What is the easiest/cheapest way to charge batteries from a wind generator.

Can I use normal 120v battery chargers with a 120v generator? Is there any easy way to do this with stuff I can buy at the store, regardless of efficiency.

Comments

[theRIAA]

i see ones on ebay for $40. can i buy all the electronics i need for say.. less than $25 after shipping? and how would i hook up a 12 v battery charger? could I make it run off 120v? I don't think the charger would ever have enough power to run. don't the ones on ebay allow you to charge 12v batteries with just a small wind??

[frollard]

It all depends on the native output of the wind generator - it's likely 'wild ac' meaning the frequency and power are proportional to wind speed. You need to rectify that to DC - and depending on voltage, convert, or limit that voltage so it doesn't damage the batteries.

[theRIAA]

and the point is, can I do this without 40 random electronic parts online. Can I buy 2 or 3 electronics online or from the store for <$20 and do this?

[theRIAA]

i have not built one yet. Lets assume it's a DC motor from size tiny to size treadmill motor.

[frollard]

Yes - if you dont wish to build your own, you wish a wind-generator charge controller. They're not too too cheap though, so a lot of people build their own. The components: A bridge rectifier to turn the ac to dc, a largeish capacitor (not 100% necesary) to buffer the pulses into more stable power, and a regulator to stop too much voltage from wrecking your batteries - feed that into a dc input battery charger.