How to Make a Wind Generator Out of a Alternator

Crafting a wind generator from one or more automotive alternators can reduce or eliminate the need for grid home power. Alternators and moderate power usage can make the project effective, and adding electrical inverters can make the power usable for home appliances. Making a windmill and attaching it to an alternator can be accomplished by the average backyard builder in about a day.

Things You'll Need

• Bicycle wheels (front and rear)
• Alternator
• Automotive fan belt
• Automotive pulley wheel
• Flat sections of sheet metal
• Automotive alternator mount arm
• Snips
• Welder
• Metal saw
• Tough gloves

Instructions

Windmill

1. Remove the tire from the rear bike wheel by cutting it free, then discard the tire.

2. Attach eight sections of rectangular sheet metal to the wheel spokes by tack welding them to the individual spokes, on the opposite side of the bike wheel's drive gears. The sections should be longer than the wheel is wide, over three feet but under five feet long. The width should be between 10 inches and 20 inches. Curve the end of each steel section like the blades of a fan, all in the same direction, by hand (use gloves). Each section should be angled about 25 degrees off of center when viewed longways. These are the primary drive blades, attached to a mountable, geared hub.

3. Slide the gears off of the wheel by turning the hub nut counterclockwise, then pulling each gear one by one. Leave the largest gear on the wheel, and discard the rest. Center the automotive pulley wheel to the center of the large gear and tack weld it into place around the very edge. Most auto pulley wheels will have an opening in the center to be mounted to equipment, and this will provide a hole to mount the windmill hub.

4. Mount the wheel onto a pole by driving the axle bolt through an opening and securing it on the opposite side. Any mounting position will do, on most surfaces, as long as the windmill is upright and pointed at the wind source. The internal hub bearings will allow the blades to spin freely, turning the gear and pulley wheel.

Alternator

1. Attach the alternator below the windmill on the same mounting surface, in this case a large pole, by tack welding an automotive alternator mount arm to the pole. Position the arm so that the pulley wheel of the alternator will line up with the pulley wheel on the windmill. The alternator should also be the correct distance from the windmill to accommodate the drive belt.

2. Bolt the alternator to the mount arm by turning automotive alternator mount bolts clockwise into opposing nuts.

3. Attach the drive belt to both pulleys by sliding them over the pulley wheels. The belt should be tight, with about a half inch of play.

4. Connect the output terminal on the alternator to a positive terminal on a battery by turning the nuts clockwise. Run a ground wire from the negative terminal on the battery to the alternator's housing (usually the mounting arm bolt will suffice), or directly into the earth with a long steel rod.

5. Connect an inverter to the battery for transforming the 12-volt DC power into 110-volt AC power by turning the battery's terminal bolts clockwise with the correct polarity inverter wire crimped in between.

Tips & Warnings

• Use several windmills to power the same alternator if wind speeds are less than 15 miles per hour; welding more pulley wheels to the alternator will allow more drive belts to be added. Some alternators already have two belt pulley wheels.

• Use extreme caution when working with electricity and sheet metal.

References

• Dragonfly Wind Generator
• Wind Generator
• Wind Power Projects

Resources

• Wind Turbine Concepts Defined and Explained