3 Simple Ways to
Share What You Make

With Instructables you can share what you make with the world — and tap into an ever-growing community of creative experts.

PhotosPhotos

Share one or more photos of a project, recipe, or whatever you've made, quickly and easily.

Get Started

Learn more & Get Tips

Step by StepStep-By-Step

Share your step-by-step photos with text instructions of what you made so others can do it too!

Get Started

Learn more & Get Tips

VideoVideo

Share your how-to video. You'll need your embed code from a video site such as YouTube.

Get Started

Learn more & Get Tips

Print PDF

Favorite

Parasitic Wind Turbine

Step 7Addendum

Not as neat as I'd like, but I bodgered up the turbine in conventional form for those who might be interested, alas Code Enforcement would be all over me if I actually installed a wind turbine.

PVC fittings
broom stick boom
road spam tail
and
bamboo stake for yaw bearing.

All held together with screws.

« Previous Step

Download PDFView All Steps

Next Step »

4 comments

May 26, 2011. 2:59 PMdangerous dan says:

I was mislead by the amount of torque you were applying to light the LED's, -and I want to know how hard the wind was blowing for this picture.
I have some steppers laying-around, and your 'ible has got me thinkin'!!!

Jun 23, 2009. 6:58 PMptacnik says:

can this be made just by changing polarities of the motor in a Domestic/Industrial Fan ? HELP !! so i can use the blades and the housing for this project :)

Jun 24, 2009. 11:41 AM

Tool Using Animal (author) says:

No, the form of motor used to power a fan from the mains AC is not conducive to use as a generator.

Mar 5, 2009. 10:09 AMlr10cent says:

An even simpler way to do this, if you had an old muffin fan, would be to open it up and access the wires from the motor. Your bridge might be a bit more complicated, I think. Less current, of course. Hmm... I wonder if you could just hook up to the wires from the box fan and leave it in the box. Aren't those synchronous, and therefore brushless??