Ted Baer's Bicycle Wheel Windmill

Step 7

Note the specialty outdoor furniture PVC connectors. Two such connectors were used...a five way connector and one way slip connector. The connectors were secured by screws so they could be disassembled. The five way connector is the one used in the back supporting the horizontal cross piece and the tail. The horizontal bar has a metal pipe in the center to provide the needed rigidity. The top PVC connector supporting the generator is a three way connector cut so that it forms a cradle and the generator is mounted to it with radiator clamps. All the pulleys used the models are hardware store grade.

The special fittings can be ordered over the internet at:

http://www.littlegreenhouse.com/accessory/pvc.shtml

Comments

[melbay49]

This is precisely what I'm looking for. How long do you think it would run on a set of bearings? I vaugely remember a line of thought that said windmills housed in airfoils take better advantage of gusts and reduce axial loading. Comments?

[dexknows]

can you send me schematics

[chrisnotap]

What a great set up. I want to be able to heat my house with a set up some day once I find the right design. Keep up the great work!!

[schneb]

I love it--very toolbox-mechanic-level, which is how I like it.

Except...where I get stuck with such devices is, once you have power coming out of a generator or solar panel or whatever, how do you connect it to either

a) your house, or

b) an appliance or device?

I was pretty good with the 1st semester of physics, about vectors and F=ma, but the second semester was electromagnetic 'stuff' and I never quite managed to get my head around it--too many terms: ohms, watts, volts, amps, etc.

So I need a simple version of how to make that generator-to-house connection--if such can be simplified.

I know there are different versions:

--grid connected,

--connected to an off-grid house

--etc. ?

...and I know its not just a 'technical' matter: if you generate power, and are grid connected, and power's out in your neighborhood, someone working on the lines could get a shock from the power you generate--right?

SO--I don't want to skimp in terms of the safety margin.

Maybe this is the kind of question to take to a different, specialized website?

Ideally, I'd love a DIY solution as follows: buying an inverter (or whatever), put the generator on my roof (or the PV solar panel in the backyard, etc.), and run wires to the inverter, plug it in to an existing outlet, or plug in an appliance, and voila.

Maybe there'd have to be a switch to chose the appropriate 'output' level, depending on whether plugged into a wall outlet or plugging an appliance into the inverter, etc.?

I live in Michigan, in the U.S. (looks like a mitten, surrounded by the Great Lakes) and there are a lot of cabins/cottages in the north of the state which, if such a simple system existed, would snap it up: running a light or a small cooler (not just an ice chest, but one with an actual cooling ability) would make a nice difference.

Not to mention the 3rd world applications--where lives are actually at stake.

[static]

http://www.backwoodssolar.com/ is ONE place that could answer many of your connection or wiring questions. There are so many variations as how to utilize any solar/wind power you generate, its seems to take up the entire web to post them. :) You should forget refrigeration or cooling with lower power out generators as this. Boost your generating/ storage capacity and power a conventional refer with an inverter, the peltier device used in the portable cooler/warmers draw way too much power for what they can do.

[Raydon]

To make it work you need a charge controller and a battery. The charge controller keeps the generator from overcharging the battery. The battery is sort of a regulator. The voltage coming in from the battery may be anything from 0 to 24 to 48 volts the battery stores it as 12 volts so your inverter can use it to make 120 volt.

[static]

Well your battery voltage can't be any larger that the voltage available from the generator. For a set it and forget it it system you do need a charge controller, but it's not necessary to have one to have an operational electrical system. Operating sans charge controller means manual controll by monitoring the battery voltage. Dis connecting the generator when the battery is charged, reduce the load when the battery voltage drops too low In that the battery is a storage device not a regulator a voltage regulator isn't a bad idea, to keep the voltage down to no more than is needed to charge the battery. The need for it will be determined by the output voltage of the generator