Windmill Electricity

Purpose/Problem: Can a windmill generate enough power to charge a battery?

Hypothesis: If the windmill is spinning longer then you will get a better time to charge
a battery because the windmill will generate more energy that will charge the battery
faster.
Materials:
Thames & Cosmos Wind Power Kit
Fan
3 dead rechargeable batteries
Background:
We are building a windmill that generates power to charge a battery. Wind
power is the conversion of the energy in wind into a more useful form of energy. Like
electricity it is a renewable source of energy that helps to cut down on the pollution of
Earths air. When the wind blows, the blades on the windmill turn. This makes a turbine
spin inside a generator and that is what makes electricity.
A single windmill can only make a little energy, enough for a few machines or to
charge a single battery. Power companies build wind farms with lots of wind turbines to
make enough energy. Wind farms have to be built in flat areas where the wind is at least
14 mph. A windmill is the opposite of a fan. Instead of using electricity to make wind,
windmills use wind to make electricity. Wind energy is a way to help make the world a
better place.

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Procedures:
First, you will need a windmill kit
Next, read the instructions and start building
Attach the battery cartridge and insert a dead rechargeable battery
Test that the battery is dead by crossing the wires (connect red to blue), if the
windmill does not spin your batteries are dead and you can continue
Connect the wires red-red and blue-blue
Take the windmill outside and let the wind spin it to generate the power. (If its not
windy outside use a fan to blow on it)
Measure the time your fan spins
Switch the wires to see if the battery will now power the fan so you know it
worked
Record how long the battery powers the windmill as a fan
10. Repeat steps 2-10 using a different (dead) battery each time
Observations/Data:

Trial 1

Trial 2

Trial 3

Time Spinning
(as a windmill)

10 min

20 min

30 min

Time Spinning
(as a fan)

2:03

4:05

6:08

0.57%

1.13%

1.70%

Percent of Battery
Charged
*Using a 6 hour battery
(minutes/360 x 100)

It takes about 4.88 minutes of spinning as a windmill to generate 1 minute of fan power.

Conclusion:
A windmill can generate enough power to charge a battery. If the windmill is
spinning longer then you will get a better time to charge a battery because the windmill
will generate more energy that will charge the battery longer.
The data supported our hypothesis because the longer it was spinning the longer it
charged, and the longer the windmill was able to run as a fan. A pattern I noticed in the
data is that the longer we ran the windmill, the longer the battery was able to last. We
were only able to charge 1.70% of the battery. We would need to run the windmill for
about 30 hours in order to fully charge the battery.
A problem that occurred in the lab was that it wasnt windy outside so we had to
use a fan. Also we couldnt really tell if it was working until we switched the wires so that
the battery was powering the fan. However, the fan spun so we knew the battery had
charged. Next time I would do the project on a windy day instead of using a fan. This
was not an efficient way to charge the battery because it would take over a day of
charging with the windmill just to get six hours of battery power. Using more windmills
would probably help charge it faster.
In conclusion, this experiment is important because it helps cut down pollution,
which makes Earth a better place to live in. Batteries can be charged using wind power
and then stored for use when it is not windy. It is another form of alternative energy,
like solar power.

Bibliography
1. Kamkwamba, William, and Bryan Mealer. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind:
Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope. New York, NY: William Morrow, 2009.
Print.N.p., n.d.
2. Web. 16 Oct. 2014. <http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv
%3D3pwPDj9H2mk>.
3. "AE Kids : Wind Power." AE Kids : Wind Power. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Feb. 2015.

<http://www.alliantenergykids.com/energyandtheenvironment/renewableenergy/0
22397>.