Step 5: Assemble the rotor
1. Connect the blade assembly shaft to the motor shaft.
2. Adjust the blades to the desired pitch angle.
Step 6: Set up the power
1. Connect the alligator clips directly to the motor leads.
2. Connect the other end of the alligator clips to voltage sensor
or a load (such as the LED, buzzer, or resistor).
💡
💡
TIP
You can try to modify your tower height for stability. The
shorter tower and smaller blades tend to keep the turbine well
balanced.
Lab activities
The following lab activities are available as PDF and SPARKlab files
at
. They are free to download and use
with SPARKvue.
• Energy Transformations
• What is Electricity?
• Solar Panel Performance
• Light and Solar Panels
• Load and Solar Panels
• Heat and Solar Panels
• Wind Power I: Distance and Speed
• Wind Power II: Blade Length, Number, and Pitch
• Power and Energy
• Power Curves
• Design an Efficient Turbine
Operation and tips
• A 20-inch box fan with three blades is recommended for
operation with the wind turbine. These fans are widely
available from department stores. Smaller fans may work but
are not optimal for use with the large blades or student
designed blades.
• The solar cell can be used with direct sunlight or a desk lamp.
Ambient indoor lighting may not be sufficient to perform the
lab experiments.
• Chipboard, cardboard, and balsa wood all make excellent
materials for student designed blades using the STEM
adapters.
• The LED turns red when the output voltage reaches 0.9 V and
green at 1.2 V.
✔
NOTE
Do not exceed 3 V. This will burn out the LED.
• Smaller blades produce power at higher pitch angles (20°–30°)
while larger blades can turn at lower pitch angles.
Renewable Energy Kit • SE-7611 | 3
