Item Number: WSP
This is a 1/250th scale model, so if you stacked about 250 of them on top
of each other, they'd be about as tall as the real thing! It is powered by
a solar panel located on it's base. When the sun shines "the windmill
turns at 18 rpm", according to the manufacturer. We've found it can turn
anywhere from slow, slow, slow to REALLY FAST, depending on how much sun
it is getting. It does need to have pretty direct sun to work. The closer
to 90 degrees the sunlight is to the solar panel, the faster it goes.
I have one at home on my south-facing window sill, and when the sun gets
up above a certain point, it starts going. Nice! This is a fun little item
to play with at work when you should be doing more important things.
Unfortunately all of the windows at my work face north, so I can't really
get one going there.
It seems a little ironic that solar power is used to turn this windmill's
rotor, and the way the blades are made, no amount of wind would ever turn
them. That said, it is still a nifty piece to demonstrate solar power to
kids and introduce how photovoltaic materials convert solar radiation into
direct current electricity. In assembling it (the assembly is simple and
quick, perhaps 5 minutes at most if you take your time) it's clear how the
parts relate -- the wires go from the solar panel up to the DC motor which
turns the rotor. Affect of the angle of the sun to a solar panel becomes
obvious when moving it about. When you block the sun with your hand the
rotor comes to a stop, and if you block it only partially the rotor slows
down.
The Solar Windmill is 10.25" from table to top of nacelle, the rotor is
8.5" in diameter, and the overall height is 14". The nacelle can rotate.
The solar panel is 2.5" x 2.25". The Solar Windmill ships disassembled so
it is less costly to ship. Assembly is simple and quick, perhaps 5 minutes
at most if you take your time, and requires not no special skills or any
tools. An illustrated instruction sheet and an illustrated historical and
contemporary windmill information sheet are included with every Solar
Windmill.
Only $24.95 USD
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