MINI Wind Turbine
Instruction Manual
The MINI Wind Turbine
The MINI Wind Turbine wind turbine kits are perfect for demonstrating
how wind turbines function. They also allow you to perform experiemnts
with wind power. Check out all the kits at: www.KidWind.org/shop
The MINI Wind Turbine
The MINI Wind Turbine is an easy-to-build turbine that produces enough
electricity to power LED bulbs, a sound & light panel, and other load
devices.
The MINI Wind Turbine Blade Design kit
Be a blade engineer! With the KidWind MINI Blade Design kit you
will also be able to use your turbine to make and test blades that you
construct yourself. See what happens to wind turbine power output when
you change the number, pitch, and shape of the blades.
Why Study Wind Energy?
40,000
35,000
30,000
25,000
20,000
In 2009, wind power comprised 39% of all new energy installations
in the US. As investors and power producers look to build new power
infrastructure, they are choosing to build wind farms at an increasing rate.
Of our current electrical generation mix, about 2% of our energy is
produced by wind turbines. That is double what we had three years ago:
approximately 20,000 wind towers.
The current US wind power capacity of 36,700 MW is capable of
generating enough power for over 11 million US homes! Some industry
leaders believe that by the year 2030 we will get 15–20% of our energy
US annual and cumulative wind power capacity growth
Annual Capacity Additions
Cumulative Capacity
from the wind. Reaching this goal will take
great effort and lots of scientists, engineers,
and technicians.
The MINI Wind Turbine, and other KidWind
kits, will help you explore some of the science
and engineering behind the growing field of
wind power so you can one day help move
the US towards a sustainable energy future.
Capacity (MW)
15,000
10,000
5000
0
Source: US Department of Energy’s Wind Powering America
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Building the MINI Turbine
1. Unwrap the wires of your MINI nacelle and feed the wires down the
aluminum tower.
2. Feed the wires through the wooden base.
3. Insert the nacelle post into the end of the tower.
4. Slide the tower through the wooden base.
Unwrap wires and pass
them through the tower.
5. Feed the wires through the hole in the yellow cap and nsert the cap
into the end of the tower.
6. Stand up your MINI Turbine and push the red blade set onto the shaft
of the generator.
Converting to blade testing turbine
The MINI Wind Turbine Blade Design kit includes a 12-hole crimping hub
and blade materials. The KidWind Hub makes it easy to change blades
and try your own designs.
Pull off the red plastic blade set. The best way to do this is to pry it off
slowly using a screwdriver or something similar. Replace it with the
KidWind Hub and you are ready to make and test your own blades. See
page 10 for tips on how to make and test blades.
Connecting to Devices and Loads
KidWind MINI
Feed the wires through
the hole in the wooden
base.
Feed the wires through
the plastic plug and
insert it into the tower.
The MINI Wind Turbine comes with a sound & light panel that you can
connect to your turbine to demonstrate power output. Be sure to connect
red wires to red and black wires to black.
The MINI Wind Turbine can power a variety of electrical devices
beyond the included sound & light panel (especially if you build a mini
wind farm)!
For more fun experiments, try pumping water with the KidWind water
pump, electrolyzing water in a hydrogen fuel cell, or storing energy in a
super capacitor. You can also connect it to another DC motor, which
can spin a small propeller. All of these items can be found at
www.KidWind.org/shop
The MINI Wind Turbine Blade Design Kit
The MINI—Blade Design Kit comes with a simple multimeter so you
can quantify how much power your turbine generates. The following
directions will help you connect your MINI to the meter and record
voltage and amperage.
Stand up the tower and
attach the red blades
or the KidWind Hub.
Carefully remove blades, using a screwdriver to pry
against the motor.
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RESISTORS
Measuring voltage
Resistors are electrical components with a known resistance.
There is a standard system of colored bands to show what the
resistance of a resistor is.
The MINI Blade Design kit includes a 50 ohm resistor and a
100 ohm resistor.
Measuring DC Voltage Measuring Current
V
20
A
20
200
Attach the wires from the generator to the multimeter. Polarity is not
relevant at this point.
To check the voltage, select DC volt (V) and set the number to 20.
Place your turbine out in the wind or in front of a fan and let it spin. It is
normal for the voltage readings to fluctuate because of the inconsistent
nature of the wind or unbalanced blades.
Voltage is related to how fast the DC generator is spinning. The faster it
spins, the higher the voltage. With no load on the generator, it has little
resistance and can spin very fast.
You can measure voltage with no load, but it is more realistic to place
a resistor in the circuit and measure the voltage across the resistor. We
commonly use 10, 30, 50 or 100 ohm resistors.
Measuring amperage
To calculate your turbine’s power output, you will need to measure current
as well. When measuring current you are monitoring how many electrons
are being pushed through the wire by the turbine. We measure current
from our turbine in milliAmperes.1A =1000 mA.
Resistor
To measure current, place a load in series with the multimeter so the
generator is forced to do some work. Set the meter to 200 or 20 mA,
which is a typical range for our devices.
The current that your turbine produces depends on the load placed in the
circuit and the torque your blades are generating.
Voltage, Resistance and Currant
Voltage (measured in volts), is also called “potential difference” or
“electromotive force” (EMF). It is a measure of the amount of “potential
energy” available to make electricity flow in a circuit. It is the electric
“pressure” causing the current to flow.
Electric current is a measure of the rate at which electric charge
(electrons) are flowing through a circuit. It is given in the unit of amperes
(“amps”). Smaller amounts of current are often stated in milliAmps (mA). A
mA is 1⁄1000 of an amp.
Electrical resistance is the opposition to the flow of electricity. Measured
in ohms, it reflects how much electric “pressure” (voltage) is required to
push a given amount of current through part of an electric circuit.
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To measure the power your turbine is producing, you need to do some
math with these values (see page 12).
Experiments for your MINI Turbine
The MINI Wind Turbine was designed to demonstrate wind power
technology while helping you do some simple experiments!
Graph your Data
Experiment 1: changing wind speed
This experiment can be done with the red blade set or your homemade
blades using the crimping hub. Place the turbine about three feet in front
of a fan, and turn it on high. What happens when you turn the fan to
medium or low? Does the LED bulb light up at any wind speed?
Now leave the fan on medium and move your turbine away from the fan
by about a foot. Continue moving the turbine away from the fan, one foot
at a time, until the LED bulb no longer works. How far away can you get?
Why is the turbine unable to power the light bulb as you back away from
the fan?
The KidWind MINI—Blade Design includes a multimeter. What happens
to the voltage or current as you move your turbine further from the fan, or
decrease the wind speed?
Experiment 2: blade design
The amount of power your turbine can produce depends on blade
efficiency. To build efficient blades, you must capture the wind and
reduce drag as they spin around. Blade design experiments are a fun
and engaging way to explore how design affects power production.
The blades on modern turbines “capture” the wind and use it to rotate the
drive shaft of a generator. How well you design and orient your blades
can greatly impact how fast the blades spin and how much power your
turbine produces.
If you are doing this for a science fair or school project, you should focus
on just one of these variables at a time, as your results can get confusing
quite quickly.
V
Wind speed
a
Wind speed
Try graphing the relationship between voltage and
wind speed or amperage and wind speed.
CONNECTING WIRES
To make an electrical circuit, the conductive metal wires of each
element must be in direct contact with those of the next. Make
sure the ends of the wires are stripped, then connect them with
clip cords or by twisting them together.
You can do a lot of great experiments by isolating blade variables and
examining how they affect the power output of your turbine. Try these
variables to get started:
• blade pitch (angle)
• blade size
• blade shape
• number of blades
• blade materials
CAN YOU BEAT THE ENGINEERS?
The red blade set is designed to be very efficient. If you are
able to design a blade set that is better than our red blades, we
want to hear about it! Send us a note at www.KidWind.org.
After attaching your new blades, try to light the LED bulb or measure your
voltage, current, or power with a multimeter. How has the efficiency of
your turbine changed? Try a few blade designs to learn what makes
blades more efficient.
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