Received a request for a book on how to build your own power
source and how to construct your own solar cells, so found
the following that might be of use to others;
The Homebuilt Dynamo (book - $50 from England)
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/jemmett/hmedynamo2.html
This book is a picture-diary of how we build our dynamo,
with some practical information and advice along the way for
anyone following our steps. You will appreciate my wife
Julia's invaluable help in translating my text into
understandable English.
The Homebuilt Dynamo is not another "do-it-yourself" book,
it is simply a careful diary with photographs, detailed
working drawings, and text of how I build myself a low
speed, low voltage, three phase permanent magnet alternator
with internal rectifier diodes which make, in effect, a
direct current generator. To avoid that last longwinded
description, I have substituted the word "dynamo" which,
anyway, I hate to see disappear from the language.
The reader may well ask: why all the fuss over a low speed
machine when mass-produced car and truck alternators are
available at very reasonable cost? Well, the answer to that
is that the alternative power sources such as small
windmills, water turbines, and steam engines have speeds in
the 100 to 800 range of RPM. To match the power source
generally available to these high-speed machines requires
expensive high ratio gearing or a complicated maze of belts
and pulleys which aren't very energy efficient and require
frequent maintenance.
-----------------------
Noons - How to build a Solar Cell
http://townchat.com/y2k/bbs/gen/msg/236.html
Solar cells can be made out of cuprous oxide. Here is the
process briefly:
Use a sheet of copper (.025" thick), It should be in the
shape of a circle cut out of a square, with one corner of
the square left.
step 1. Clean the copper sheet very thoughly, it may be
necessary to use nitric acid.
step 2. Heat the copper red hot. Use a propane torch, and
make sure it is heated red all over.
Keep the torch on one side of the cell, do not let the flame
touch the other side.
Keep it red for a 2 min 40 sec.
This will cause two types of copper oxide to form on the
side away from the flame.
Cupric oxide is the black flaky stuff that forms. Under this
is pinkish cuprous oxide.
LIGHTLY rub the cell with coarse steel wool to remove the
cupric oxide. Be sure not to damage the cuprous oxide.
If the whole side of the cell is not covered, repeat the
process. If it is not covered with cuprous oxide on the
edges, just cut off the edges.
Step 34. Cover the side with the cuprous oxide with a
silvering solution. (so there is a transparent film covering
the oxide).
Solder a wire to the back (copper side) and another wire to
the front (silvered
side). The cell is now done, and will produce electricity
when exposed to light
This is an overview of the method described in the book "How
to Build a Solar Cell That Really Works" by Walt Noon. It is
published by Lindasy Publications
http://www.lindsaybks.com/prod/inv/index.html
Author - Title Cat.# Price
Noon Solar Cell 819 $4.95
------------------------
You might also like to try this very simple, easy to build
generator based on a Savonius Rotor, courtesy of Geoff Egel
(who by the way has EXCELLENT PAGES OF USEFUL AND FREE
INFORMATION, DEFINITELY WORTH A DONATION!!);
http://users.mildura.net.au/users/egel/content7.htm
small Savonius rotor;
http://angelfire.com/ak/egel/savonius.html
This wind turbine cost nothing virtually nothing to make and
can produce enough power for small applications. There are
many situations where you might need a small amount of
electricity, for instance running gate openers, safety
lights, water level indicators and other low-power devices.
While solar would seem like the ideal solution, quite often
this is not possible due to location and shading problems.
-----------------------
more on the Savonius;
http://www.yonderway.com/rural/modified_savonius_rotor.shtml
The rotor looks sort of like two ice cream cones, one
inverted on the other, and both rotating about a common
axis. More accurately, this shape is produced by "pinching"
the cylinder ends of a Savonius rotor to form oblique conic
sections. This triangularization of the basic Savonius shape
improves the strength to weight ratio in the moving rotor.
---
KeelyNet - From an Art to a Science
Jerry W. Decker - http://www.keelynet.com/
discussion archives http://www.escribe.com/science/keelynet/
KeelyNet - PO BOX 870716 - Mesquite, TX 75187 - 214.324.8741
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