Home Garden

How to Make a Hook Up for the Wires to a PVC Windmill

Hooking up the wires from the generator of a PVC windmill to the rest of your renewable energy system can be quite tricky based on your windmill's maximum output potential. In addition to sizing up the wire size necessary for your system, it's also important to make a detailed plan for laying out the remaining components of the RE system as well as making a plan for how you are going to use your wind-generated electricity.

Things You'll Need

  • 12 gauge AWG cable
  • 8 gauge AWG cable
  • Wire strippers
  • Screw driver
  • Soldering iron
  • Charge controller
  • Dump load
  • Battery cables
  • Deep cycle batteries
  • Power inverter
  • Extension cord
  • Power strip
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Strip one-quarter-inch of the primary cable using a pair of wire strippers and connect it to your wind turbine with a screwdriver. Most turbines should have screw-in connectors for the exposed wires.

    • 2

      Cover the primary cable with a conduit sleeve or use a heavier duty wire cable, which is used for underground or moist conditions, such as UF cable. Solder the neutral and ground conductors found within the cable to the body of the turbine or to the turbine's tower. For extra protection, slide the 12 gauge AWG cable through a PVC pipe section.

    • 3

      Run the 12 gauge cable to a charge controller, which must be used to redirect the electricity generated by your wind turbine.

    • 4

      Strip the ends of the 12 gauge cable and connect the stripped ends to the charge controller's input terminals using a screwdriver. Gently tug on the wires to ensure they are tightened properly.

    • 5

      Connect the deep cycle batteries into a series circuit configuration using specialized battery cable connections that tighten onto the terminals with a screwdriver. The series configuration connects the positive terminal of one battery is connected to the negative terminal of its adjacent battery. This pattern is repeated until all batteries are connected.

    • 6

      Strip the ends of size 8 gauge cable and connect the stripped ends to the charge controller's primary output terminals using a screwdriver. Gently tug on the wires to ensure they are tightened properly.

    • 7

      Solder the other end of the charge controller's primary output 8 gauge cable to a battery terminal eyelet and screw it onto a positive terminal of a deep cycle battery. Hold the soldering iron to the exposed wires until the metal in the wires begins to soften. Holding the softened wire ends to the eyelet, touch solder to the tip of the soldering iron, allowing it to melt and cover the exposed wired ends.

    • 8

      Strip the ends of size 8 gauge cable and connect the stripped ends to the charge controller's secondary output terminals using a screwdriver. Gently tug on the wires to ensure they are tightened properly.

    • 9

      Strip the ends of the wire the coming from the charge controller's secondary output to a dump load, which discharges excess electricity produced by your system into a heat sink. The dump load should have screw-in connections for the stripped wire ends.

    • 10

      Connect stripped ends of a battery cable to a charge controller using a screwdriver. Connect the battery bank to a power inverter, which converts the direct current from the batteries into alternating current, which can be used by home appliances. Alternatively, if you are not using a battery bank, you can connect the charge controller to a power inverter.

    • 11

      Connect whichever home appliances to your power inverter for use when your wind turbine system is generating electricity. Alternatively, if you are using a battery bank, you can plug in appliances whenever you want to use the electricity produced by the turbine. You can also use an extension cord and power strip to connect your appliances to your power inverter.