I am very interested in trying to build my own small wind generator, I seen that you basically need a alternator, blades to build the fan, cabling and a battery. So could you use a car alternator and also how many 12V batterys would you need?
I think that was a little rude, judging by what you posted you seem to be a all around d*ck!
But thanks to the others who replied, you info was very helpful. thanks again.
You may have better success with an alternator with the field coils replaced with permanent magnets and the regulator removed. This will maximize the voltage output and allow you to regulate the voltage at the battery bank. The less electronics and other items to break up the tower the more reliable the system will be.
You should use deep cycle batteries, not automotive starting batteries. The number of batteries will depend upon the voltage your system operates, power capacity of the generator, and size of inverters. Do not go overboard with too many batteries or the generator will never be able to fully charge them.
There is someone near me who is building the blades with PVC pipe. He uses it to turn a permanent magnet DC motor to act as the generator. I'll try to find his web page later.
I'm hoping to get back to my wind generator project shortly. It's been tied up in municipal bylaws and idiotic permits…
Visit my web page for ideas.
http://members.rennlist.org/warren/wind.html
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Most alternators today have a built in regulator but some do not. You will need to know that. It is important. You only need one battery for starters. Good luck. Judging from your poor grammar you are not very well educated.
References :
You can build one but you are going to need a constant wind velocity in order for the alternator to provide ample charge to the battery. The number of batteries you need depends upon the rate of discharge which will be determined by what you are going to do with the energy that you harness from the wind. ie; light bulbs, motors etc. Of course you know that you will need Marine type batteries right?
Why don't you start here: http://www.otherpower.com/otherpower_wind.html
And here:
http://www.lookout2000.com/windpower/
Good luck! It's a lot of work!
References :
Yes you can, infact the Electrovent" company produces a small windgenerator which uses an automotive regulator. They do repace the built in regulator but otherwise it is a stock item.
References :
http://www.electrovent.com/#engpp
You may have better success with an alternator with the field coils replaced with permanent magnets and the regulator removed. This will maximize the voltage output and allow you to regulate the voltage at the battery bank. The less electronics and other items to break up the tower the more reliable the system will be.
You should use deep cycle batteries, not automotive starting batteries. The number of batteries will depend upon the voltage your system operates, power capacity of the generator, and size of inverters. Do not go overboard with too many batteries or the generator will never be able to fully charge them.
There is someone near me who is building the blades with PVC pipe. He uses it to turn a permanent magnet DC motor to act as the generator. I'll try to find his web page later.
I'm hoping to get back to my wind generator project shortly. It's been tied up in municipal bylaws and idiotic permits…
Visit my web page for ideas.
http://members.rennlist.org/warren/wind.html
References :
Of course you can do it. You just need one 12 V battery to make it work. Without figuring out what you're going to do with it, and how much the wind is blowing, you'd never be able to figure out just what more batteries would accomplish.
An ordinary alternator will put out about 75 or 100 amps max at 12 volts. That's about 1000 watts or so. You can get an inverter to make 110V AC out of that, but I'm not sure if you can synchronize that with the house.
References :
You can do this with a car alternator but it would be more effecient to get a generator that was designed for a wind generator use. An automobile alternator needs to run at a speed of at least about 1000 RPM to function at its rated output.
References :
I have constructed a wind turbine using a marine alternator (car). The alternator needs a steady 525 rpm to start producing power. Internal field regulation is determining factor (13.5 volts) as well consistent wind. I was able to produce a steady wind blade speed in a 10mph wind that produced slightly less than 200 watts sustaining the field and 3 55 watt halogens. With 3 halogens, however, a slight wind variation had the wind turbine grind steadily to a halt since the alternator didn’t have a way of sensing speed variation. To circumvent stalling like this, I used a gm power window relay with a capacitor and resistor for a cheap rc time constant that dropped out at 8 volts and with a few seconds delay could attain 13.5 volts again. the result was a pulsing of power into the load that seemed very effective. Another element to to car or marine alternators was shutting down the field until needed in a prevailing wind. Leaving the field connected in windstall conditions is a steady 2.4 amp drain for over 60 amps drain per day on any battery set. With erratic wind conditions, you can lose more power than you make. To prevent this, I improvised a simple sail switch switch that merely bends in the wind with a a mercury bulb from an old thermostat engaging another power window relay to connect the field. This reduces field drain to zero when turbine sits idle. So far, It is working great. Also 4.25 : 1 ratio of blade to alternator worked the best so far. My next attemp will be using a 100 amp, 24 volt semi alternator in a similar setup with 3 meter blades.
Hey I was wondering if battery powered blower motors would work. Thanks
If it is a permanent magnet motor, then it should work. But you should also consider the motor rating.
Well, to make the best out of a car alternator you should:
1 – disassembly it;
2 – if the magnets inside are from a magnetized metal based alloy, change them or it, to some neodymium magnets;
3 – then to make the generator work with slow speeds and yet, produce lots of power, or in other words, give emphasis to current generation rather than voltage, you must rewind the coils with a thicker wire.
High voltage can be achieved with higher speed, but to achieve more current you must add stronger magnets and upgrade the wire to a more current capable wire, which will turn out to be thicker too.
This will require some trial and error, but you will be able to make it work better than a commercial generator.
To get some neodymium magnets in Europe check this site: http://www.supermagnete.de
Also, there are some tutorials on the internet.
Cheers.
P.S. – If you want a system that can convert the energy correctly you should not use a voltage regulator, that just cuts the voltage when the wind is faster…
Take the regulator off, add a full wave bridge rectifier and connect it to a DC-DC converter with a variable input and a fixed output (Ex. http://pt.farnell.com/sunpower/sds-060b12/converter-dc-dc-60w-12v/dp/1254997) but if you search a little you will find more DC-DC converters.
Note: Using a DC-DC converter is the best way to harness all the generator energy, independently of the voltage it is generating!
But for costs sake, you can use a simple voltage regulator (or many in parallel).