William Kamkwamba's homemade wind turbine
Aerogenerador casero de William Kamkwamba
- Date
- 2002 · confidence high
- Place
- Wimbe, Kasungu, Malawi
- Credited to
- William Kamkwamba
- Field
- Matter & energy
What it is
At 14, during a famine, William Kamkwamba built with scrap (PVC pipes, a bicycle dynamo, gum wood) a windmill that powered lights and a radio in his home. His story opened a path in engineering.
His turbine was very low power; its merit is the self-construction from a book in the local library.
What it led to
- the book and film The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
- energy and irrigation projects in Malawian villages
- an example of low-cost innovation