Categories: Home projects

How to make a wind turbine from a car alternator

The most affordable ready-made generator for assembling a wind turbine is an automobile one. You can buy it for almost nothing at a car breakdown yard. The only problem is that it generates energy only when the rotor winding is energized. For this reason, it is possible to make a full-fledged wind generator from it by altering the anchor a little, or by energizing the excitation winding. Let’s see how this is done in the second way.

Materials:

Automotive generator 24 V;
steel square 20×20 mm;
pipes 50 mm, 20 mm;
round timber 20 mm;
strip 20 mm;
sheet steel 3-5 mm;
bearings –2 pcs .;
profile pipe 20×40 mm;
plastic sewer pipe 110 mm;
screws, nuts, bolts.

Wind turbine manufacturing process

In order for the generator to work without a car, it is necessary to supply its excitation winding directly from the battery. To do this, wires are soldered to the graphite brushes, which will later need to be laid to the battery.

Then you need to weld the generator mounting frame. With its help, he will be held on the milestone. The frame is welded from a square. It provides mounting brackets for standard generator lugs.

To install the frame with the generator on the pole, it is necessary to weld a tube to it, and press two bearings into it. There will be a heavy load on this node, so you need to make two support points.

A piece of strip with a sleeve is welded to the tube with bearings, on which the swivel tail will be installed. It is needed to guide the blades downwind. The swivel ability will allow him to adjust the position so that the blades do not spin too much. This will protect the generator and other equipment from damage.

To attach the tail, a finger is made of round timber, which will enter the bushing. A hole is made in it from the end and a thread is cut so that it is fixed with a bolt and washer and does not fall out of the bushing. The base of the tail is welded to the finger from a section of a shaped pipe.

Holes are drilled on it for attaching the tail blade.

Then you need to deal with the impeller frame. It is a sheet steel disc. It needs to be drilled for attachment to the generator shaft, as well as under the brackets of the five blades. The latter are made of steel strip and are also drilled.

Then attachment to the pole is made. It is a disc with a welded shaft that will be inserted into the bearings. The disc is drilled in several places to screw it onto the pole. A hole is made in the shaft from the end, and a thread is cut in it. It will be required to tighten the bolt with washer, which prevents the fastener from falling out of the bearing race.

The impeller blades and tail blade are cut from a plastic sewer pipe.

The shorter they are, the higher the generator speed will be obtained. But if the wind is weak, then only long blades will be able to rotate it. It is better to initially make them large, and then, as a result of experiments, shorten them to an acceptable size.

The wind turbine is assembled and installed on a pole as high as possible, where nothing stops the air flow. It is necessary to energize the excitation winding from the battery to start generation.

As a result, the charge that goes back to the battery will be more than the winding consumes. Due to this difference, the battery can be recharged.