Imagine creating a 3-phase wind turbine from
a common, everyday roof ventilator along
with some magnets and coils of wire. That’s
what we’ve created for your study of wind
technology. We chose the Whirlybird TM roof ventilator for
several reasons.
First, it has great bearings that simply will not
wear out under normal – and even severe –
use. Without great bearings your wind
turbine is always fighting friction that only
serves to slow it down with the attendant loss
of power.
Second, it can be easily constructed with common tools and without soldering or
drilling.
Third, it can be used indoors and
[especially] outdoors where your
study of day-to-day and season-by-season
wind never stops.
Fourth, it produces 3-phase power
just like the commercial wind
turbines, which allows you to study
this marvelous electrical principle first
hand by using your computer and the
3-phase Bar Graph Board to
produce computer plots like this.
Fifth, you will be able to modify
it in order to study the effects of magnetism and how you can optimize the
mechanical components to produce maximum power.
Here is what is included in the Whirlybird TM Wind Turbine Kit: