Is it possible...
- Thread starter Joebwe25
- Start date
k0xxx
Mr. Sunshine
I guess it would depend on what you wanted to operate with it. If it were for something small, say LED lighting for the play house, it wouldn't be too hard.
The easiest way (I guess, as I'm certainly no expert) would be to use the shaft of the windmill to turn a small permanent magnet motor. Then you would need a voltage regulator of some sort.
BTW, a good source of permanent magnet motors is to keep an eye out for a powered treadmill being discarded. A lot of the time, the motors are still good.
I'd recommend doing a Google or a Yahoo search for home built wind turbines to get some ideas.
The easiest way (I guess, as I'm certainly no expert) would be to use the shaft of the windmill to turn a small permanent magnet motor. Then you would need a voltage regulator of some sort.
BTW, a good source of permanent magnet motors is to keep an eye out for a powered treadmill being discarded. A lot of the time, the motors are still good.
I'd recommend doing a Google or a Yahoo search for home built wind turbines to get some ideas.
FarmerChick
Super Self-Sufficient
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key being---"small decorative windmill"---size does matter here..HA HA
google----"homemade wind turbine" and you hit a slew of ways to build your own. they are not complicated but homemade small ones just don't give alot of power so...??
good luck and let us know what you accomplish!!
google----"homemade wind turbine" and you hit a slew of ways to build your own. they are not complicated but homemade small ones just don't give alot of power so...??
good luck and let us know what you accomplish!!
patandchickens
Crazy Cat Lady
You might first inspect it to see how much friction there is in the bearings, and whether it swivels to face the wind (depends on what kind of decorative windmill). If there is significant friction and/or it doesn't swivel, it will take a lot more extensive retrofitting.
It would probably also be a real good idea to do some back-of-the-envelope calculations on how much electricity you could ideally hope to get out of it. You will need estimates of how often it is turning and how fast it turns when it does (on average, not 'maximum'). Then make some assumption about how much torque it has and figure out what it could do.
Good luck and have fun,
Pat
It would probably also be a real good idea to do some back-of-the-envelope calculations on how much electricity you could ideally hope to get out of it. You will need estimates of how often it is turning and how fast it turns when it does (on average, not 'maximum'). Then make some assumption about how much torque it has and figure out what it could do.
Good luck and have fun,
Pat
- Thread starter
- #5
Miltonchix
Sustainable Newbie
Windmills are used to charge a bank of batteries. The batteries then have an inverter attached which turns DC voltage to AC voltage.
Because the speed of the wind is constantly changing, and AC needs to be at a constant amplitude(120VAC) AND frequency (60HZ), running directly from a windmill would burn up most electrical/electronic devices. So windmills are DC generators that feed the batteries which in turn converts the stored energy from the battery to usable AC.
Converting a decorative windmill to one that would produce usable power would not be practical.
Because the speed of the wind is constantly changing, and AC needs to be at a constant amplitude(120VAC) AND frequency (60HZ), running directly from a windmill would burn up most electrical/electronic devices. So windmills are DC generators that feed the batteries which in turn converts the stored energy from the battery to usable AC.
Converting a decorative windmill to one that would produce usable power would not be practical.
