eco-friendly hacks implement one of two philosophies. The very first is über-technical, with extremely expensive, top notch components. The other side of this coin produces eco-friendly power out of junk. [Timot] obviously took the latter choice, building a windmill out of an old washing machine motor as well as a few bits of PVC.

The generator for the windmill is based on a Fisher as well as Paykel direct drive usually discovered in clothes washing machines, rewired to provide 12 Volts at low RPM. At high speeds, the generator can create 80 Volts, so a fee controller – even one based on a 555 chip – was an excellent addition.

For the other miscellaneous mechanical parts of the build, [Timot] cut the blades of the windmill out of 200 mm PVC pipe as well as sanded them down a bit for a much better aerodynamic profile. With a custom fiberglass spinner, [Timot] whipped up a extremely appealing power station that is able to provide about 20 watts in typical conditions as well as 600 watts when it’s extremely windy. Not sufficient to power a home by any type of means, however more than sufficient to fee a cellphone or run a laptop for a few hours out in the back country.