Windmill Project Report and Analysis

November 30, 2009

Team
Gerrit Hale
Mari Osborne
Heather Boynce
Thomas Thurman
Class A2
 Overview

The basic idea behind the idea of our project is to design a simple, energy-converting
windmill that can take incoming wind energy and convert it to electrical energy. Our goal was to
get the device to put out enough electric volts to light a small light bulb. The device was to be
made from readily available materials to minimize costs and if money was to be spent on the
project, we were given a forty dollar cap. We were encouraged to use readily available
materials to save costs and completely build the windmill out of scratch and minimize the time
spent as much as possible.

History of Wind Energy in the Brief

Wind energy has been used for several purposes throughout history. It has been used in
such ways as food production, draining lakes and marshes, pumping water for farms and
ranches, and eventually to generate electricity for homes and industry. (U.S Department of
Energy: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy) The purpose of using wind energy is because
the human race is always looking for ways to become more efficient in energy production that
minimizes cost and maximizes efficiency.” In 1891, the Dane Poul La Cour developed the first
electrical output wind machine to incorporate the aerodynamic design principles (low-solidity,
four-bladed rotors incorporating primitive airfoil shapes) used in the best European tower
mills.” (Dodge) Wind energy is a very important source for a large of amount of the energy used
to power industry in the world today and is used everywhere because of its traits being a
renewable energy source and eco-friendly. The creation and utilization of wind energy is one of
the fastest growing sources being explored. There are now clusters of wind turbines in Texas
and Colorado, as well as newly updated sites in California. “According to the American Wind
Energy Association (AWEA), there are now wind energy products in almost every state west of
the Mississippi, and in many Northeastern states.” (Motavalli)

Design Process

The design process for out windmill was a tedious task. Our first order of business was
to come up with a general concept design that was simple and cheap but still produce the
required amount of energy to light the bulb. We first came up with a design for the generator
of the windmill and we decided to wrap insulated copper wire around a piece of PVC pipe
accumulating as many coils as possible. We then considered to different types of the windmills:
a horizontal pin windmill and a vertical pin windmill. We decided to go with the horizontal pin
because it was fairly easily and was not projected to take very long to build. So we drew up our
plans and went to work on construction.
 Description of Built Windmill

The design we constructed is a horizontal pin windmill. We have a horizontal pin with a
propeller attached to one end of the pin and a magnet glued to the center of the pin that
rotates around in circles perpendicular to the magnet generator as the wind blows through the
propeller. The pin is resting on a wooden frame that supports the propeller pin at both ends.
The frame is two wooden blocks with holes drilled in them for the pin to slide into and rest and
rotate freely. There is a bottle cap glued to the back of the back block so that the pin doesn’t
push back and stop rotating. The wooden blocks are then drilled into a wooden based that hold
two blocks securely in place. In the center of the pin, where the magnet is glued, we have a PVC
pipe that has eight hundred feet of coil wrapped all the way around the pipe. The pipe is resting
on a piece of wood putting it high enough for the magnets on the pin to pass through the pipe.
As wind blows through the propeller, the magnet spins and causes an electric field to generate,
running an electric current through the insulated copper wire, lighting the bulb.

Efficiency Analysis

The only kind of efficiency that can really be calculated with our project is the
theoretical energy. Using the equations in class to calculate power and energy of our windmill,
the theoretical power we got was about .0076 watts. Also using the energy equation we found
a predicted energy output of .0068 joules. The combination of these two values in the efficiency
equation we found an estimated two percent efficiency. This is a good value to have because
most actual windmill’s only run about 50% efficient.

Bill of Materials

Scrap wood from estabrook $0

3 ft. cm. width aluminum rod $1.95

2 x 4 in. wooden propeller $3.90

Bottle of Gorilla Glue $4.95

2 ft. PVC pipe 2 in diameter $2.99

800 ft. insulated copper wire $5

Total $18.79(before taxes)

 $20.66(estimated after taxes)

Conclusion

Through all the trials and errors and the complications of finding the most efficient
generator for our windmill, we were unsuccessful in generating enough volts to power our light
bulb. During the process of the turning the generator perpendicular to the rotation of the
magnets there were copper wires that were cut which broke the path for which the electricity
to flow. We tried vigorously to solder the wires back together but were unable to put them
back together. Besides our mishap with our wires getting accidentally cut, we learned quite a
bit about how people today can harness free energy in the world without burning away our
fossil fuels and natural gases. We worked together as a team to try and build a windmill from
scratch and we were able to make a windmill that could have potentially produced a generous
amount of electricity.
Bibliography
Dodge, Darrel M. Illustrated History of Windpower. 2006. <http://www.telosnet.com/wind/index.html>.

Motavalli, Jim. Catching the Wind: The World's Fastest Growing Energy-Source is Coming of Age.
<http://www.emagazine.com/view/?2176>.

U.S Department of Energy: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

<http://www1.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/wind_history.html>.