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Hello,
I am a tenth grader interested in building a solar/wind power hybrid. The hybrid will consist of a wind turbine that has solar panels connected to the blades. The tower of the wind turbine will be adjustable and the top of the turbine with the solar panels will follow the sun. I don’t know where to start or how to build it. Please help!
Thank you for taking time out of your day to read this!
I need help building my science fair project
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deleted-519145
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deleted-362338
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Re: I need help building my science fair project
Hello Manarzoulfikar,
That's a fascinating idea! To start, I would suggest looking up the procedures behind building each part of the hybrid model (i.e. just a wind turbine, just a circuit using a solar panel, etc.).
Popular Mechanics has a helpful article on how to build a small wind turbine:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science ... d-turbine/
Here is an article on how to create a simple circuit using solar panels:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Simple-Solar-Circuits/
Afterwards, try to find a way to attach the solar panels to the wind turbine so that the wires do not get tangled and the turbine blades do not become too heavy. This may involve attaching the panels to a different part of the turbine seeing that the speed the blades rotate may have an effect on the amount of power generated.
For the turbine to track the sun, I found this link: https://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino-Solar-Tracker/
I advise that you are careful when building the turbine as you are working with electricity. Good luck and feel free to write back with more questions!
That's a fascinating idea! To start, I would suggest looking up the procedures behind building each part of the hybrid model (i.e. just a wind turbine, just a circuit using a solar panel, etc.).
Popular Mechanics has a helpful article on how to build a small wind turbine:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science ... d-turbine/
Here is an article on how to create a simple circuit using solar panels:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Simple-Solar-Circuits/
Afterwards, try to find a way to attach the solar panels to the wind turbine so that the wires do not get tangled and the turbine blades do not become too heavy. This may involve attaching the panels to a different part of the turbine seeing that the speed the blades rotate may have an effect on the amount of power generated.
For the turbine to track the sun, I found this link: https://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino-Solar-Tracker/
I advise that you are careful when building the turbine as you are working with electricity. Good luck and feel free to write back with more questions!
Stephanie Bie
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deleted-424657
- Former Expert
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Re: I need help building my science fair project
Hello!
This sounds like an interesting project! Here's some cool background information on the advances of solar/wind power:
[http://www.tuvie.com/solar-powered-wind ... ar-blades/]
One thing that you will have to keep in mind when building this solar/wind turbine is how the solar panels will affect the turbine's ability to rotate, assuming you want to put the solar panels on the blades. Think about how big your blades will be and the angle it's placed as well. Although this turbine is made of paper, here's a good place to idea of what the structure of your wind turbine should look like:
https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/vi ... 20-minutes
Let me know if you have any more questions!
This sounds like an interesting project! Here's some cool background information on the advances of solar/wind power:
[http://www.tuvie.com/solar-powered-wind ... ar-blades/]
One thing that you will have to keep in mind when building this solar/wind turbine is how the solar panels will affect the turbine's ability to rotate, assuming you want to put the solar panels on the blades. Think about how big your blades will be and the angle it's placed as well. Although this turbine is made of paper, here's a good place to idea of what the structure of your wind turbine should look like:
https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/vi ... 20-minutes
Let me know if you have any more questions!