The Dutch have a reputation for using windmills to generate energy. This energy was used for a variety of purposes, including raw material grinding, water pumping, and so on. The windmill is now a viable source of renewable energy.
Marinus Mieremet, a Dutch MSc, has been working on a new and more efficient wind turbine generation method since 2003.
It’s a windmill that generates more electricity, emits less noise, is bird-friendly, and looks great.
The Archimedes windmill is a novel wind turbine that consists of three circular blades that are wrapped around each other and then enlarged. This results in a three-dimensional conical turbine that looks like elongated beach shells. The turbine’s unique design ensures that wind is pulled into it. When compared to a typical urban windmill propeller, the average yield is many times higher.
What is the best way to create a wind turbine for a project?
Steps to take:
- The first step is to construct the rotor.
- Step 2: Create the blades.
- Step 3: Construct the tower.
- Mounting the motor is the fourth step.
- Step #5: Construct the home.
- Connecting the light is the sixth step.
- Step #5: Turn on the turbine.
Is it possible to create a wind turbine out of a car alternator?
If you’re new to the idea of making a wind generator out of repurposed parts, you’ve undoubtedly asked yourself a few questions like these:
- Why are automobile alternators suitable for wind energy?
- What adjustments are required to convert an automobile alternator into a functional wind generator?
- What is it about Delco-style alternators that makes them so popular?
- Which WindyNation blades work best with Delco-style PMA wind generators?
Perhaps we asked that last question ourselves! In any case, if you’ve ever wondered about repurposing automobile alternators, now’s your chance to learn everything you need to know.
Wind power enthusiasts are increasingly common around the world, taking advantage of excess supplies of alternators or motors that were originally intended for purposes other than generating electricity from the wind. Fisher & Paykel washing machine motors are quite popular in Australia and New Zealand, as these machines utilise big permanent magnet motors. Ametek, Inc. is best known in North America for their tape drive motors, which were once readily available and immensely popular for constructing wind generators.
However, when it comes to DIY modest wind power, the Delco brand of permanent magnet alternators is likely the most popular.
Why are Delco-style Alternators So Popular?
The Delco moniker is derived from Dayton Engineering Laboratories Co, a long-time supplier to General Motors. Delco had a long and illustrious history, which included the invention of the first practical battery ignition system. Hundreds of key components for American-made autos were manufactured by the enterprise, which was absorbed into a variety of larger mega-corporations. GM still uses the Delco brand name, especially for its ACDelco components division, but the corporation has come a long way since its early pioneering days.
Since the early 1980s, the American auto industry has had a lot of excess production capacity, which has often gone into generating a lot of components that don’t always wind up in automobiles. Even though these alternators didn’t find a place under a hood, they found a way to be useful. Delco has experienced a rebirth among wind power aficionados. For usage in small wind generators, repurposed vehicle alternators have become exceedingly popular and relatively cost-effective.
Most ACDelco generators that are sold specifically for use as a wind generator have been repurposed or rebuilt. The reason for this is that when a Delco automobile alternator is employed in a wind turbine, it operates under different conditions than a permanent magnet alternator.
What Modifications are Necessary?
The stator of an automobile alternator is wound to function at extremely high RPMs, owing to the alternator’s luxury of being turned by a powerful, high-rpm engine. The operating rpm of a Delco vehicle alternator is around three times that of the crankshaft of the car engine. The crankshaft of a car rotates between 1000 and 4000 revolutions per minute. As a result, a Delco automobile alternator is built to provide adequate charging voltage and amperage at 3000-12000 rpm.
In 25 mph wind, a modest wind turbine with a rotor diameter of about 60 inches may reach 850 revolutions per minute! The threshold for a normal Delco automobile alternator to even begin charging a 12 volt battery bank is 850 rpm!
When using a Delco automobile alternator as a wind generator, it is imperative that the alternator be modified to run at low RPMs. This is achieved by two complex modifications:
- The stator windings on a Delco vehicle alternator are replaced with a stator with more turns of lower gauge wire.
- On the rotor, high-powered Neodymium magnets are used, which produce more power than conventional magnets.
Where Can I Buy Quality Delco Alternators for Wind Turbines?
WindBlue manufactures high-quality Delco Permanent Magnet Alternators (PMAs), and they are ethical and transparent in their assessment and presentation of the PMAs’ expected power output. They generally achieve this by displaying a Power Curve that shows the output of their alternators under load. This is in contrast to some other re-sellers of modified Delco PMAs that only show open-circuit voltage readings, which are essentially useless indicators of a PMA’s output.
Have Reasonable Expectations
When it comes to Delco alternators, it’s critical to have realistic expectations for the amount of power these devices will provide. In other words, you shouldn’t anticipate a Delco PMA to produce a power production miracle because the amount of power a wind generator or alternator can produce scales with:
- The maximum amount of copper that can be crammed into a stator.
- The number and size of powerful neodymium magnets that can be used on the rotor.
Because a Delco automobile alternator is about the size of a cantaloupe fruit, the amount of copper and magnets it can hold is limited.
A automobile alternator, maybe more importantly, was designed to be installed under the hood of a vehicle. This is not meant to be a criticism of their quality or even their suitability as wind generators. It is a basic reality that the specs for a car alternator and a wind generator are vastly different. A car alternator, for example, will not be weather-proof because it is normally protected from rain and mist because it is located under the hood. Second, the stator must be rewound in order to provide a voltage adequate for battery charging, as we’ve just mentioned. Third, because it is turned by the automobile’s engine, which may produce at least 100 horsepower (76000 Watts! ), a car alternator does not need to be particularly efficient at generating energy.
Great Way to Learn How to Build a Wind Generator
Nonetheless, we are heartened by the thousands of people who have learned the foundations of wind power via Delco PMAs and are now using them to generate significant amounts of electricity.
We’ve put WindyNation blades through their paces on a variety of WindBlue alternators, and we prepared this section to serve as a resource for consumers considering WindyNation aluminum wind turbine blades in conjunction with a WindBlue alternator.
On the WindBlue 540 and 520 series PMAs, we tested numerous sets of our blades. The load for all of the experiments was a 12 volt battery bank.
Three of our 28-inch HyperSpin blades performed admirably with the WindBlue 540. In 11-13 mph winds, we measured 2-4 Amps of power into a 12 volt battery bank. We measured roughly 10 amps of output into a 12 volt battery bank in very high gusts (20-25 mph). The 540 is ideally suited for the HyperSpins. The 540 PMA is wound for high voltages at low RPMs, allowing it to charge in low to medium winds. As a result, the unit’s Amperage output suffers slightly.
The WindBlue 520 worked best with the 5-blade HyperSpin set, which offers a good balance of torque and speed. This alternator produces more amps than the 540, but it takes a steady 9 mph wind to start charging a 12-Volt battery. The alternator was able to produce 3-5 amps in a 12 mph wind. The 540 produced 12-17 amps in 20-25 mph wind, which is a reasonable amount of power for a little PMA.
Overall, we were impressed with WindBlue’s alternator’s performance. If you’re dead set on employing a Delco for your wind turbine project, we recommend the WindBlue. If you’re looking for something a little more powerful, we recommend the Windtura 500 PMA.
Anyone can see the appeal of modified Delco automobile alternators for do-it-yourself wind power: LOW COST.
Thousands of DIYers utilize these devices to build modest, low-cost wind turbines all around the world. It’s critical to have realistic expectations regarding how much power a Delco-style alternator will produce when acquiring one. Furthermore, because the Delco alternator must be “rebuilt” for use in a wind turbine, it is critical that you obtain a Delco alternator from a reliable and honest company. A Delco car alternator that has been adjusted by an inexperienced person or a company that takes shortcuts will have poor performance, cogging, and will most likely fail on you.
Which wind turbine is the quietest?
Renewable Energy Solutions Australia (RESA), based in Brisbane, has presented the first functional installation of the world’s quietest wind turbine. Despite being around half the height and having half the blade diameter of more familiar three-bladed alternatives, the Eco Whisper Turbine is capable of producing 20kW of electricity and can automatically modify the position of the blades to optimise wind capture.
Small wind turbines generate a lot of noise as air pours from the tips of the blades, but the Eco Whisper Turbine is touted to operate quietly because to its innovative cowl/ring construction. According to RESA, its design can generate more than 30% more energy than previous turbine systems throughout a wide variety of wind conditions, equating to up to 45,000 kWh per year in ideal conditions.
The company anticipates their green energy solution to address medium to high power needs in urban and rural applications such as airports, business parks, commercial sites, and universities, whether on or off the grid. Since the first installation was recently unveiled at Austeng Engineering in Geelong, Victoria, the company’s Michael Le Messurier notes that industry demand has been tremendous.
A 6.5 meter (21.325 foot) diameter blade stands at the top of a hinged steel pole that may be lowered for maintenance or during harsh weather conditions, despite the construction being built to resist wind speeds of up to 220 kilometers per hour (136.7 mph). The center hub is constructed of aluminum, as are the 30 blades that fan out from it, and the solution uses dynamic slew drive technology to eliminate the need for a tail.
Other notable features of this turbine invention include a low start-up speed and great visibility, which should assist protect the surrounding avian species.
The Eco Whisper Turbine is demonstrated in the following video:
Is it possible for me to build my own wind turbine?
Perhaps you live on a boat, vacation in a secluded lodge, or, like me, live off the grid. Maybe you just want to save money on your electricity bill. In any case, you can create a homemade wind generator using a few low-cost, easy-to-find items, giving you access to electricity for as long as the wind blows. You’ll be able to light up that storeroom, power your barn, and keep all of your vehicle batteries charged with a generator.
Solar and wind power are used to power my off-grid cottage, which is powered by a bank of four 6-volt golf cart batteries wired for a 12-volt system. My system is protected from under- or overcharging by a charge controller and a battery minder. I spent less than $1,000 on the entire setup, which includes lights, fans, a television and audio, refrigeration, and a disco ball that rises for special occasions.
What is the best motor for a wind turbine?
Brushed DC motors are primarily used in home-made wind turbines. The power in a brushed DC motor comes from a commutator rotating the brushed motor’s electromagnets. A properly brushed DC motor can achieve high efficiency levels of up to 70%. An axle constructed of hardened stainless steel, a stack of laminations, wire, and brushes make up a high-quality brushed motor. One of the benefits of using a brushed DC motor is that it does not require any gearing while still charging a battery with voltages produced by light wind. Brushless DC motors are also easily accessible.
What goes into the design of a wind turbine?
The majority of wind turbines feature a horizontal axis: blades that rotate around a horizontal axis in a propeller-style configuration. Horizontal axis turbines can be upwind (the wind hits the blades before the tower) or downwind (the wind hits the blades after the tower) (the wind hits the tower before the blades).
To generate power, how quickly does an automobile alternator need to spin?
All street vehicles, from family cars to street rods, have an alternator that spins faster than the engine. The ratio between the crankshaft pulley and the alternator pulley determines this. Engine idles of 600 to 1,500 rpm and red lines of over 8,000 rpm are possible with some customized engines. These rpm, as well as the pulley ratio, have a direct impact on an alternator’s performance and lifespan. A normal range of functioning exists for an alternator. At idle, most alternators should spin at around 2,400 rpm, with a maximum output of over 6,000 rpm. They should never exceed 18,000 rpm.