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A while back, a Discover Circuits
visitor wanted a simply way to demonstrate how electricity could be generated from the
up and down movement of ocean waves. The system was to be part of a science fair
project, showing different renewable energy sources. I gave this some thought and
came up with the system shown below. It uses a simple plastic foam float attached to a
lever arm, which is connected to the shaft of an inexpensive stepper motor, available
from
www.jameco.com. The AC voltage output of the stepper motor was connected to a few
Schottky diodes to convert the signal to DC. When properly mounted in a tank of
water, the motion of a wave in the tank causes the shaft of the stepper motor to move.
That movement produces enough electricity to turn on the visible red LED. |
