Alternator ???

[Kevin Vlies]

Hi guys i was wondering if i could use a car alternator to make energy.:confused:

[Mark Parsons]

Greetings Kevin,

Certainly a car alternator can make energy. It keeps your car battery charged. If you are thinking of applying one for wind power the major downside is they use energy to make energy.

I experimented with a Delco and found it uses about 40 watts in field energy. This energy is required all the time to energize the field. The wind energy may only be intermittant to offset this so net result is sometimes a losing situation.

If you are thinking of using one on a stationary engine then you can obtain a net gain.

A permanent magnet alternator generates power without the field loss. There are a few companies that use car alternator castings and make PM alternators from them. Here is a link to one.
http://www.windbluepower.com/category_s/1.htm

Are you considering going to a battery charging system?

Regards,
Mark

[Kevin Vlies]

Dear Mark,

I like the windbluepower site very much. I see i can buy complete kits and i am very interested in the "lite breeze" low wind kit. If i purchase this what else do i have to purchase to have everything i need to start getting light around the house? And how to connect them as well. Please forgive me for the strange questions i have absolutely no idea of this kind of stuff but i am willing to learn because i find it very interesting.

[Joe Blake]

Maybe consider scavanging a second-hand 12 volt automotive starter motor, and fitting a bridge rectifier and regulator to prevent overcharging? A good regulator ain't cheap, but it'll save your batteries from being boiled dry. I think bridge rectifiers are dirt cheap these days. (I remember during my apprenticeship having to sit down with a soldering iron making my own for a DC power supply I was building.)

Could anybody could supply an appropriate circuit for the whole thing? I'd like to build a 12 DV generator to run off my indoor bicycle trainer while I'm watching the Tour de France.

Joe

[Mark Parsons]

Greetings Kevin,
A very good place to learn about making your own electricity is Homepower magazine. Their section for Windpower basics:
http://www.homepower.com/files/beginner/WindPowerBasics.pdf

I suscribe and enjoy the magazine. It is available as an online subscription so you can download a new release pdf every other month. You can also download many backissues and articles. All quite inexpensively.

The WindBlue kit you are considering appears to have no furling mechanism. (A mechanism to protect itself in a wind storm.) It is 5 foot diameter and rated to produce about 25 Watts in a 10MPH wind. Without a furling mechanism it needs to be strong enough to handle the worst storm conditions it is exposed to head on. You would want to take it down if a hurricane was imminent. Other than that constraint, it looks like a nice package.

Here is another reference that offers good info on a simple tower and DIY turbine.
http://www.mdpub.com/Wind_Turbine/index.html

Greetings Joe,
If you are interested in making your own charge controller here is one resource:
http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2004/9/20/0406/27488

I'm not sure you could get a 12V automotive starter motor to work as a generator easily. They are brushed and are series wound traction motors - i.e. not permanent magnet type.

Regards,
Mark