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Posts Tagged ‘wind energy’

The energy supplies in the earth are gradually being used up and it’s becoming more and more important to find and use alternative energy sources for industrial and domestic use. It’s no wonder that so many families are choosing to use home-produced “green energy”

Huge wind turbines can be seen in many parts of the countryside, but a wind turbine suitable for an average family home can be built from scratch. It’s not that difficult (or expensive)

There is hardly a place on earth that does not have enough wind activity to keep a home-built turbine whirring away. The great thing about wind energy is that its free! Like solar power and of course water which powers various hydro-electric power stations, it is something that occurs naturally. Its available all the time, waiting to be harnessed, to be tapped into.

Its no wonder really, that so many people are turning to this source of energy. It is very satisfying to be able to produce your own home made wind power. You could even produce more than you need ” then sell it back to the electricity company. Thats a nice thought – watching the electricity meter going backward for a change!

Many advantages could be listed in favor of building your own home wind power system. One that I like is, it is so clean – there is no waste by-product to worry about. And the availibility of the wind. Hydro-electric power is a tremendous source of “green” energy but it is only available at certain precise locations. On the contrary, wind is available anywhere.

The great saving that can be achieved through a home wind system is one of the main attractions. It’s estimate that it could reduce your energy bill by 80% – or eliminate it altogether

Once the system is up and running, it will require a minimum of maintenance. And the running costs will be low also.

And when you use home wind power, your are of course helping in the fight against global warming, and also reducing your “carbon footprint”.

Wind power is a well-established form of electricity generation for many years. The technology is now available for use in a typical family home. I believe it can only get more and more popular as time goes on, and as the public become aware of the many benefits associated with it.

Be sure to check out our review of 3 of the best home power products over at Home Made Energy. The best one I have come across is Earth4Energy
Pick up a free energy-saving guide at Alternative Energy

Nearly all regions understand that the timing of these occurrences is speedily slipping from us; we recognize now that we are at the “we need to get it done soon stage”. Sooner rather than later, the time will quickly start to be; we had better get this done and then we wish we had gotten our energy usage under command.

In most respects, the integral problem can be discouraging and to a certain degree dejecting. As luck would have it, there are solutions to the world’s energy issues if they are simply applied and developed to their fullest and most efficient potential. Solar energy is beginning to make excellent headway in technology and execution as are other alternate energy solutions. One of these alternatives is wind turbine energy, a source of continuous clean energy that is actually making great strides in reducing coal power energy point source where it is being utilized.

What is a wind turbine? A wind turbine used for generating electricity is not all that challenging a thing to comprehend. It is almost exactly like the water wheels that centuries of people have used to make their flour. The only difference is that instead of using water to turn the water wheel wind is used. The wind makes the blades of the wheel turn which; with the help of some gears, magnets and resistance creates electricity which turns a motor to send the energy along power lines. Unfortunately, at the moment the energy generated from the turbine cannot be stored in batteries so there is a need for back-up systems but, for the most part, it is a fairly efficient system.

Location, location, location This last point about not being able to store the generated power in batteries for later use puts quite a bit of emphasis on where the turbines are placed. Since the electricity that is generated needs to be sent along the power lines and used right away, the turbines need to be located in a place where the wind is always blowing. One might think, well that should not be that difficult. Well yes and no. The turbine needs to be located where there is a steady wind most of the time, but it also needs to be positioned in a place where quite a few turbines can be located. The current issue is that one turbine generates quite a bit of energy, but not enough energy to make it economically feasible. Several hundred turbines need to be in place to make this happen. There are many places around the world where this is possible, but the overall concept is regional in nature. In other words, the electricity made in Vegas, stays in Vegas. The power generated in New York State, stays there as well. This is not generally a bad thing since larger cities in places like Texas are deriving a nice chunk of their power from the wind turbines which lessens the need to use coal power needed for other places like New York.

With a brand new focus on green power sources, we are sure that Wind power is at the start of a huge surge. Think about this technology for your home.

You’ve managed to gather all the parts you will be utilizing for your wind turbine, you have also estimated your wind turbine expenditure, and you are now fully determined to construct your own windmill. How do you assemble all the items you have gathered?

Here’s how you do it in 9 easy steps:

Phase 1: Procure or buy all the components on eBay or from any nearby hardware shop ” DC power motor, metal sheets, PVC pipe, hub, tower, deep-cycle battery, charge controller, dump load, AC inverter, and sufficient nuts and bolts to connect three blades to your tower.

Phase 2: To start with, cut the PVC pipe into a 3 ft long piece, and then cut the pipe into four pieces ” 3 will be used for blades, and one shall be a spare. You will have to shape each blade so that one side tapers into a 2 point. The blades should of approximately 6 ft long ” they could be smaller, but surely not smaller than 4 ft in which case they may not spin easily.

Part 3: Now, make holes on the narrow end of your blades so that their positions align with the holes in your hub.

Phase 4: Now, attach a coupling to the middle of your hub and join the 3 blades to this hub, attaching the hub itself to the motor shaft – you should be able to do this with 12″ by 2″ steel bars.

Stage 5: Adjust the blades and the hub neatly by marking each blade with a number and test spinning them to ensure that the same blade does not position itself at the base every time ” if so, then you may have to scrape some metal off your connecting steel bars.

Phase 6: Smoothly slide the DC motor shaft into the hole in the middle of your hub (or drill one if it’s not there already). Make sure the hub is securely fastened.

Part 7: Now, look at your tail shaft to figure out the height and make a hole through the top part of the tower, above where the tail shaft’s upper end will go.

Phase 8: Then, chop the actual tail shaft from your metal which should be approximately 3-4 ft long and attach it to the tower with a flat bracket.

Part 9: Now, connect your DC motor to the charge controller, connect the charge controller to the battery, connect the battery to the AC inverter, and then connect that to your utility box. The type of wire you need to use depends on the materials you’ve used – ask your electrician for help if all else fails.

This is just a simple introduction to DIY wind turbines, but with just these instructions you should be able to start making your own.

The wind turbine described above should generate 300-500 watts of power, assuming that your mean wind velocity is a minimum of 10-20 mph.