Design and testing of a small human-powered generator for developing rural communities

Access to reliable electricity remains unavailable to approximately one fifth of the world's population, with a disproportionate concentration of these people living in developing or rural communities. This paper describes the design, construction and testing of a small human-powered generator for electrical energy conversion in developing rural communities. The generator is designed to provide small amounts of electrical power in the range of 1-10 W so that electronic devices such as Light Emitting Diode lamps, cellular phones and radios-all of which are becoming increasingly common in rural communities-can be used. A permanent magnet axial flux generator is determined to be most suitable for this application. The designed generator is unique in that it it can be constructed using locally available materials and lay manufacturing processes. Theoretical and circuit models of the generator are developed. Laboratory test results, culminating in a proof-of-concept test on a cellular phone from Zambia, are provided.