£29.99 each.
Complete Circuits



REUK SUPER TIMER 2
User programmable 12VDC powered 16A rated repeating relay timer. 1 second to 99 hours ON and OFF times
£23.99 each.
Complete Circuits



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