Using an old SmartDrive motor in a hydroelectric project to make free power - a waterwheel will drive the generator!
UPDATE: Planning the water wheel
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Sunday, 27th of August
Sam and Stefan explored the area where the water wheel will go.
We are planning to make it out of plywood and PVC pipe which will be the center. We will then use our knowledge of electronics to make a 'dynamo', which will run electricity through wires to other uses such as a floodlight and chargers in their home. Sam's family currently uses a petrol generator which charges many of their 12V car/boat batteries to power their lights and other small appliances. We are also considering using a washing machine motor as our dynamo. The water wheel will have paddles to create resistance which turns the wheel fast. We are hoping to get up to 30 volts of electricity.
Area where wires could be dug underground - maybe power an LED floodlight
Wires could lead into caravan to charge devices, power lights, etc. as the generator is not always on
Difficult to charge devices when there is no power
An excellent blog Stefan and group, clear and easy to follow with good ideas and information. This is looking really great and is moving forward. Do not forget to link to sustainability issues.
UPDATE We have not done much the past few weeks because we have been busy with other things. Stefan said he has got nearly all parts we need for the project. I hope to get back to it soon.
Saturday and Sunday, 16th - 17th of September Stefan stayed over at Sam's house and they both had a very productive weekend. Summary: I won't talk about much this post as I have put together a fun video of our hydroelectric system. We cut and screwed together lots of wood for the water wheel and its stand/holder. We were also able to secure the SmartDrive in place with lots of tests and had a fun time in the creek with it. Some of it was tough, like trying to align the wheel perfectly, but we managed to get it working in the end. We tested our 300W inverter on a small lamp and it was great, we also managed to get the SmartDrive turning on full load in the creek which was really impressive, considering we haven't even built a proper flume to project the water more efficiently. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this video:
In our project we planned to make a hydroelectric system that would produce convenient sustainable power. I think we made a good effort and were able to get quite far, however we did not finish within the time available. We will finish it later on because it is a worthwhile idea to utilise the free water from their stream. Due to unavailability, most of the time we were not able to form our entire group out at Sams. This meant we could not collaborate at peak level on our project. I enjoyed doing the project because I learnt so much about sustainable energy and electronics. From this, my next steps are to build my own sustainable generator from a wind turbine, which I plan to power mobile devices, TV, lights, speakers and laptops from. This is exciting for me but since I am busy at present I am going to continue my own project after exams. I also plan to build an electric bike from old laptop battery cells I have bought, a 250w hub motor and other components I will purchase...
this is cool
ReplyDeleteAn excellent blog Stefan and group, clear and easy to follow with good ideas and information. This is looking really great and is moving forward. Do not forget to link to sustainability issues.
ReplyDelete