Silly green energy solutions

Steven Lake
Steven Lake Solar Expert Posts: 402 ✭✭
in General Solar Power Topics #1
I was doing some digging through some posts online about blocking diodes (more a curiosity than anything) and stumbled onto a post where a guy strapped a windmill fan onto a Black and Decker battery powered drill and used it as a wind generator. I'm not even sure that'd work, given that all cordless drills have an automatic brake that kicks in when you release the trigger. Even so I found the idea both intriguing, and ridiculously funny. At the same time I'm wondering if you guys have heard of any other silly or off the wall wind projects like this? OK, maybe not ones done with a power drill, but still, a wind power project done with something that was not intended for that use. :)

Anyways, if you haven't yuck it up with this one, and if you've heard of anything else like this, share your funny story. Heck, throw in some solar or hydro funnies too if you think of them. :)
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  • waynefromnscanada
    waynefromnscanada Solar Expert Posts: 3,009 ✭✭✭✭
    #2
    Re: Silly green energy solutions

    Well the motor in the cordless drill is a brushed motor, with perm magnet fields, thus if the drills electronics are disconnected from the actual motor, and the armature is spun, a voltage will be produced. It will however have to be spun up at least twice the speed of the drill's normal operating RPM, and the power output will not amount to much, as the motor is very small. Another couple of things to consider are the overall life in hours of the brushes, commutator, and bearings. They were most likely designed to last only a very few hours. But that said, it will produce some power as a demonstration project.
    BTW, the "brake" is applied to the drill in normal operation, by cutting off the battery power and placing a dead short across the motor output. In this mode, the motor is acting like a generator with shorted output, bringing it to a very quick stop.
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  • Steven Lake
    Steven Lake Solar Expert Posts: 402 ✭✭
    #3
    Re: Silly green energy solutions

    Yeah, I figured it wouldn't work for the exact reasons you give. I just thought it was funny that someone would consider that idea. lol.
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  • ggunn
    ggunn Solar Expert Posts: 1,973 ✭✭✭
    #4
    Re: Silly green energy solutions

    A couple of years ago I read an account on line of a DIYer building a wind generator out of auto parts. He mounted it on the front bumper of his 60's pickup truck for testing. There's this picture of Bubba driving down a dirt road grinning at the camera with this windmill on the front of his truck and his dog in the bed. It's pretty danged funny.
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  • Steven Lake
    Steven Lake Solar Expert Posts: 402 ✭✭
    #5
    Re: Silly green energy solutions

    HAHAHAHA! OH man, that would be funny. Oddly, I wonder if it worked. Probably didn't, but even so it's still good for a laugh. :D
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  • techntrek
    techntrek Solar Expert Posts: 1,372 ✭✭✭
    #6
    Re: Silly green energy solutions

    I think I've seen that pic, probably in Homepower. I found a thread on another forum where they discuss that test and someone posted the pic, but that was back in 2007 and the link is dead. They mentioned it was a beta test by Oregon Wind. Their web site is a dead link, too.
    4.5 kw APC UPS powered by a Prius, 12 kw Generac, Honda EU3000is
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