Energy

The Crocodile's Bucket & Chain Water PumpWe are The Crocodiles and this is our ‘bucket & chain’ style water pump. We are a group of Product Design Engineering students and were given the brief to construct a water pump which lifts 5 litres of water up a height of 600mm, in under 5 minutes, using the 24v motor provided. The winning team wou... read more »

Wind Lantern: LEDs powered by a vertical axis wind turbineIn this project, we’ll build a small, vertical-axis wind turbine, or VAWT for short. These are not as efficient as their horizontal-axis cousins, but they are better suited to urban environments where wind can come from all different directions.  Normally, when you give electricity to a motor, it s... read more »

Simple coke can engineThis is a simple coke can Stirling engine you can make in under an hour. No epoxy or RTV needed, just super-glue. It's all supported by steel wire, with spade connectors for all of the bearings. Important note: It has been found that aluminium drinks cans need additional cooling around the top beca... read more »

My Second Stirling Engine My second working stirling engine from tin cans 'n stuff, skip to about 1:10 if you just want the engine footage.  read more »

Lawnmower Power Generator With A Twist This is a 500 watt power generator big enough to power tools, and home electronics.  If you try plugging in kitchen appliances, heaters, window AC units etc....it will shut down, you need a 2k-3k watt power converter for large power comsumption appliances..  It's not difficult to build this pro... read more »

DIY AwningHurricane Ike hit us in 2008 and knocked out power for a few days.  My residence was not designed with energy efficiency in mind and so relied 100% on AC to keep it cool.  I made this awning in attempt to keep it cooler inside by blocking the radiant sun energy.  Indeed, it was about 3 degrees coole... read more »

Wind TurbineI'm very interested in freedom,  and anything you do not have to pay for. The wind is free ,  but turbines cost a lot ,  so here is how to build a ten foot diameter wind turbine on the cheap. Your tower needs an anchor Do not under any circumstances dig a hole more than 3 feet deep unless you h... read more »

My Improvised DC Generator Build This is an improvised DC generator I built from an old gas-powered lawn edger and a permanent magnet DC motor. The inspiration behind this generator was to have a cheap way to charge up my battery banks on days when the weather is cloudy and calm, and my solar panels and wind turbine aren't pro... read more »