Wind Turbine Generator for Power Generation

Generator Design & Testing · 3D Printing · Wind Tunnel · Oscilloscope · Faraday's Law · Data Analysis

Completed small wind-driven generator on a wooden base with a red propeller, rotating coil, opposing neodymium magnets, 3D-printed supports, and brush contacts. — Team-built generator · rotating coilEnlarge image

This team-built wind generator converts propeller rotation into an observable electrical signal. An 80-turn copper coil rotates between opposing neodymium magnets, supported by a steel shaft, 3D-printed parts and a wooden base. Carbon brushes connect the rotating assembly to an oscilloscope.

We combined fabrication, mechanical adjustment and wind-tunnel testing. We reduced the magnet gap to increase flux linkage and adjusted the brush contacts during testing. I focused on generator design and testing, with construction, testing, analysis and reporting shared across the team.

Five reported observations show peak open-circuit AC EMF rising from 14.40 mV at 13.13 m/s to 66.80 mV at 31.00 m/s. The chart preserves those measured points. A simplified Faraday’s-law model helped interpret the trend, but its magnetic field and angular speed were assumed rather than measured. The oscilloscope record showed periodic, non-sinusoidal peaks.

Measured plot of peak open-circuit EMF across five wind speeds, rising from 14.40 millivolts at 13.13 meters per second to 66.80 millivolts at 31.00 meters per second. — Peak open-circuit EMF · five observationsEnlarge image

These are open-circuit voltage measurements, not delivered power or efficiency. Turbine RPM, loaded current and measurement uncertainty were not recorded, so wind speed is only a proxy for rotation.

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