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So I've been looking at various methods of electricity generation for a while now and I've decided at some point I actually want to try things out but I need to find better information about it all so I can actually do it. Do you guys have any sites or bits of information you'd recommend? Even school couldn't fuck up learning the basics of electricity for me so I at least know about the basics but when it comes to actually assembling and building generators I'm a bit stumped because lessons never went into that much detail.

The most I've been able to find are some simple wind generators which use magnets, copper wire and a bit of plastic or there are those stupid school ones that don't explain anything properly or do a really half-assed job of it. I'm actually thinking in a slightly bigger scale than that, I'm not looking to power up a light bulb or anything I was hoping I'd be able to experiment and figure out how general electricity generation worked and maybe even use something to power up my computer.

I may well end up with nothing, but it sure would be nice to come close or at least detach certain electric run stuff off the grid to save money, like an air conditioner trolololol :D

On Youtube you can find lots of step by step video guides, tests and many useful links between the comments.

I need to find good stuff though :P I suppose I'll have to sift through more of it :D too much of it is "Make your own generator out of cardboard!" type stuff or those generator kit scams which is useless for the amount of electricity I want to generate.

Now THIS one looks like the most interesting website I've found so far, it's not just cardboard and stuff but actually shows you how to build all kinds of generators from scratch ( quite literally ) I may not be able to grab bits of metal and put it together like I want to but this should give me a general idea of how these things are assembled.

http://www.scraptopower.co.uk/home

Now if only I could find more stuff on how to make my own solar panels :D

Edit: Much better: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTzE-9W7Tus

Solar Panel cost is continually headed downward, and a wind generator can be home built I've heard.

Building a generator is easy. Building an efficient generator is hard.

If you just want a generator to play with, get a car alternator. They're efficient generators and very cheap. Junkyards have lots of them. Hook one up to a bicycle and you can generate about 60 watts. Here's an article in Mother Earth (http://www.motherearthnews.com/renewable-energy/bicycle-generator-zmaz81mazraw.aspx) from 1981.

60 watts wasn't much in 1981, but today you can get a lot of LED lighting out of 60 watts.

I want to be more ambitious than that and I don't want to use anything pre-built I don't care about it easy because this is a long term thing I've always wanted to try :D I'm hoping I can make something that will power up my computer by itself or air conditioning etc. none of this silly 'power a lightbulb' crap that's posted around everywhere.

OK. Here's the MIT online course in rotating electrical machines. (http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-685-electric-machines-fall-2005/index.htm)