Introduction: DIY 1000 Watt Wind Turbine
We built a 1000 watt wind turbine to help charge the battery bank that powers our offgrid home. It's a permanent magnet alternator, generating 3 phase ac, rectified to dc, and fed to a charge controller. The magnets spin with the wind, the coils are fixed, so no brushes or slip rings necessary.
Update: DIY Amp Hour meter for monitoring charge!
All about homebrew wind and offgrid power systems, the complete reference!
Step 1: Build the Magnet Disks
We had 12" steel disks hydro cut. We cut a template for mounting the magnets. Then we mounted 12 grade n50 magnets around the outside edge. We then built a form, and poured the resin with hardner.
Step 2: Build the Coil Disk
We wound the nine individual coils, soldered them in a 3 phase wye configuration, and encased them in resin. We used 35 turns of 2 parallel strands of 14 gauge enameled (magnet) wire for 12 volts. Use 70 turns of single strand for 24 volts. # 3 phase diagram shown here shows 3 stator coils. each of those coils is actually 3 coils in series. coils 1,4, and 7 are series together, 2,5, and 8 are series together, and 3,6, and 9 are series together.
more details, see the following page 15 for the series star, 1-y diagram.
http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/axialflux/files
AXIAL_FLUX_HowItWorks.pdf
Step 3: Build the Bearing Assembly
Two Harley Davidson wheel bearings are inserted into the pipe, with a smaller pipe locked between them to keep them in place.
Step 4: Construct the Blades
The blades are 2" x 6" pine, cut at 10 degrees on a table saw, and sanded into a rough airfoil. Not perfect, but close enough.
More can be found at
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/axialflux/
http://www.green-trust.org
http://youtube.com/watch?v=o9EEHFKEckM
Step 5: Further Reading
More info can be found at
http://www.green-trust.org/freebooks/
and
http://goo.gl/ywhQp