Modern power supply systems of cities are high-tech and operate practically without interruptions. The private sectors, however, were less fortunate. It is high time to replace the old worn-out transformers supplying villages and villages, but for obvious reasons they do not do this. As a result, ̶ surges and drops in voltage and failure of home appliances, electronics. Today we will talk about one of the ways to avoid such problems ̶ about making a wind generator with our own hands and installing it on the site.
Read in the article
- 1 Generator and law: is it necessary to formalize the wind turbine officially
- 2 Generator types by blade arrangement
- 3 How a wind turbine generates energy
- 4 What can be used to make a wind generator
- 4.1 How to make a wind turbine from a laser printer
- 4.1.1 Step-by-step instructions for making the simplest wind turbine
- 4.1 How to make a wind turbine from a laser printer
- 5 Using an asynchronous motor to make a do-it-yourself wind turbine
- 6 Options for transmitting torque from the impeller to the generator
- 7 Summing up the above
Generator and law: is it necessary to formalize the wind turbine officially
The answer to this question will depend on various nuances. As such, an official permit for the installation of a wind generator is not required, but envy or the usual harmfulness of neighbors can become a problem. They may complain about excessive noise from the blades and the generator itself, or that the engine interferes with radio waves. Also, environmental services can "pose" if, for example, a wind turbine interferes with the migration of migratory birds.
Another nuance regarding the height of the wind turbine mast. If an airport or flight school is located nearby, the installation of structures higher than 15 m will be prohibited. Otherwise, there are no barriers to installing a windmill on your site.
Generator types by blade arrangement
There are two types of wind turbines - vertical and horizontal. The second type is more familiar to the layman. Such windmills are often shown on TV. Its blades are perpendicular to the ground, and the axis rotates parallel to the surface.
In a vertical windmill, the blades rotate around the rotor, which is located perpendicular to the earth's surface. Such installations are more often done by craftsmen with their own hands. The material can be a simple 200 liter barrel of fuel and lubricants.
Also, generators may differ in the number and material of the blades.
How a wind turbine generates energy
The principle of operation of a wind generator is not too complicated, especially for those who understand electrical engineering. Its essence is as follows. The blades located on the elevation are driven by the force of the wind. The torque from them is transmitted through the gearbox to the rotary generator, from which the battery is charged.
The shape of the blades is also not accidental. One of the sides of the blade is rounded, and the other is smooth. A small flow of air is enough to move the blades, after which they begin to rotate. At the same time, due to its shape, the rotating blade creates a kind of vacuum, which forces the next blade to reach this point. It turns out that the movement of one of the impeller blades helps the next one. That is why, even with a small air flow, generators (some call them wind blowers) are able to generate electricity.
What can be used to make a wind generator
Such a device can be made from the motors of various household devices. This could be a washing machine, drill, screwdriver, or even a laser printer. The main thing here is to understand the very essence of the device's operation and step by step perform all the necessary actions.
Usually, rotary wind generators of a vertical type are made with their own hands. They are easier to make, while significantly reducing the load on the motor bearings, which contributes to the durability of the device.
We will not talk in detail about the installation of the gearbox today, but connecting the engine and converting it into an electric generator is worth disassembling.
How to make a wind turbine from a laser printer
The engine from the laser printer is taken for clarity. It is on his example that you can make out in detail how to make a 220 V wind farm for a private house. What is required for this?
As it turned out, all spare parts can be found in the closet of almost any home craftsman who loves to work with various electronics, namely:
- several pieces of wire, a soldering iron;
- blades from an old fan;
- engine from a laser printer;
- a step-down transformer from an old Chinese tape recorder or something similar.
Step-by-step instructions for making the simplest wind turbine
Having prepared all of the above, you can get to work. We will analyze everything in detail, and therefore, along the way, some measurements and intermediate tests will be made.
| Illustration | Action being performed |
 | First, you need to dismantle the electric motor from the laser printer. Just do not need to disassemble the working equipment for the sake of this. Now we are talking about out of order equipment. This engine is quite interesting. The rotor is here located around the stator. Surplus PCBs are not needed, they can simply be cut off. |
 | Now, if you turn the electric motor over, you can see many coils, the magnetic field of which makes the motor spin. It is necessary to find out in what order they are connected - in a star or a triangle. For this, wires of various colors were soldered to 3 existing contacts. |
 | For a generator, a star connection will be most suitable - the efficiency is higher here. It is easy to check the connection option. In the resistance test mode, alternately touch the wires in pairs. If all readings are the same, it is a triangle. If on one of the pairs the resistance is 2 times higher than on the other, then the coils are connected in a star. |
 | After specifying the type of connection, you can proceed to the first check. For this, the switch of the device is set to the current measurement mode. In today's example, a limit of 0.5 A was set, which is quite enough for verification. When cranking the engine by hand, the arrow has almost passed the entire scale. |
 | The same should have been checked for voltage. The device showed that even when the engine is cranked by hand, the generator outputs a voltage of 5 V. |
 | However, for the purity of the experiment, this is not enough, it is required to increase the voltage to the required 220 V, which means that a transformer must be included in the circuit. The step-down transformer from the Chinese tape recorder must be connected in the reverse order. We will supply voltage from the generator to the secondary winding, and we will remove it from the primary. Thus, you get a transformer not 220/5 V, but 5/220 V. |
 | Checking what happened. As you can see in the example, a 220 V halogen bulb lit up, again just from the rotation of the generator by hand, although not too brightly. But that's not all. It's time to test the possibilities of a mini-generator with an LED emitter. |
 | For an LED lamp, a slight decrease in voltage is not scary, which means that it should glow brightly, which is what happened. The only problem can be called ripple, which arises from the uneven rotation of the generator. |
 | And here's the final touch. We put the fan blades on the shaft and supply air from the compressor receiver. Now the LED lamp 220 V 15 W glows evenly, without pulsation. But connecting the battery and a little time in the wind will completely solve the issue of lighting a couple of rooms. And this is just a small motor from a laser printer. |
Using an asynchronous motor to make a do-it-yourself wind turbine
When using an asynchronous motor as a generator, it will need to be slightly upgraded. In fact, an induction motor is much more suitable for making a generator than an electric motor that can only rotate in one direction.
In order to turn an electric motor into a generator, the help of a turner is needed. This should be taken care of in advance, having agreed with specialists. You should also prepare oblong magnets (6-8 pcs.). Better if they are neodymium. It is on their thickness that the rotor of the induction motor will need to be ground off, and then the magnetic strips should be glued along the axis. The magnets are glued with alternating polarity. Epoxy glue is perfect for this. After it is completely dry, you can assemble the electric motor, which has already become a generator, in the reverse order.
Options for transmitting torque from the impeller to the generator
There are 3 main installation options here:
- Direct, similar to step-by-step instructions, when the impeller is fitted directly onto the shaft.
- Through a reducer by means of gears.
- Belt transmission ̶ both through the gearbox and directly.
The gearbox can be of great help when you need to increase the rpm. This option is suitable for places where the wind is not too strong. However, you should consider ways to approach the blades. A weak wind may simply not overpower the start of the generator. In this case, you will have to turn the blades manually. After that, they will rotate on their own, albeit slowly. But at the same time, the transmitted torque will be significantly increased thanks to the gearbox.
We bring to your attention several gearbox schemes, by which you can understand how the torque transmitted from the impeller to the generator, as well as examples of connecting a wind generator as an additional source food at home.
Summing up the above
Wind generators, if they are made according to all the rules, can help save on electricity consumption. And if they are connected to the electricity grid of a private house through high-capacity batteries, it is quite possible that the owner will completely forget about paying the electricity bills. In addition, here it will already be possible not to be afraid of voltage surges that can disable household appliances and electronics. But every day there are more and more such high-tech gadgets in homes. This means that you should not spare the free time that you want to spend on the sofa in front of the plasma panel. Better to spend it just to protect this panel. Otherwise, it may happen that next weekend you have to take it for repairs or even purchase a new one. Consider whether you need to lose money instead of saving it.
We really hope that the information provided will be useful to our dear reader. Any questions on the topic, if they arise during the reading process, ask in the comments below. HouseChief editors will be happy to answer each of them as soon as possible. There you can share your opinion about what you have read or discuss the question of whether wind turbines are needed in the private sector and whether it is worth making them with your own hands. And yet, your attitude to what you read is very important for us, and therefore we ask you not to forget about the assessment. And finally, as always, we suggest watching a very interesting and informative video on today's topic. Take care of yourself, your loved ones and be healthy!
