We feature a lot of off-grid power projects here at Hackaday, whether they’re a micropower harvester or something to power a whole house. Somewhere in the middle lies [esposcar90]’s 3D-printed vertical wind turbine, which it is claimed can deliver 100 watts from its diminutive tabletop package.
It’s designed to be part of a package with another turbine but makes a very acceptable stand-alone generator. The arms have large scoop-like 3D-printed vanes and drive a vertical shaft up the centre of the machine. This drives a set of satellite gears connected to a pair of DC permanent magnet motors, which do the work of generating. For different wind situations, there are even some differing STL gear choices to speed up the motors. The motors are 12V devices, so we’re guessing the output voltage will be in that ballpark. However, it’s not made entirely clear in the write-up.
All in all, it’s a very compact and practical off-grid power solution, given a place with enough wind and a requirement for 100W. We can imagine it might find use with hikers in mountainous regions or perhaps radio amateurs doing a SOTA activation. We like it.
If your tastes run to something larger, you can 3D print that, too. If you want a smaller demonstration and have a spare CDROM drive, this project can be very simple.
Hackaday Prize 2023: A 3D Printed Vertical Wind Turbine
Source: Manila Flash Report
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