Cameron Shelton Caleb Bales Kelvin Barner Wind Energy Cameron Shelton Caleb Bales Kelvin Barner
Team & Device
Introduction Our task was to design and build a windmill that will generate enough electricity to power a small LED. The windmill was required to be original and built from readily available materials.
Generator Our generator is composed of two disc-shaped magnets which rotate inside of a short pipe wrapped in magnetic wire. When turned by the fan, the rotations from the magnets produce a small electric current which then powers the small LED light attached to the ends of the wire
Efficiency The power in the wind can be found by P= .5 x rho x A x V2 The estimated power in the wind is .0549 W
Budget All Thread - $ 1.40 Steel Sleeve - $ 1.50 Washers - $ 1.60 Nuts - $ 2.40 Magnets - $ 4.00 Spool of Wire - $ 2.75 2.5” PVC Pipe - $ 3.00 Glue - $ 1.00 Red L.E.D. - $ 0.65 Wood - FREE
Conclusion Our main problem was finding a fan that turned the generator without being too heavy. If we were to do it again we would use a different design to funnel the air to the fan.