Nowadays, people tend to care more about their environment and try to look for new sources of alternative energy which is more natural. One of the sources is the wind power which can be produced by an electric windmill. You can even make your very own homemade electric windmill, which is suitable for supplying energy for individual that relates to light electricity needs. Right here is where you would be able to learn how to make homemade electric windmill that comes with most of its basic components including the generator, blades, rotating mount, tower, batteries, and a electronic controller.
To make homemade electric windmill, you need:
- Generator motor
- 20-inch length of PVC pipe
- Sheet of paper
- Scissors
- Marker
- Handsaw
- Drill
- 9 bolts and washers
- 33-inch length of 2×4 wood
- Epoxy glue
- 14- by 9-inch aluminum sheet
- 2-foot by 2-foot square of plywood
- Twelve screws
- Jigsaw
- 1-inch pipe fittings (two bases with bars, two elbows, one bar)
- 1-1/4-inch Tee pipe
- Close nipple
- 1-inch reducer fitting
- 1-inch Tee pipe
- 12-inch nipple
- Four smaller stakes
- Mallet or hammer
- 10-foot long 1-1/4-inch steel conduit pipe
- Four chain link fence brackets
- Two steel hose clamps
- Four lengths of nylon rope over 10-feet long
- Four large wooden stakes
- Extension cord, over 10-feet long
- Wire cutters
- Two spade lugs
- Lead acid batteries
Making Homemade Electric Windmill
How to make Homemade Electric Windmills
- To acquire suitable DC generator motor
- It should be having a high voltage rating, low rpm rating and high current.
- By using these specifications, your wind turbine does not need to turn very fast in order to generate 12 or more volts.
- If you can acquire old computer tape drive motors can be use as functional windmill motors. However, it is currently no longer available in production and if you can find one, it might be expensive.
- It should be having a high voltage rating, low rpm rating and high current.
- To purchase a 20-inch length of pipe with a 4-inch diameter
- For building the blades for your wind turbine.
- If you have pipes that come with different diameter can also be used for the blades. However, the proportion of the diameter to length should remain similar.
- For building the blades for your wind turbine.
- Take a sheet of paper to wrap around the pipe before cutting it using a scissor enabling it to just barely wrap around the pipe and do not overlap.
- Make sure you cut it as straight as possible by using one edge of paper as a guide.
- You can also use the point where the end of the paper meets to draw the straight line down the length of your pipe by using a marker pen.
- Make sure you cut it as straight as possible by using one edge of paper as a guide.
- To fold the paper in half so that you can use it to measure halfway around the pipe
- Then, draw one more straight line along the paper’s edge which will mark a line precisely on the opposite side of the PVC pipe.
- Repeat the process and fold the paper in half so that you can measure quarters of the pipe’s circumference. Next, you need to draw two more straight lines.
- Then, draw one more straight line along the paper’s edge which will mark a line precisely on the opposite side of the PVC pipe.
- Use the handsaw to cut along the marked line so that you would be able to slice the PVC pipe in half length size. Then, cut each half in half until you get four equal sections.
- Then, draw diagonal lines on each quarter of pipe using paper as a flexible straight edge.
- Once end of the paper needs to be placed at least an inch in from one corner of the pipe quarter while the other end of the paper need to be placed at the opposite corner of the pipe.
- Repeat this process for three out of the four blades. Next, use a handsaw in order to cut the diagonal lines for the three blades. The remaining blades are an extra that you can make use of in future maintenance.
- Once end of the paper needs to be placed at least an inch in from one corner of the pipe quarter while the other end of the paper need to be placed at the opposite corner of the pipe.
- Next, drill the hub of your windmill which is made of an aluminum disk
- The aluminum disk should be 5-inch in diameter and 1/4-inch thick bolted onto a toothed pulley gear on its back.
- Next, drill three holes on the toothed gear that line up with the inner three holes on the disk before you start to bolt the toothed gear flat to the back of the disk with three bolts and washers.
- The aluminum disk should be 5-inch in diameter and 1/4-inch thick bolted onto a toothed pulley gear on its back.
- Then, drill two holes into the thick ends of each blade to be lined up with the remaining hole grouping drilled on the front of the disk.
- Create a mount and tail for your blades using approximately 33-inch long section of 2×4 wood
- Mix epoxy glue to glue a rectangular 14-inches long and 9-inches tall sheet of aluminum onto the wider top of the wood plank.
- Next, stick up out of the wood until the end of the plank as the tail of the windmill.
- Mix epoxy glue to glue a rectangular 14-inches long and 9-inches tall sheet of aluminum onto the wider top of the wood plank.
- Take the generator motor to the opposite end of the plank and glue it at the same side of the tail.
In addition, you can also saw a half lengthwise of another short piece of PVC pipe. This is an optional task for you to do in order to cover and protect the motor.
- Next, screw an iron floor flange to the bottom of the plank.
- Then, drill a hole through the opening of the flange via the wooden plank to enable the wiring for the generator to pass through the plank and through the piping for the tower.
- Twist a 10-inch iron pipe nipple to the floor flange.
- Twist a 10-inch iron pipe nipple to the floor flange.
- Take a jigsaw and saw a circular plywood board for its base with at least 2-foot diameter
- Drill four holes around the edge of the board to cater for the stakes.
- Drill four holes around the edge of the board to cater for the stakes.
- Take 1-inch pipe fittings and screw it onto the base to create a U-shaped structure.
- Your U-shape pipe fittings should include two circular bases screwed to the plywood, two short lengths of pipe coming up out of the bases, two 90-degree angled elbows, and a length of pipe between them.
- To make it swivel, attach a T-shaped pipe piece around the top bar.
- Curl a close nipple to the T-shaped pipe.
- Then take a 1-1/4-inch to 1-inch reducer fitting to the close nipple.
- Curl a 1-inch tee between the reducer and a 12-inch nipple. Now you have finished the tower’s base that can hold the mount and turbine.
- Your U-shape pipe fittings should include two circular bases screwed to the plywood, two short lengths of pipe coming up out of the bases, two 90-degree angled elbows, and a length of pipe between them.
- As for the wooden part of your turbine mount, you need to paint it with latex paint for protection against weather element.
- Then, you need to build or purchase a charge controller for your system.
- The round wooden base of your windmill need to be stake to the ground
- Drive the four stakes via the holes in the base using a hammer.
- Drive the four stakes via the holes in the base using a hammer.
- Next, you have to twist a 10-foot long length of 1-1/4-inch steel conduit pipe to the end of your piping base ending at the 12-inch nipple.
- In order to hold the conduit tower, you need to pass four chain link fence brackets over the end of your tower
- Stack them on top of each other at least 8-1/2-feet way up from the ground.
- Use two steel hose clamps on both side to hold the brackets.
- In order to hold the conduit tower, you need to pass four chain link fence brackets over the end of your tower
- To hold the tower vertically, you need to tie four long stretches of nylon rope to each end of the chain link brackets
- The end of the rope need to be attached to the four large wooden stakes in the ground that you have made earlier.
- The end of the rope need to be attached to the four large wooden stakes in the ground that you have made earlier.
- Then, you need to pass the extension cord via the opening in the 2-by-4 mount at the tower and out of the 1-inch Tee fitting at the base
- Use wire cutters to cut off both ends of your extension cord
- Next, push a spade lug onto either end before attaching the end to the motor generator.
- Use wire cutters to cut off both ends of your extension cord
- Take your charge controller and connect it to your battery
- Then connect your charge controller onto the spade lug located at the end of your turbine.
Always remember that whenever you make homemade electric windmills,
- Ensure that one to two lead acid batteries can handle up to 15-volts and connected as a power receptacle while four more should be connected as storage for excess power.
- Then connect your charge controller onto the spade lug located at the end of your turbine.
