Your Questions About Windmill Generator

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Horsepower (hp) is the name of several non-metric units of power. In scientific discourse, the term “horsepower” is rarely used because of its various definitions and the existence of an SI unit for power, the watt (W). However, use of the term “horsepower” persists as a legacy in many languages and industries, particularly in the automotive industry because of their continued advertising of maximum power output of internal-combustion engines in “horsepower” units of measurement.

There are two important factors to consider when evaluating the measurement of “horsepower”:

The various definitions of the “horsepower” unit itself
The various standards used in measuring the value of “horsepower”
These factors can be combined in unexpected ways — the power output for an engine rated at “100 horsepower” might not be what a reader expects. For this reason, various groups have attempted to standardize not only the definition of “horsepower” but the measurement of “horsepower.” In the interim, more confusion may surface. In contrast, the watt, defined by the International System of Units (“SI”), is not encumbered by varying definitions.

That said, if your intent is to physically test a mechanical windmill device for its horsepower capacity, you are testing mechanical horsepower. Obviously the wind speed will affect your outcome, I’ll let you do what you want with that. If you can attach a known weight to the windmill so that it will lift the weight a measurable vertical distance, and you have a reasonably accurate stop-watch, you can calculate the horsepower output of your windmill. One horsepower is defined as power equivalent of lifting 550 pounds a vertical distance of one foot in one second. So if you tied one end of a rope to a 550 pound weight, suspended the rope over a pulley, and tied the other end to a horse, and the horse was able to lift that weight one foot in one second, he would be capable of generating one horsepower. Or if a 220 pound man can run up a 5 foot (vertical) staircase in two seconds he is generating one horsepower.
Here’s the formula:
W = weight(pounds), D = distance(feet), T = time(seconds)
Horsepower = WD/(550T)

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Variable pitch blades varied by governor

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The basic concept is that you need a turbine and a generator. The easiest way to get these objects would be to use a fan blade as the turbine and a DC motor as a generator. Basically you can use any DC electric fan for this. Spin the fan blade by blowing another fan against it. Use a multimeter (or voltmeter/current meter) to determine if you are creating a voltage or current at the two poles of the motor (where the wires connect). If you are getting a reading on the voltmeter, you have just produced electricity by using wind power.

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If it is purely wind-powered, then a generator cannot keep running at a constant speed forever. However, a large flywheel can retain enough rotational energy to keep a generator running at a constant level for up to five minutes or so. The windmill would get the flywheel into some rotational speed limit, gearing would keep the output speed more or less constant as the flywheel rotates faster due to higher wind speeds, or slower due to diminished winds. The gearing could be as simple as a basic transmission — they have these for bicycles and are automatic, changing gears based on speed.

There you go.

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Are you looking for specifics or just the idea? A tumble dryer has a motor that turns a shaft. In a dryer it turns the cylinder in which the cloths sit and hot air is blown through the cylinder to dry the clothes. You could take the motor and rotational shaft, attach it to a longer shaft and fix the blades of the windmill to the end.

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Don’t be put off by the idea that the generator is designed to operate at high speed. In fact the automobile alternator is designed to operate at variable speeds and with proper excitation (even self excitation) will be useful at modest rpm. My generator had its armature magnetized by allowing it to produce 50 volts.for a short period of time which made it self exciting.

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Holland they have lots of windmill stuff

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Northerntools.com; Home Depot.com

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If it is on the seashore the normal failure mode would be salt contamination causing insulation degradation at the generator end. Once the electricity has made a “carbonised track” across the insulation, it effectively is in self-destruct mode and oly a matter of time till it fails. You may noticed voltage dips on the generator load at this time.
Options – have a regular cleaning schedule or better sealing to prevent salt water from entering the generator innards.
As no circuit breaker is at the generator terminals, there is nothing to trip.
PS – spray from normal lake also will cause problems but takes longer because of lower amount of minerals dissolved in it.