Here’s a video and build notes for a steam-powered battery charger.
For the most part we have all the power we could ever need from our small 600 Watt solar array and our 20′ diameter wind turbine, but on occasion I do need to run a generator and I always figured that a steam engine would be the most fun, plus… I don’t need to rely on petroleum – I have lots of wood all around me!
The engine is a 1903 C&BC 6 horsepower steam engine. I bought it at auction nearby (stole it) for less than $150. It’s in very good shape, I believe it’s been rebuilt and never run since. The boiler we got about a year later. I’m guessing it to be about a 4hp boiler. It was made by ‘The Look Out boiler company’ in 1940. It seems to be in good condition.