- You will need:
- 2x rigid flat steel, wood or plastic which is at least 40cm(16”) long
- 1x 2cm(1”) diameter piece of wooden dowel around 15cm(6”) long
- 2x 30cm(12”) lengths of PVC pipe that is 10cm(4”) in diameter
- 1x DC motor
- 2x 15cm(6”) scraps of telescoping PVC pipe that are just bigger than your DC motor
- Some small screws.
- To begin, use a jigsaw to cut your PVC pipes, lengthwise in half. Optionally, you can build a quick wooden jig out of some scrap wood to hold them securely while you cut them. Each of these halved PVC pipes will be your wind turbine blades.
- If your pieces of rigid flat steel, wood or plastic are NOT equally weighted, trim one of them to make sure they are even.
- Drill a small hole, just bigger than your screw, in each of the pieces of rigid flat steel, wood or plastic, as close as you can to their center of mass.
- Drill a pilot hole for your screw in the end of your wooden dowel.
- Screw through the two pieces of rigid flat steel, wood or plastic so that they are exactly perpendicular to each other and into the wooden dowel.
- Measure the diameter of the DC motor’s axle and drill a hole of the same size or slightly smaller into the center of the other end of the dowel.
- Place one of the scrap pieces of PVC so that the DC motor fits into it snugly and the other on the end of the dowel so that it can also fit over the DC motor, loosely but without much room.
- The two pieces of PVC should shield the motor from any rain while adding stability to the structure but also allowing it to move freely.
- Screw your turbine blades to the end of the arms making sure they are evenly balanced from the center.
- Connect two wires coming from each lead of the DC motor and mount the wind turbine in a elevated and windy location to generate power. Those two leads will provide you with current to charge batteries or power your LED grow lights depending on how much power your turbine produces.