blueEnergy DIY Wind Turbine Generator
BlueEnergy DIY Wind Turbine Generator
View a photographic journal documenting the building of a wind turbine
wind | education
blueEnergy provide sustainable low-cost energy generation equipment to underdeveloped communities in Mexico and Central America particularly focussing on
wind and
solar energy systems. In July 2004 in Venata, Oregon, USA, blueEnergy built a fully functional DIY
wind turbine generator using a mixture of salvaged and new parts to show at the
Oregon Country Fair. This beautiful machine was constructed using a
Hugh Piggot inspired design.
Building a Wind Turbine Generator - in Photos
The
wind turbine is based around a salvaged
wheel hub (pictured above) costing around $10 which was then sand-blasted and painted.
The three
wooden wind turbine blades were carved, planed, and sanded using hand tools and basic power tools - a slow process, but well worth the effort for results as good as these (pictured above). Clear varnish and a beautiful blue paint job make this blade assembly look fantastic. The three blades are joined together by a wooden rotor disk.
The five-phase
permanent magnet alternator was also a DIY effort with the stator comprising of 10 coils each with 160 turns of
enamelled wire, and the rotor of 12
neodymium magnets stuck to a steel rotor disk. The
stator and
rotor were both set in resin to protect them from the elements.
A 5-phase
bridge rectifier was built fitting five
35 Amp bridge rectifiers to an aluminium heat sink. This bridge rectifier is shown above with the individual bridge rectifiers connected to one another ready to be connected to the 5-phase output from the
wind turbine alternator.
A lot of metalwork and a bit of assembly later and the
blueMachine wind turbine was completed and ready for its first spin.
View The Full Story of the blueEnergy Wind Turbine
The full photographic record of the building of the
wind turbine from start to finish is documented on the following two pages:
Page 1 |
Page 2.
blueEnergy
To find out more about
blueEnergy and their philosophy of
local people, local materials, local energy click here. If you would like to make a
donation to blueEnergy to help them continue their excellent work, click here.
Article Last Modified: 17:20, 2nd Feb 2007Comment on this Article
If you have any comments on this article, please email them to
neil@reuk.co.uk.
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