July 2021 | Think Globally Act Locally | Make a difference | Save the planet
Electricity is essential to the infrastructure of modern living. However, buring fossil fuels like coal and natural gas to generate electricity is not something we can continue to do.
The alternative is to make our own electricity.
As a DIY project it is perfectly possible to generate all your net electrical
needs for yourself. These projects also show children the logic and
facts behind energy production. We can hope that equipping the next
generation with knowledge can only benefit their futures.
Firstly here are five 'kitchen science' projects that generate tiny ammounts of electricity, before we get on to the more serius stuff.
A great demonstration of the physics behind solar cells.
This example is for demonstration only, showing how fuel cells work to produce electricity.
Generate electricity from fruit
A lovely little model turbine capable of generating 5 watts of power.
I am not sure of the ethics of using a hamster to generate electricity, but the page is worth looking at because of the detailed plans for making your own fixed magnet generator.
Moving up a notch, we can start to build toys that run on substantial ammounts of electricity.
A nice example of what you can do with shop bought solar pannels.
100 watts of power from a generator built almost entirely of wood in one day.
Then we move on to the real deal.
This wind turbine will supply a house with electricity. It is a truly astounding bit of DIY.
Here is another small but powerful wind generator. The instructions for this one are more detailed.