DIY Wind Turbine Gets a 3-Phase Rectifier
[Electronoobs] is using some brushless motors to make a DIY wind turbine. His recent video isn’t about the turbine itself, but a crucial electronic part: the three-phase rectifier. The reason it is so important is due to the use of brushless motors. Normal motors are not ideal for generating power for several reasons, as explained in the video below.
The brushless motors have three windings and generate three outputs, each out of phase with the others. You can’t just join them together because they are 120 degrees out of phase. But a special rectifier can merge the inputs efficiently and output a low-ripple DC voltage.
The rectifier will have to handle a lot of power, so it uses beefy devices with heat sinks. The design is very similar to a full-wave bridge rectifier, but instead of two legs, each with two diodes, this one has three legs. This is still not as efficient as you would like. A synchronous rectifier would be even more efficient but also more complicated.
Still, we have no doubt the board will do its job. We’re anxious to see the turbine come together. Want to build your own? Maybe start smaller. Too big? You can strip it down even further.
youtube.com/embed/4hBOTZeXqbc?…
hackaday.com/2025/08/14/diy-wi…
