New to alternate power

[Doug NZ]

Hi all

My name is Doug I'm from New Zealand and I'm interested in starting into alternate power sources. I'm looking for a good small project to start on as i gather information about the weather in the area to see if i can get a substantial amount of power.

Eventually when I own my own home I would like to be able to get all the power with minimal supply from the grid, obviously this will require a lot of skills that I don't have so I would like to start learning. I have a friend who's an electrician so when it comes to technical details i will have help but the construction of generators will be all down to me. any small projects you could recommend would be greatly appreciated.

Mainly looking at wind and solar for the time being

Doug

[jimovonz]

Which part of NZ you from Doug?

[Doug NZ]

Hamilton in the North Island, so I'm in no major need of alternate power sources but I figure why pay NZ$100-NZ$150 a month for what you can get for free with a little work. I dont plan to start converting my rented home to wind and solar power but i would like to have the know how for when i purchase my own home in 3-5 years time.

where in NZ are you form jimovonz?

Doug

[jimovonz]

Good on ya - its never too soon to start. I'm live at Pikowai on the coast between TePuke and Whakatane. I am still on the grid (can't convince the wife to give it up!) but have built a relatively efficient straw bale house (3/4 of my electricity bill is fixed charges). I have built a number of different turbines such as those described on this site and have recently imported a number of turbines from China with a view of on selling them. If your ever in the area you are welcomne to drop in for a chat. My very first project was a 2m F&P smartdrive conversion. It worked OK but suffered from too much start up torque (as most do!) and only performed in winds over 30km/h I'd suggest you start with a smaller axial flux dual rotor. Stick with a tried and true spec and don't deviate (leave the experimentation to your 2nd one when you will have a much better understanding of how it all goes together!) Decent magnets can be very pricy here in NZ so your pretty much stuck with importing them. I have pulled apart over 100 microwaves to salvage the ferrite magnets in the magnetrons. Unfortunately there is not much info on making a successful turbine using such mags (relatively low strength compared to the neos common on this site). I did manage a reasonable 3.6m turbine using 24 of these in conjucntion with smaller neos. If the price of the neos is a problem you could look at doing a motor conversion - this requires access to suitable machines. The best advice is to read through the board here and find something proven that you think you can tackle.

[Doug NZ]

thanks for the advice jimovonz, I think i will do pretty much that. I think i will try a small generator using computer harddrive magnets (hoping i can find enough of the same size and strength) and then move onto one of the small wodden windmills.

jimovonz do you have a MSN or other instant messanger contact? I wouldnt mind having a chat and picking your brain over your homes setup.

Doug

[jimovonz]

Sorry I have never got into instant messaging... We can arrange a time to get together on the otherpower IRC channel if you want - that way you can get the benefit of others on the channel too:) By all means give me a call - I will email you my phone number

[alancorey]

I'll put in a plug for Ghurd's box fan conversion at http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2005/7/4/34446/17324 which was meant to be an easy way to get started. You need a hacksaw and a file as the main tools. For a fan to convert, you need the kind that has 6 coils in the motor (see the pictures), but you can spot these through the holes in the case without needing to take it apart.

I got mine going at first with 12 hard drive magnet halves, which would be 3 hard drives worth. A couple of days ago I glued in 4 1x1x1/4 neos, and I'm still grinding off the high spots to get it to turn again. I did a sloppy job with the hacksaw and now I'm paying the price.  I'm planning to make a diary for mine, when it turns again.

There's more at http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2007/1/10/153126/651 and there was another page in the middle somewhere.

  Alan

[finnsawyer]

Hmm, an electrician friend helping with the technical details of alternator construction.  I don't buy it.  Friends come and go, knowledge lasts all your life.  It sounds like you are young, so I recommend you enroll in the local University in one of the engineering curricula, such as Electrical Engineering.  Get to know the people running the labs and machine shops, and make yourself useful to them.  And then when you have to do a project, as you will from time to time, do it in the wind power area.  Good luck!

"Still the Third Engineer."

[wooferhound]

You can get a LOT of ideas here on the otherpower.com site.

http://www.otherpower.com/otherpower_experiments.html

[Doug NZ]

Thanks all for the links and ideas.

I will attempt one of the small windmills latter on this year and document my progress. my wife has been accepted into university to do the graduate teaching diploma so I have to find permanent work (I'm currently working as a temp) before i can begin a new project.

Doug