Hello, I am looking for a simple way to charge batteries from a wind turbine to power a few LED's. I'm not very good at electronics, but I assembled a circuit for NEMA 17 stepper motor that consists of a rectifier to convert the AC to DC and a regulator with a pot to regulate the voltage output. It seems to work as I can light up some LED's by spinning the stepper with my fingers, so the next step would be to store a charge in some batteries.
I have a broken iPad my son threw in a bucket of water that has some LIPO's I might be able to use, but I think it would be easier and safer to stick with some NiMH batteries and build a simple charger like this. What I'm not sure about is how this will work if the energy flow to charge the batteries is not consistent (no wind, no energy). My goal is to have some batteries charging whenever there's some energy generated by the wind, and have the LED's lit up at all times (unless the batteries run dry).
If anyone can help I'd appreciate it, but please keep in mind I'm no electrician.
I have a broken iPad my son threw in a bucket of water that has some LIPO's I might be able to use, but I think it would be easier and safer to stick with some NiMH batteries and build a simple charger like this. What I'm not sure about is how this will work if the energy flow to charge the batteries is not consistent (no wind, no energy). My goal is to have some batteries charging whenever there's some energy generated by the wind, and have the LED's lit up at all times (unless the batteries run dry).
If anyone can help I'd appreciate it, but please keep in mind I'm no electrician.