Windmills from Scrap |
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There are many enthusiasts around the world building their own wind turbine generators in wide variety of designs. We are experimenting with a few of these. Here, for example, is a toy vertical-axis wind turbine ("VAWT") made from scrap plastic downpipe and permanent magnets and coils from old hard drives that can light a white LED:
... and here's a bicycle-wheel-and-sellotape (yes, sellotape!) horizontal-axis turbine ("HAWT"):
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There isn't a generator attached to this one (yet). I personally prefer VAWTs to HAWTs, if only because VAWT designs, although less efficient in extracting energy from the wind, are simpler to build and avoid the need for slip rings to carry the current away from the generator. I'm working on a 2-bike-wheel-VAWT, come back soon. Click here for a video of the bike wheel spinning in a light breeze. |