Homemade Windmill in Malawi

William Kamkwamba of Mastala VillageA young man has created a windmill out of spare parts in Malawi.

William Kamkwamba says one day while reading he came across two books, Using Energy and How it Works, which are about generation of electricity using a windmill.

On a trial and error basis, he managed to make a small windmill which generated electricity enough to light his dorm. Seeing its success he planned for a bigger one so that his parents could benefit and some well-wishers gave him money to get some of the materials he needed.

In total, he spent a total of 2200 Malawi Kwachas, which is equivalent to $16. William is saving his family money on home lighting expenses, recharges people’s mobile phones and radio batteries, and also charges his own automobile battery for backup power.

Unlike most windmills, where the propellers turn the spindle connected to the turbines directly, William added pulleys to his machine to increase speed thereby generating more energy.

There are three pulleys and the last is connected to a bicycle wheel. When this wheel turns, it spins a dynamo which in turn generates electricity.

Homemade Windmill Malawi

Story Link (via Hacktivate)

Author: Erik Hersman

Erik is the owner of White African, a blog about technology and Africa. He is the co-founder of Zangu, a new web and mobile phone application that he hopes will change communication in Africa. AfriGadget is another web project of his, not that he doesn't have enough of those already...

68 thoughts on “Homemade Windmill in Malawi”

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  8. This is amazing. Has someone offered to pay for this young man to go back to school? Such ingenuity shouldn’t be allowed to sag into disillusionment.

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  10. I am looking for advice on how to build a windmill in Masaka Uganda to pump water from a well for a village. They have an electric pump but the electicity only works a few days a week. Can anyone advise me?

  11. I Also want to know what items are requiered to make the homemade windmill, How to Connect &
    how to produce electricity.

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  14. I know of many US windfarms that are about to undergo equipment replacement. Is there an opportunity to have older generation turbines shipped at cost to developing nations in Africa?

    There may be organizations willing to take on such a venture.

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