Wind Turbine power source/possible water turbine

[Dewisa]

Hi,

Im new here and new to electronics so please be gentle with me

Im planning a project to help me get better understanding of electronics and circuitry. the project I have in mind is for a wind turbine (albeit - a tiny one) or possibly an archemedies screw powered device. I have a motor that I can use to create a 'supply'.

I know i need a rectifier to turn the AC into DC and that with this rectifier its best for a capacitor to smooth it out. But from there im kind of lost.

I know I also need a charge controller as I wish to include a battery, however, I do not know how to pick the components so that it is suitable for the voltage and current I would like to power my battery and output (for example my phone charger) I found the following websites diagram for a charge controller using a 555:

http://www.mdpub.com/555Controller/images/555ChargeController.jpghttp://www.mdpub.com/555Controller/images/555ChargeController.jpg

However cannot see if it is going to be the right kind of voltage/current for my purpose and I am also slightly confused over whether this would work for my UK based self?

so in my head the circuit would go like this:

Motor -----> Rectifier ------> Charge controller ----------------> Socket -------> Load
............................................................ /---------> Battery ------->--/ .......................


is this right? Can anyone help me or point me in the right direction?

Greatest thanks in advance

 

[nLite]

So if I am understanding you correctly, you want to power a device that accepts DC input using a wind turbine.

Personally, I have found this document to be pretty useful on conversion of AC power to DC power:
http://www.physics.unlv.edu/~bill/PHYS483/power_supply_info.pdf
but it seems like your current design is already aligned with the suggestions outlined in that document.

You may want to consider testing out your motor to see what the amplitude of the AC voltage would be at typical wind conditions. You'll need a multimeter for this. It may also help to specify what type of motor you have or just post a picture of it because not all motors can be used as generators. Also, AC motors can be 2 phase or 3 phase which makes the circuitry a little more complex.

I'm not familiar with the operation of charge controller. For simplicity/prototyping, I would just use a voltage regulator instead. If you want a 5 VDC output, you'll want a 7805. If you want a 12 VDC output, then get a 7812, etc. However, keep in mind that most 7805's have a current limit of 1A and you should attach a heatsink if you're going to use one.

To charge a phone through USB you need a 5VDC power supply, and 1 A should be adequate. I don't know how the amperage compares to market USB chargers so your wind-powered charger may charge slower or faster.

Another downside to a voltage regulator is that it wastes some energy so a buck converter is a possible alternative to a voltage regulator. It does the same job but wastes less energy.