subject: How To Build An Affordable Residential Wind Turbine [print this page] Is it really possible to build a residential wind turbine that costs less than one off the shelf?
YES! Thousands of folks have gone this route before you and are having the power at their homes either partially or fully paid for by the wind.
Before you get too revved up about the possibilities, there are a few things to check out:
1. Do I have enough wind?
2. Will my neighborhood allow a turbine?
What are the advantages of building your own residential wind turbine?
1. Cost - much much cheaper than buying one pre-manufactured. A new wind turbine can cost $6,000 - $15,000 before installation. Buying the components and making the device yourself will cut that cost to well under $2,000 installed, even for a larger wind generator.
2. Sense of Do-it-yourself satisfaction - making your own power from a device YOU made is very rewarding.
3. Helping Save the planet from carbon - for every kilowatt-hour the wind makes for you, that is one less the carbon-emitting power companies don't have to make.
How long will it take to get my windmill up and running?
If you are working on it every day, it shouldn't take more than a few weeks.
What are the steps to get this done?
Once you have established that the average wind at your home is enough to drive a wind turbine, you need to do the following:
1. Research and buy a set of plans - this is where some homework upfront will pay for itself. There is a high failure rate for wind turbines that aren't substantial enough to handle local wind conditions. You need to make sure the plans you choose are proven under real-life conditions.
2. Have an open, covered area to work in and some common household tools, like saws and drills.
3. A good local hardware store - most of the components can be bought locally.
What are the key elements of a residential wind turbine?
There are essentially 5 major parts:
1. Blades/rotor system
2. Tail assembly
3. Tower the turbine will be mounted on
4. Motor and alternator
5. Batteries or power inverter
The blades and rotor system are keys to producing energy. The lift the blades supply will drive the turbine and produce the electricity to either charge your battery or power your home directly.
Therefore, the blade style and geometry not only match the wind conditions at your home, but they must match the capacity of the other parts of the turbine assembly. In other words, you can't have an undersized blade and rotor system if you expect the home windmill to save you much on your power bill.
You will likely have to order the motor, alternator, battery charging station and inverter from sources over the internet. Those specifications should be clearly spelled out in the plans you choose to buy.
The tail assembly is also key because it drives the rotor system to find the prevailing wind and optimize the harvesting of that wind.
The tower is also very important. It needs to be approximately 30 feet over the height of the tree line to have maximum effectiveness. That is because lower than that there is too much interference from buildings and trees. You can often find used tv towers and the like that will function just find for your wind turbine at a fraction of the cost of something new.
As far as power delivery, there are 2 ways you can go for your residential wind turbine - charge a battery or deliver the power in AC form directly to your homes electrical system. The simplest system charges batteries via an alternator and then dissipates the stored energy to your home via a power inverter.
