Greengineering+Club+Projects

Current Project: Windmill charging station
Challenge: How can we build a windmill that people can use to charge their cell phones, while using only re-engineered materials that we find/scavenge/hack?


 * Concepts involved:**
 * Material re-engineering (cradle-to-cradle design thinking)
 * Alternative power
 * Community action
 * The Hacking/Maker culture


 * Evolution of the design**: Our first thought was to use a fan as a template, because the shape is similar to a windmill. But, its area was small, so we used cardboard blades to keep its curved shape, while being able to capture more wind.



Unfortunately, our goal is to have the windmill produce 5 volts. So far, it's only producing half that. We decided to try a new material, plastic bottles. We use a laminating press to apply pressure to the plastic bottles, while also heating them up to make them more malleable. This creates a small but stiff sheet of plastic. We are trying to fuse several of these togther into a sheet, which can then be crafted into a blade. This solves two problems that cardboard had: one, that it was too easy to bend out of the curved shape, and two that it was susceptible to water damage. While flattening simple plastic bottles, some people had the idea of stuffing them with the plastic bags that we already use: