How to Build a Wind Turbine

How to Build a Wind Turbine?

Wind turbine is just another name for windmill. It is a device that is used to convert the wind energy into electrical energy that can be used in homes to run various appliances. As the changes in the air pressure occur, the blades of the wind turbine move; thereby converting wind energy into mechanical energy. This mechanical energy is transferred through the shaft to the generator where it is converted into electrical energy.

To build the wind turbine, you will need lots of things like corrugated cardboard, plywood, ¼ inch dowels, 3mm dowel braces, disk magnets, 3cm washers, 7 to 8 inch eye screws, 5mm lead, and 120m 28 gauge enamel magnet wire. White glue, electrical tape, measuring tape, voltmeter, knife, compass, scissors and screwdriver are other things that would be needed.

Take a plain paper and on it draw a circle of radius 6-inches. Cut out the circle and fold it into half. Cut through the center. Place the two halves in such a manner that the curved portions are not on the same side and the top part covers half of the lower part. Glue the pieces together; they will serve as the design for the blades of the wind turbine. On a piece of cardboard, trace the design of the blade. The more blades your wind turbine has, the more it will be able to harness energy.

On the plywood, draw a circle of radius 6-cm and cut it out. Drill a hole in the center of the circle with the help of a screw. 8cm below the center of this circle, a vertical support is pasted, which is 30cm high. The foot support is placed at the bottom of the vertical support.

Attach the circular dowel to the horizontal frame member with an eye screw. Use the cardboard to create a tube of dimensions 3cm by 20cm. secure it with the electrical tape. Wind approximately 200 coils around it, leaving 40cm of coil at either ends. Remove the coil from the cardboard tube and secure it with tape. Remove 15mm of enamel from both the ends of the coil, and test the current with the voltmeter. Make four coils in this manner. Lay all the four coils side by side such that all are in the clockwise direction. Join one coil to another, and glue them to the base.

Cut a circle from the cardboard with radius 6cm. Punch a hole in the center of the circle, and thereafter draw a cross through the center. At the each end of the cross, place a washer and over it place the disk magnet such that the north side of the magnet is away from the washer.

In the final step, take a plastic water bottle and cut away its top and bottom. This will create a plastic tube, whose one side has a radius of 6-inches. On this side, paste the blades that you had created earlier. The blades should be fanned out and sealed at one end. Install the tube on the top of the vertical support. At the other end of the tube, punch a hole and insert the circular dowel in it.  Attach the other end of the dowel to the cardboard with magnets. Ensure that the magnets face the wire coils that are placed at the base. Thus, you have created a fully functional wind turbine.