Small wind turbine
How to construct a simple wind generator that even young people can build
Online since: 03/07/2009,
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The AJSL (Association Jeunes Scientifiques Luxembourg – a club for young scientists) wanted to build a simple and affordable wind turbine with materials readily available at DIY stores.
In addition, the way it works should also be easy to understand.
The concept of a wind turbine is well-known: you need a windmill and a generator.
Ideally:
- It should generate electricity at a low number of revolutions (300 rpm).
- The generator should readily start.
The diameter is 1 m, and the blade width from the centre line is +2 and +7 cm (a job for the jigsaw).
Shaft: 5 mm shaft steel, 18 cm long
Bearing: 2 mounting brackets, drilled out for the 5 mm shaft.
Dimensions: 60 x 60 x 40 cm
The hub
consists of an M8 x 20 machine screw with a 5 mm centre hole for the shaft and a 2,5 mm cross-hole with M3 thread for the set screw.
The rotor blade is attached with two spring washers and nuts.
The inside of the stator
The stator
is a 10 mm thick sheet of plywood with six holes in a 5 cm diameter circle.
An M6 x 25 mm machine screw goes in each hole (coil core).
Six plastic sewing machine bobbins were used as coil bobbins and wrapped with 0,4 CuL as tightly as possible – about 12 m will fit on one bobbin.
The winding direction must be the same for all six coils.
The iron core should not protrude from the coil, which is achieved on the back of the stator with an O-ring and a piece of plastic tubing.
The beginning and end of the windings are routed to the back through two small, drilled holes (see photo above) in the stator board.
The coils are secured to the iron core with a little glue tape or a drop from the hot glue gun.
Detailed view of a single coil
The outside of the stator
Now, all you have to do is complete the electrical connections.
The end of the wire on one coil is connected to the beginning of the adjacent coil (through soldering or with mini-cable connectors).
You will be left with a beginning and an end of the strand to divert the electrical current.
The rotor
is a perforated disc made of 10 mm thick plywood, has a diameter of 8 cm, and features 12 S-10-05-N disc magnets
that were glued in with a strong adhesive (easy to build using a hole saw and drill).
The diameter of the "magnet circle" measures 5 cm, and the magnets have to be mounted with alternating poles pointing up, i.e.
one north pole, then one south pole and so on.
The housing
consists of
- a base plate made of 18 mm thick glulam wood 9 x 16,5 cm.
- its stator for the back wall.
- two side panels made of 10 mm plywood to provide the necessary rigidity.
The rotation mechanism
consists of
- a tap fitting 0,5 inch x 15 mm.
- a piece of water pipe 0,5 inch x 8 cm.
- a piece of suitable aluminium pipe to hold the water pipe.
The wind vane
consists of
- a cable duct with a diameter of 16 mm and a length of 50 cm.
- 5 mm thick plywood measuring 30 x 15 cm.
- a plastic clamp for the cable duct.
Air gap:
To ensure the whole thing starts up smoothly, the air gap between the rotor and stator is adjusted with the help of washers, an adjusting ring made from a lustre clamp and the propeller hub – in our case approx.
2 mm.
Of course, with such a large air gap, a lot of electrical energy is lost.
However, the current is still sufficient to power a light-emitting diode.
A clear LED that lights up red works best.
The finished wind turbine
In our AJSL young scientists club, 15 of these wind turbines were built by teenagers ranging in age from 12 to 14.
Of course, many parts were prefabricated, so the whole assembly took just under three hours.
The result was 100 %, and the kids loved it!
If you are interested in wind turbines or wind generators, please also take a look at our project Harnessing wind energy.
Articles used
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Disc magnet Ø 10 mm, height 5 mm, holds approx. 2,6 kg, neodymium, N42, nickel-plated
| 5 pcs. | 0,90 EUR ea.* | |
| from | 15 pcs. | 0,79 EUR ea.* |
| from | 40 pcs. | 0,70 EUR ea.* |
| from | 80 pcs. | 0,65 EUR ea.* |
| Ask for a rebate from 650 pcs. | ||
Available: 118 960 pcs.
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