Design and Construction of a Small Stand-Alone Wind Turbine Using Scrap Materials

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to report on designing and construction of a stand-alone home-sized wind turbine (WT) in Jordan using scrap materials. The designed WT has to deliver a predetermined amount of AC kWh. The used generator is a 600 W, 12 V automobile DC generator with suitable charge controller, battery storage, and an inverter. For a small wind turbine to be effective, it must produce energy across a wide range of wind speeds. It must be able to generate energy from winds that are switching directions and gusting. It must also be very quiet, so that it will not disturb people living nearby, and it certainly helps if it is pleasing to the eye as well. The main design input data are energy demand of 160 kWh per month and the average wind speed of 6 m/s. Based on the input data, the capacity factor (CF) of the system, rotor diameter (D), gearbox ratio (GR), and power curve have been determined. It is found that CF, D, and GR are equal to 0.372, 2 m, and 2.5, respectively.

The performed economic analysis of the system shows that the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) is about 4.6 USD cents/AC kWh, and the payback period is about 4 years. 

The constructed wind turbine from used materials would be an attractive demonstration project of renewable energy, which will encourage the use of stand-alone wind generation in unserved areas in developing countries.