Winner
500 Watts for less than £70 ($140).....
Mick S from Australia
Mick's words
I have been persisting with
using scrap computer hard drive magnets for quite some time now.
My goal was to be able to generate half a kilowatt using as many recycled parts
as possible.
Images below shows typical hard drive magnets, 'angle grinded' in half
Today I watched my ammeter hit 40 amps, several times powering my 12 volt batteries - that exceeds 500 watts in my calculations.
The tower is all from
recycled pipe , bolts etc.
The magnets are all from computer hard drives.
The wood for the props are from an old set of stairs.
The metal discs were scavenged from a dumpster.
The concrete for the footings I bought bags of cement and mixed by hand.
The copper for the coils is from microwave oven transformers.
The fibreglass and resin I bought.
Welding rods I bought.
Total cost - approx $200.00 aud ( 69
U.K pounds)
Labour - to me that is not a cost
(sitting inside watching TV is a dead loss).
Twin disc, 16 Mags per disc
12 Coils, 70 turns 1mm copper per coil, 4 coils per phase.
Rotation direction so that if prop blades bend , the motion is away from the
tower.
View the other entries here
The Challenge
We are looking for everyone to use their skill and ingenuity to design a DIY wind generator for under £100 ($175)
You are required to design, but not necessarily build a workable wind generator that produces a good useable amount of electricity.
You can use the projects within this site as a basis for new designs.
Rules
Maximum cost (don't include labour costs) £100 ($175).
Must produce a minimum of 20 Watts @ 12 volts ( to charge a 12V battery i.e 16V).
Must be a complete unit, generator, mounts and blades.
Components must be readily available, (scrap parts are acceptable).
Entrants can submit their idea(s) for free at any time, either by post, or by email. Your idea(s) can be submitted in any format, either in hard or soft copy,
but must be as legible and descriptive as possible. Entries can contain text, scanned drawings/photos and digital images.
The Renewable Energy Challenge is open to everyone, and runs from 1st April 2006 for an initial period of 6 months.
Send email entries to: benonline@btinternet.com
The Winning entrant, as decided by gotwind.org will win a genuine Nightstar Magnetic Force Flashlight worth £35 ($55)
N.B not to be confused with the cheaper inferior 'shake torches'. Can be shipped worldwide - Free postage.
Details of this excellent 'green' torch can be found here
I know it's not a huge prize, but it's all I can afford sorry - it's not really about the money, public awareness and 'generating' new interest is what the competition is all about.
Runners up will have a feature on gotwind.org to hopefully inspire others. (subject to entrants permission).
