Creating New Kitchens

 

Many people these days are looking to make their homes more “green” by implementing renewable energy solutions.  The two main ways to do this are through solar energy and wind energy.  This article will focus on wind power and will show you how to build a windmill to help power your home.

 

Disclaimer:  The author is not responsible for any injuries that might occur while making your own windmill.  The purpose of this article is to give a brief overview of how to make a windmill, so if you would like more detailed information, there are plenty of products on the internet that will give you step-by-step instructions and videos of how to build your own windmills and solar panels.

 

Materials:  You are first going to have to gather the materials you need.  Many of these materials can be bought at your local hardware store, but some may need to be purchased on line.  You are going to need two types of PVC pipe, 2” and 6”. 

 

You also need two 6” PVC pipe caps.  Other than that you will need to an alternator, a rotor, a stator, a piece of ¼” plexiglass, 1” galvanized pipe, a 2” PVC coupling, a 2” wide and 2 feet long flat bar, and plenty of screws and bolts of the corresponding sizes.  In terms of tools, you’ll need a saw, sand paper, screw drivers, and some glue.

 

The Blades:  Take the 6” PVC pipe and cut it in half lengthwise.  Measure out one end of the pipe to six inches, then measure 28” out.  You can cut the PVC pipe there.  The cut end should then be measured to 2”.  Take a piece of masking tape and tape from the end of the 2” measurement to the end o the 6” measurement.  Cut the rotor using the saw along the masking tape and repeat to create the other blade (assuming two blades).

 

Take the 2” flat bar (it should be roughly two feet in length) and bolt the rotors to the flat bar.  The blades should be equidistant from the center of the bar, where a hole should be drilled to match the rotor.  To make the blades sturdier, use a backing plate when bolting the blades to the bar.  After mounting, try to balance the blade out using washers.

 

The Body:  Disassemble the alternator.  Remove the rotor and stator and replace them with the new ones that are made for windmills.  Bolt the alternator casing to one of the 6” pipe caps, then screw everything together.  You may want use silicon when bolting the alternator to the casing, so that no water will get through.

 

Next you want to bolt the galvanized pipe to the alternator (there should be a place for the screw).  Make it so that one side is close to the edge of the pipe, while the other hangs out a couple of inches.

 

The Tail:  Cut a section into the 2” PVC pipe that is the same width as the piece of plexiglass.  Insert the plexiglass into the pipe and secure it with a pinch pin.  On the far end of the PVC pipe (the pipe should be around 2 and a half feet), drill a space so that the pipe can fit over the galvanized pipe that is on stuck to the alternator.  Connect the pipes using the coupling and gluing it down once the tail is secure.  Finally, place the other 6” PVC pipe cap on the other side of the alternator (making appropriate holes for the tail and the galvanized pipe, and bold it into place.

 

That’s it!  All you have to do now is put the windmill on a pole and write it to a battery bank.  Once that’s done, you’ll be able to power a good amount of the appliances in your home just from that one windmill!

 

Did you find this article helpful? 

For more helpful tips and reviews of do-it-yourself renewable energy solutions, visit the author, Dean L. at http://diyrenewableenergysolutions.blogspot.com/

 

With the economy as bad as it is these days, everyone could use tips on how to save money.  One way to save money is to reduce the electricity bill, one of the main expenses for a household.  Although there are simple ways to conserve electricity, these have relatively small effects on the bill.  Building your own solar panel to help power your house, however, can make a huge dent in your electricity costs.

 

This article shows how to make a small solar panel.  Although it is possible to make your own solar cells, this article assumes the cells either have already been made or have been purchased and ready to go.

 

Prepping the cells:

 

Often when you buy photoelectric (solar) cells, they come with two strips of metal on each side.  If these have a white coating on them, you want to scrap it off using a screwdriver or something similar.  Once you have done that, you want to take a strip of tab wire that is twice the length of the solar cell, and solder it to each metal strip on the front side of each cell.  To make a decent sized panel you will need about 36 cells.  Also, the soldering iron should be rated between 40 – 60 watts.

 

Next you want to take four of the cells and remove any coating on the metal from the back of the cell.  Two of the cells will be placed at the top of the panel (on columns 1 and 3), two will be placed on the bottom (on columns 2 and 4).  Again solder a piece of tab wire twice the length of the cell to each metal strip, but going in the opposite direction of the tab wire on the front of the cell.

 

Combining the cells:

 

Place one of the four cells mentioned above on a piece of cardboard or large board so you can lay down and align the cells.  Place the cells down one after the other so that the hanging wires of each cell will overlap with the following cell.  When you reach the bottom (nine cells down), place another one of the four special cells down and continue the process.

 

Once you have all the cells down, solder them down against each other.  This may take a while, but just be patient!  Next take a piece of bus wire and solder the wires from the bottom cells of columns 1 and 2 to the wire.  On a separate piece of bus wire, solder the bottom cells of columns 3 and 4 together.  Next, solder the top cells of columns 2 and 3 to another piece of bus wire.  The purpose of this is to create a running circuit.

 

Finally, take wires hanging off of the top cell of column 1 and solder both wires to a piece of bus wires.  Do the same on a separate piece of wire to the wires hanging off the top cell of column 4.  The wire off column 1 will be the positive, and the one off column 4 will be the negative.  Cover each side with a piece of glass by gluing one piece to the back with silicon glue (a blob on the center of each cell should do it), then gluing that piece of glass to another on the other side.  Put a bit of framing on it, and you’re done!

 

Hopefully, using the instructions on this article you were able to create a solar panel and can now save money on your next electricity bill!

Did you find this article helpful? 

 

For more helpful tips and reviews of do-it-yourself renewable energy solutions, visit the author, Dean L. at http://diyrenewableenergysolutions.blogspot.com/