$30 Wind Turbine Update - Scottish Highlands Install
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- Опубликовано: 8 фев 2025
- Turbine build tutorial: opensourcelowt...
The generator is rated at ~500W which the turbine should be doing in about a 50 km/h wind, at about 40 volts. The turbine has been survival tested up to 105 km/h.
This is so far just the turbine and pole itself, we'll be adding the alternator, charge controller, dump load, battery and inverter in the coming weeks.
Like and subscribe etc if you want to be kept up to date on future builds and developments.
Facebook group for the project: / windturbinemakers
My name is Daniel Connell. I prototype and develop basic technologies which anyone can make using recycled materials and simple tools.
The aim is for everyone everywhere to be able to build and maintain their own infrastructure; producing their own energy, food, clean water, communications, and anything else they need.
All designs are open source and license free for any purpose, and full construction tutorials and how-tos are available on the opensourcelowtech.org website.
There should be a Humanitarian award for these great open source people who are building solutions using the advances of Science and Technology for all of Humanity.
Can’t wait to see how it worked with the hoverboard wheel. Great job!
Subscribed and joined to support you. Your viewers are asking brilliant questions as well. Building these even as artwork is already worth it let alone being able to heat up a cup of tea with it. I urge everyone to donate a few bucks at least and get behind this bloke.
Thanks!
I can’t wait for the update on this! As someone who lives in Kansas (known for it’s constant wind year-round) and as someone who loves to build things (but with limited funds), this project is very exciting to me.
I look forward to hearing an update on this soon!
Did you see the build tutorial?:
www.opensourcelowtech.org/wind_turbine.html
@@OpenSourceLowTech Yes sir! And it's a phenomenally well-done presentation. I also watched the video where you changed the drive system to a Range Rover belt. I'm just curious to know if you ended up sticking with the hoverboard wheel or went with the car alternator as a generator. I'm very new to electricity and don't really know the pros and cons of DC vs 3-phase AC for power generation.
Three phase AC is generally considered better than DC for a couple reasons, largely to do with efficiency of transporting it and not usually involving brushes. DC is still doable tho, if you've got a workable generator, like a treadmill motor or similar. Depends on specifics.
I still like hoverboard wheels, they do reasonable voltage per rev and are easy and cheap enough in the West at least. Especially for my water turbine, as it'll put out enough revs to direct drive them, whereas the wind turbine will need gearing. Direct drive washing machine motors, like Smartdrives, are pretty good if you can get them.
Car alts are a mixed bag. On the one hand they're easy to get anywhere on earth, will do a kilowatt quite happily, and often have basic charge control built in. On the downside they're not very efficient, and high revving, well out of the range of most turbines even with reasonable gearing.
Motorbike alternators, however, are more or less better on all fronts...
Wow thank you so much! I'll take a look around my area and see what I can get for motorcycle alternators or a direct drive washing machine motor.
Keep up the great work, your channel/website is an absolute goldmine of information and ideas. It is extremely interesting, useful, and appreciated.
Thanks.
I'd suggest DD washing machine motor - hoverboard motor - treadmill motor - motorbike alternator in that descending order of viability.
If you're in a western country you can often get a whole hoverboard second hand for like 20-30 $/£/€ because someone's getting rid of it. Check FB Marketplace and local classifieds etc.
Thanks for posting. I recently gone back in my history to find your video on the blade design. I'm glad to see that you are still building these. Thanks
Keep up you've got great ideas. Very helpful
Wowww dude! Much respect! This knowledge should be taught at schools instead of the usual silly pc garbage nobody actually needs... Thnx for the awesome eye-opening shares ; D
Looking good! I hope to build one soon.
Awesome!! Simply Awesome!
Thank you so much for being pioneers!!
Namaste.
Andrea and Critters. ..XxX..(New Sub!!)
Awesome project, thank you for sharing.
By chance checking old emails I found the bike chain turbine video. I commented on that asking if you had any useful output measurements under load, eg charging a battery. Now I know why there never was any, it didn't work. The question still stands though. You say in the video that in the next few days you will install it properly, so there should be a follow up with charge currents and voltages. I admire what you are trying to do, but without data to back it up..... well, all you have there is art.
The chain drive did work, just not as well as I'd like so changed for the automotive belt. There's a turbine gone up in Scotland this week which is now in the process of having alternator and electrics attached. Data to come when it's available.
@@OpenSourceLowTech Great, Thanks for your reply. I look forward to some data.
@@OpenSourceLowTech 6 Months down the line and a winter passed. Any data yet?
@@OpenSourceLowTech 18 months now? Any data?
Great idea mate! Do you have any videos of one of these working generating electricity and charging a battery?
In the works.
There is a cheap, wire spira, in north america usually used for tying dog leads to the ground. They are relativly cheap and easier to install than rebar, as well as holding up to three times the load of pounded rebar. I had a Samoid on one and he couldn't pull it out, he could pull out rebar that was pounded in about a foot and a half. Just don't point the open part of the loop towards the mast.
Steel Corkscrew, cheap yeah, but in soft or wet ground, they will not hold for a length of time. sideways pull is one thing but these have a significant upwards pull.
It's better to just dig a hole put in two bags or three 50 lbs of bags of cement.
Yeah did think about those, but gut feeling that they wouldn't be strong enough. Would be nice to not have to dig the holes for the anchors but they do end up pretty immovable.
Whit a little design like that you could and should integrate a energy storage sistem to guarantee a more continuous and stable energy supply
That's the plan.
Would you not give us updates? Is it working? Amazing work. :)
I've been testing an install with full data logging the last year, and have a lot of updates on it, but RUclips broke killed my channel at the start of the year, so new videos get no views and I'm still waiting on them to fix it before I upload anything as currently there's no point.
Is there something we can do to help at this point? Sad that a bug can have such a big impact.
@@troz2-i9e Thanks, but not really. YT either fixes itself or doesn't.
Obrigado por compartilhar.
I would love if one day you could make it to morocco and help us achieve a descent standard of living in places
Washing machine belt might be useful ?. Making a turbine and generating some electricity is fun and not that difficult but making one that keeps doing it for years and surviving storms and rain is another matter .☹️ ever come across hugh piggott the Scottish west coast homebrew wind generation guru ?.
Washing machine would be too short, but I'm currently using a car alternator belt which seems pretty good so far.
The longest running one of these was in Michigan for about three years through two of the worst winters on record, and didn't have any problems.
Yeah I know Hugh, he does good work.
you could use the brakes on the wheel too in crazy winds so the rims etc dont self destruct, more work i know. youd want extremely low power cosumption devices cant imagine it will make much power. fun project though
Potentially, but in this case the regulator pulls maximum load when the battery is full, so the braking will come from the alternator, which should more or less do the job.
I'll be interested to see how much power this does produce. Pretty windy where it's going, so I'd hope a couple kilowatt hours at least on the windier days.
@@OpenSourceLowTech yeh the alternator under load does take alot to turn it, i have a few turbines but theyre all in storage living in an area surrounded by trees, one day ill get to use them , i hope.
Wasnt better to experiment with a shaft rather than belt or chain?
Ha,ha. Ardgay is where my family comes from originally
Nice place.
Cheap motorcycle charge controllers will most certainly rectify and regulate the voltage, but dumps excess voltage, and power into heat. If you get enough wind daily maybe that is fine, but I wonder how well a suitable boost, buck converter would work.
Also, I wonder if it would be best to put the battery and inverter in a box below the wind turbine. And transport 240vac the distance to the little home at relativly low currents vs lower voltage and higher currents comming off the generator to the houses.
Heat dumping will be used for heating water and so is a bonus, tho yes a more comprehensive charge controller is still very much an option for nicer and more involved set ups.
For this one they'll be pretty much just running things off the 5V and 12V, and it'll be easier to plug in to the battery + inverter unit at the pod, but if it was all at 220V then yes that would be better to send over distance for cutting line losses.
@@OpenSourceLowTech Then if not using an inverter, it makes more sence to move the voltage regulator and batteries closest to the point of use. The generator will then need 3 wires to the little home. Maybe one three wire 12 guage extension cord might work, or you could 1/3rd the voltage drop by having three 12 guage extension cords with three wires in each cord boned to each other.
could you not just put two gears with small sprockets on the bicycle chain. The two gears should drive the chain in the same direction and the sprockets can engage the chain instead of running the chain on itself?
Kinda badass in a diy and eco type of way. I have a question, if one was to charge a battery in a 2 battery setup, while discharging the other by use, how would you setup the change from one battery to the other when need be?
I wouldn't cycle the batteries. That would be unnessesary complexity and batteries do far better when you dont have:
1) Heavy drain amp draw. For example drawing 10 amps from two batteries in parallel draws just 5 amps from each, rather than 10 amps from just one. and
2) A kilowatt hour of energy drawn from two batteries is split between the two, 0.5 kilowatt hour per battery vs 1 kilowatt hour out of just one battery. That way you do not end up in as deep a discharged state prematurely killing your battery, so long as get enough wind and or solar that you dont frequently draw your batteries down.
Desining your system to take it easy on the batteries extends their life over designing to beat on them.
Maybe with a multi channel charge controller, or two of them? Don't think I've seen it done before, usually the two or more batteries are wired together, either in series to increase the voltage, or parallel for amperage.
@@OpenSourceLowTech oh yeah that makes sense, so you would just discharge from one battery while the other one got charged by the turbine? Pretty impressive that he can do 500 Watt, why is this system not commercialised more as it would be more wind direction agnostic right?
@@0dyss3us51 no you would connect the 2 batteries to create a "pack" and can charge and discharge from both at the same time. Google "Peukert effect" (assuming lead acid).
The motor isn't on the windmill?
Could the alternator's driveshaft not be attached directly to the spinning wheel's hub, and thereby do away with the necessity of using a drive belt?
A direct drive alternator would be easier and usually better, but would need to be something that does enough voltage per rev to be able to charge a battery in a realistic wind speed.
Things like direct drive washing machine motors (Smartdrive units and the like) can do this, as can self made alts, but most motors, hoverboard wheels included, don't and need to be geared up so they spin fast enough.
Could you have a contra rotating turbine and have the generator mounted in the center of the two turbines .One half of the dynamo mounted to one of turbines turning say clockwise and the other half of the dynamo mounted to the other turbine turning anticlockwise ?
That way wouldn't you double the speed the generator spins ?
Also a outer shroud seperating both turbines with a fin to keep it pointing into the wind .The purpose to stop air disruption caused by the contra rotating turbines .
Just thinking outside the box to double the generator speed without a gearbox .
Yes, and that would essentially double the rpms and therefor voltage, but would need a slip ring or similar to be able to spin the stator without winding up the wires.
In general tho, alternators like the hoverboard wheel need a gearing up of about four to six times or more to get to 12V charge voltage under likely winds, so some kind of gearing would still probably be necessary.
A guide shroud and the like would funnel in more wind, but be an extra layer of structure to build, and would need to seek the wind direction which takes away some of the inherent advantage of VAWTs over HAWTs, in that they can accept wind from any direction simultaneously.
@@OpenSourceLowTech Wow thanks very much for your speedy polite informative reply .
Didn't know about the Four to Six times gearing and yes carbon brushes and slip ring as per electric drill would be needed .
You are correct about accepting wind from any direction ,i just think there maybe a little turbulence caused by a contra rotating set of blades so maybe just a simple circle of a larger diameter then the turbine in alloy plate would suffice to smooth out any possible air flow issues .
@@OpenSourceLowTech I am now searching "advantages of contra rotating propeller,s"
@@rocklover7437 As far as I understand it the turbulence should be fairly lateral, so as long as the turbines are not overlapping height wise, which they'd have to not be in this configuration, then they shouldn't really interfere much with each other.
@@OpenSourceLowTech Here,s another out of the box idea .Have the windings on one of the wind turbines and the magnets on the other wind turbine .
The diameter of the bicycle wheels turning in different directions would mean the magnets passing the windings in different directions would produce a huge increase in speed .
The further out from the center of a spinning wheel the speed increases .
At the end of the day i am just a Car Painter so zero qualifications other than too much time on my mind wet flatting primer which is a mind boring exercise .
That sounds like a reasonably good deal for the watt potential, though i wonder what it's averaging with a slower wind. I should probably watch the rest of it as you might've mentioned it beyond the 52 second mark.
Haha, when i saw the thing leaning, and you mentioned it being a peak bog soft parking place for it, I said out loud, cement a bridging block into place that can allow it to be removed or for future repairs/diagnostics, then you said cement after i stopped talking to myself about, lol.
During low speeds, I'd install 30 more of those in a array, or it does provide a good opportunity for someone to use your free installed stationary bike with a belt drive to the batteries or perhaps even to feed it back into the grid.
If someone owes you money for ages or lost a bet and can't raise the funds and car washes are not an option, well it would provide them a way to pay you back over time, perhaps on the time clock and wattage meter/recorder that would be activated by having them chipped with LRFI technology!
How high should the Turbine be? I guess the higher the better obviously, but do you have experience on some kind of minimal height?
More height more power, guess the minimum to be worth it would depend on individual needs.
I'd say maybe less than a meter point five it might not warrant the effort. But then if all you need is to charge a phone and run some LEDs, then maybe still even that..
What’s the minimum wind draft/speed needed to make that turbine spin???
Unloaded, effectively zero. If you can feel the breeze on your skin it's already turning.
Loaded, depends on load.
Thank you so much for all these great ideas. We have average wind speeds of 12 km/h do you have any idea how many watts we could get with one of these? Just ballpark
What kind of metal isthe turbine made from that can be cut with a knife and bought for such a low price?
0.3mm pure aluminium, second hand used offset printing plates.
You're not cutting it so much as just scoring it, so that with a couple flexes the line pops out. It's surprisingly easy and precise, to the point that it's been quite difficult finding any other materials that could be used instead, and work as well.
@@OpenSourceLowTech
Might be worth testing a "green windmill" rotor on it, they can be made of ripstop nylon or even 6mil poly. The mast is below the rotor (no top bearing) so the rotor diameter isnt limited by the distance to the support mast,
The most important thing you can learn about wind turbines is they MUST HAVE WIND. If your site does not have average winds of over 15 mph you're wasting your time and money.
Yup. This can't be overstated. Solar is in a similar boat. I live in WA state where it's overcast 80% of the year. I run into so many people wanting solar roofs that just don't get the problem. The decimal place moves a few places without direct sunlight.
Why don't you just use a bike gear with the chain instead of wrapping the chain around the wheel? you already have the axle to set the gear in place, and you'll avoid the issues with the rubber belts.
RPMs, mainly. Vertical axis wind turbines do more torque than horizontals, but at less revs, so it's harder to get charge voltage out of any generator/alternator you attach to them. So usually things need to be geared up, hence the eventual belt drive system here using the bike wheel rim, so giving about a 10:1 ratio to the pulley on the alternator.
If you were running a lower rev application, such as a piston water pump or the like, then a chain drive coming off the wheel's sprocket set could be a good solution.
@@OpenSourceLowTech
Thank your for your answer!! Now I have one more question for you, or if you don't mind pointing towards then sources from which I can learn more about the topic. When implementing a system like this one, which does not deliver power in a constant way, would you be working in an almost obligatory way or with voltage rectifiers or with batteries?or am I wrong?If this is the case, the part that generates the greatest complicity is the fact that I cannot take direct electrical power from the generator given the variations.How did you face or work around this problem?In the hydraulic turbine this is a little easier, since the flow is practically constant
Am i just stupid or something... i dont see anything up there being driven no power transmission...
He did say in the video that the motor was not installed yet as part of checking out the cables to hold it down and stability in the pete
Maybe you'd like to rewatch the video and listen to what he's doing. :D 0:12 and 3:00 and 6:32
Well spotted Maxim. He's working on a secret plan to transmit the power using radio waves (and an invisible generator).
Love your work. Question: Why have a double plane of wind vanes? I mean, seems the exact same can be done with a single plane, and the same number of vanes.
As in six on the wheel, or still two levels of three but in phase with each other rather than half a step out as I have it? In the case of the former; aerodynamics and efficiency, for the latter; they connect to and structurally support each other much better this way. Plus I think more even torque and less dead zones, but there's probably not much difference on that either way.
@@OpenSourceLowTech Yes, exactly. I'm thinking, not much difference in efficiency, but maybe a little less material for people to acquire.
Not questioning your work, just wrapping my head around it all.
Having the two layers also of course doubles the power. It would be possible with larger plates (which do exist but aren't as common) to have double tall vanes, but I feel instinctively that that would be coming up against the structural limitations of the material.
Update available?
Soon.
Where is the output voltage ?
what is the thickness of the plate?
Usually 0.3mm.
Volts are ac or dc
Depends on what I attach. Will probably be a hoverboard wheel as an alternator, in which case three phase AC.
Other options such as treadmill motors would be DC.
When you say that the bike chain "doesn't work" - what exactly do you mean? What's the problem?
Numerous. In no particular order; kind of loud, chain doesn't really love being horizontal, needs enough tension to engage the wheel rim that it creates resistance, bit of a hassle to break and rejoin in lengths even with the correct tool, needs to be aligned accurately to not skip the sprocket, rust. But like I say, very available anywhere in the world. Would still very much work for low rev, high torque applications if you went off the sprocket set on the wheel, but everything I've been doing so far has been higher rev for electrical production. Will keep it in mind for things like direct mechanical water pumps and the like.
I remember the original video and wondered why not use a belt instead of a chain. I figured you had an old bicycle and just wanted to use the free parts but i recall it was very loud and not very smooth . To me the blade design is the most interesting part of this project. Has it been tried in high wind areas?
An earlier and weaker version was tested up to 105 km/h gust, the longest running one to date was up three years through sustained 80-90 km winds. Both were worst case scenarios, without load or braking.
This version has been significantly strengthened since, and I have no idea what the destruction speed is. I'm hoping for at least 120 km/h, but guess we'll find out.
Why not use the hoverboard motor as direct drive. With open source firmware from Niklas Fauth (and my online compiler pionierland.de/hoverhack/ ) you get recuperation that DC DC stepup to your battery voltage. With my solar car I can charge my 24V battery with as low 2 revs per second.
How do you mean? Are you somehow using software to increase the volts per rev from the wheel?
That would be very interesting if so...
@@OpenSourceLowTech yes it is so :-)
The six Mosfets of the hoverboard controller act as a full bridge (H bridge). I haven't looked into the code to understand how Niklas was able to use the inductivity of the motor as the step up coil but it works.
Two days ago my 24 Volt battery was empty and I could charge with 50 Watt by pulling my little car at 5 km/h which resulted in about 3 revs.
Don't know the efficiency of this step up charging. But as these motors have 14 rpm/Volt (kV) and you only charge a 12 Volt battery, a direct drive wind generator with step up should be more efficient then your belt drive (the one you use is the belt type of least efficiency).
And you can control the rotation speed to match the wind speed ..
Roland
the little physicist :-)
@@robodurden This is potentially amazing. I'm more into the mechanical side of things than software and electronics, but if you can email me on opensourcelowtech.org at gmail.com with a little more info I'll definitely look into this.
And which parts of the hoverboard are needed?
Are you on facebook? Got a group there for the turbine and we're discussing this as an option. Your input would be useful.
@@OpenSourceLowTech don't like Facebook but may join such a group.
All you need is the low cost controller board. Watch my tutorial videos here. When buying new controller board: better buy one with the original stm32 chip. New boards now often have the GD32 clone which might have problems with our open source firmware.
YO TUVE MOLINOS DE 500WATT 12V ESO ES UN FRAUDE Y PERDER TU DINERO GENERAN POQUISIMO AMPERAJE Y TUS BATERIAS SE DEMORAN MUCHO EN CARGAR CAMBIE MOLINOS A 2000 WATT 12V UN EXITO TOTAL CARGAN RAPIDITO .