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