# power generation



## ship (Nov 11, 2009)

if a motor given electric motovation will provide movement to a fan, will it work in reverse? 
local teacher says he hooked up his motor to an operating 1750 rpm ac motor and measured 18v out of it, he now wants to make a windmil. how or what is the concept here in converting wind movement of a fan blade into electricity?


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## epimetheus (Nov 12, 2009)

Blanket answer, without going into detail - it depends on the type of motor. As far as the DIY wind generator, using wind as a source isn't really the challenge, it's converting and storing that energy in a usable form. Or selling it back to the grid, which if allowed by the utility introduces even more challenges in staying in sync with the utility.


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## Chris15 (Nov 12, 2009)

epimetheus said:


> the type of motor.



Consider that to be an important part of the discussion...


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## shiben (Nov 13, 2009)

_QUOTE:
Quote:_
_ Originally Posted by *epimetheus* 
_ 
_ the type of motor._

_Consider that to be an important part of the discussion...
_
Im pretty sure that although the theory is relevant, but in practice, this is impractical. 

In terms of the principal of it, sure, if he gets voltage out of it when running it backwards, sure, slap some blades on it, probably with some form of gearbox, and make it happen. He should keep in mind that the reason that a 300' wind turbine works is that it has thousands of pounds of force pushing it, allowing a gearbox to convert a few RPMs to thousands. He was measuring 18V, no knowledge of Amps, but Im assuming that it was low. In order to produce 2.4 kw, it would need to generate 133 A. Not sure if this is possible. Unless his motor is gigantic and built to withstand the kind of forces exerted on a wind power cell, there is no way its going to do anything but light up an LED, maybe. It might be an interesting classroom demonstration, but as far as selling back power, thats doubtful. My college has a 2.4 KW wind turbine, with a 8 foot blade on it or something. It can be running at full capacity, and i can run 3 source 4s off of it. We sell more power back from our PV arrays. I doubt that a DIY windmill made out of a fan motor is going to work too well.


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