BoatBanter.com - View Single Post - electrical generator

(Mic) wrote in :

Or any alternative method for a electrical water powered generator for
crusing a la homemade.....

PS - I like what he says about his new 17' machine....(c;

"So far the machine works quite well. It has such a huge swept area
compared to our previous machines that it seems to start up in practically
no wind, and it's making a little power by the time the anemometer says 5
mph. At 10 mph it's doing around 400 watts and at 16 mph it's up around
1.5KW. Above that I believe the blades are overpowered a bit by the
alternator. I do see 2KW from it frequently and I've seen about 3800 watts
from it a couple times in very high winds, but overall I believe the blades
are held back a bit in higher winds by the alternator. I can improve it by
adding a bit of resistance to the line - this would allow it to speed up in
higher winds and the blades would run more efficiently - but as it is it
seems very slow and peaceful, and it rarely goes over 200 rpm It's
producing quite a bit more power than I can really use. So I'll leave it as
it is, it's quite a good low wind machine I think. Time will tell how it
holds together! It has been fun, the whole project took 3 weeks from start
to finish, I had some friends and neighbors (all of which have their own
homebrew wind turbines) helping along the way which was wonderful."

We'll never have one this big on any boat, but it shows how efficient this
flat alternator really is being so simple.....maybe driven from a
screwshaft dragged behind the boat?