For my final project, I’m planning on making a small-scale wind turbine with a base. I will incorporate a minimalist aesthetic similar to any other wind turbine. I believe a minimalist aesthetic will have a clean/refined finish. This will be accomplished by using one primary color(white) to coat the entire structure. The blades for the turbine will probably be purchased if I am able to find any blades online that fit an induction motor really well. If this cannot be accomplished, my next plan of action will be to make the blades by cutting out PVC pipe since that seems to have the curvature I would need for the blades. I’ve made a simple Solidworks model of the blades below.

For the motor, obviously having a high torque motor will give more power output, but since those are really big and hard to mount, I will try to look for ones that are reasonably sized and also can produce enough power. For this phase of the project, I won’t do too much with the power I get out of the turbine, but I definitely plan on making future advancements that eventually will allow me to be able to charge my phone or light up some lights without burning them out. This will require significantly more electrical work such as attaching an inverter/capacitor which is why for the final project this portion will be set aside.

On top of the motor and the blades, I also need a base for the turbine to stand on. Initially, I was planning on making this out of wood and painting the wood white to match the aesthetic of the entire system, but as I did more research, it seemed more practical to build a base out of PVC piping instead since PVC doesn’t require any kind of special coat for the outside weather and it doesn’t need much cutting(ideally can join different sized pipes together to form a rigid base).

PVC Pipe

Motor