The study was conducted to investigate the possibility of using an electric bicycle motor as an electricity generator combined with a small wind turbine. Wind energy is one type of renewable energy that does not cause pollution. In Thailand, the studies of wind energy application to generate electricity have been promoted. Nowadays, there are many small and medium wind turbines used for electricity generation in buildings, houses, and small communities. This project took 48 volts, 1,000-watt electric bicycle motor to apply to make a saline county wind turbine to generate electricity. The turbine consisted of 6 rotor blades. Each blade was 1.5 meters long and was made from 150 x 130-centimeter synthetic fabrics. A rotor of the turbine was connected with a rotor of the electric bicycle motor through a 1:7.5 gearbox to increase the rotational speed of the electric bicycle motor. The experiment found that the invented saline county wind turbine started rotating at the wind speed of 1.5 m/s and generated 3 phases of AC voltage. The average voltage in each phase was 6 volts at the rotational speed of 60-80 rpm. As seen from the test, at the maximum wind speed of 4.7 m/s, 11-12 volts of AC voltage in a single phase was produced with the approximate 130-140 rpm rotational speed of the motor. When connecting the generated AC voltage to rectifier and filter circuits to convert it into DC voltage for battery charging purposes, the maximum wind speed at 4.7 m/s generated approximately 15-16 volts of DC voltage. This capacity was sufficient for 12-volt battery charging in real use.

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N. Semsri., C. Torasa., K. Samerjai., M. Suksombat and P. Sinpeng, “Electricity-generating wind turbine from electric bicycle motor,” International Journal of Technology and Engineering Studies, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 101-109, 2016.