| Basics of Personal Wind Power |
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| Environment - Environment |
| Written by Brian Bradley |
| Saturday, 20 June 2009 09:22 |
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Do you want to be part of the green movement and start supplying yourself with power from the wind? You aren't the only one - now is the time to join in and use wind power to kick you power bill.
Do you want to be part of the green movement and start supplying yourself with power from the wind? You aren't the only one - now is the time to join in and use wind power to kick you power bill. There are several choices in using wind power to get rid of you electric company, the cheapest and quickest of which is to buy a wind turbine that has been manufactured for homeowners. A wind power generator that can power you whole house can run from $5000- $20000. This would give you a payoff of ten, maybe even fifteen years, given average power expenses. That might not be to bad, but if you want a better return and your the handy type you should consider building a wind power generator yourself. If you build carefully, you will see that you can produce the same results as the pre-made wind turbine, for an investment as low as $200. Youll need to put together the following materials to build your own wind turbine: * DC Power Motor * Sheets of metal (to assemble the body and tail) * ABS or PVC pipe (for turbine blades) * Hub (put together blades and motor) * Tower (to hold up your blades) * Deep-Cycle Battery (energy storage) * A charge controlled to prevent battery overload * Dump load (for excess power) * AC Inverter (if you need to use AC power) * Nuts and bolts (connects blades, hubs, and other pieces) * Tools: socket set, screwdrivers, a grinder, a jigsaw, and sandpaper Youll see that building your own wind turbine isnt as easy as putting together your own solar panel. Youll notice that this is due to the fact that the wind turbine is more mechanically complex. Though youre putting in more work, youll find that a wind turbine produces far more power than a solar panel. The power generation is about 300 to 500 watts from your own windmill, if everything is assembled correctly. With that kind of power generation, those electricity bills wont be high for long. Before you start any of this, be sure that your home is in an area where there is sufficient wind to justify a wind turbine. For best results, the wind should be about 10mph. If your house is near the ocean, in a mountainous region, or on open plains, youll have plenty of wind. If you are in an area with lots of trees and at low elevation, you may find less success. If it is the case that your home isnt ideal for the use of a wind turbine, consider solar panels, the next-best option! About the Author: Brian Bradley is the Founding Editor of DIY Clean Energy, the internet's top resource on personal wind power and how to build wind power. He blogs about his own success going green and removing himself from the grid. |