The Wind is Free!

Wind generators are more fun to watch!

Yes and they don't rely on the sun to shine, so they work at night too provided the wind blows! Also, more power for your money compared to solar (PV).

JTECH wrote: Also, more power for your money compared to solar (PV).

Now THAT remains to be seen !

I've given up of trying to get sustained power out of the wind. It can't be done, unless you go really BIG. At an average windspeed of 3.5m/s (=average in PE) a one meter blade will get you

Yes, at that low wind speed there is not much power available. But remember, at double that speed, there is EIGHT times more power. Calculations based on average speed are only valid for a linear power-speed relationship. For a wind turbine, it is a cubed relationship.

The advantage of generating power is that it can be generated in one place, and used in another, unlike the windpomp.

Mounting a compressor is a great idea - the air can go via hose to be used somewhere else, like electricity. Could use the air for pumping water directly... Trick would be to measure the torque required, and match the blade size, shape and TSR to that. What is the normal RPM for that compressor?

The 300Watt with the 2m blades is based on the 3rd power average. The 50 Watt with the 1m blades is a mistake and should have been 70Watt.

A normal fridge compressor operates @

JTECH wrote:Yes and they don't rely on the sun to shine, so they work at night too provided the wind blows! Also, more power for your money compared to solar (PV).

Even I have got wind farm and I prefer wind energy over soolar.. It is easy to maintain and more efficient.

Hi Jay, looks great! You can't use capacitors alone to increase voltage. You can make a circuit using a coil, a FET, and capacitor, which is called a DC boost converter. Or you can try increase the rpm to get more voltage. Once you get 13.5 voltage you are good to charge a 12V battery.

The advantage of generating power is that it can be generated in one place, and used in another, unlike the windpomp.