Wind blows power to the people

Aaron Clarkson and Tristan Farnworth with their scale-model wind turbine. Picture / Greg Bowker

The answer to power needs of impoverished communities around the world could be blowing in the wind.

Two Auckland University students have created a small-scale wind turbine using home-made blades and the motor from a Fisher & Paykel washing machine - a prototype which their supervisor hopes could spawn a generation of inexpensive power generators providing electricity to remote villages in developing countries.

Standing three metres high, the prototype was designed by mechanical engineering students Aaron Clarkson and Tristan Farnworth as a final year project.

The idea came from their lecturer, Associate Professor Peter Richards, who is involved in the charity, Peace and Hope Trust, which looks at providing relief and development in Nicaragua.

The pair started working on the project in March, armed with the brief of designing a cheaper alternative than commercially produced micro turbines, using materials easily found in a developing country.

Commercially produced turbines retail for around US$2000 (NZ$3033) and perform best when wind speed is consistently high. The Auckland prototype, meanwhile, cost $400 to make, and generates about 600 watts per hour in 28km/h winds - enough to provide emergency radio capacity and power electric lights.

"It's going to give them some independence," said Mr Farnworth.

He expected the washing machine motor to last for some time, while replacement rotor blades could easily be fashioned out of wood and fabric. Used car parts can also double for some components, enabling remote communities to keep their turbines running. "This is pretty much backyard technology - we're basically giving them the know-how," said Mr Clarkson.

The pair are still working on improving the design, in particular on a furling system which will stabilise blade rotation speed.

Professor Richards is considering taking the concept with him when he heads to Nicaragua again next year. A hurricane had destroyed one of the two commercially produced turbines set up by the trust last year.

The concept had merit in places where there was no mains electricity supply, he said.