Basics of Personal Wind Power
by Brian Bradley
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. The simplest and quickest way to get rid of your electric bill is to buy a wind turbine that is pre-made, known as a "prefabricated wind turbine." 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. This return on your investment is tolerable, but to get the most bang for your dollar, the best option is to go the do-it-yourself route and build your own wind turbine. If you are careful, the same results you get from a prefabricated wind turbine can be achieved for a modest investment of as little as $200. The following materials are need to successfully make a wind turbine to power your house: * 1 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 (holds the blades) * Deep-Cycle Battery (to store your energy) * Charge Controller (to prevent the battery from overloading) * A dump load to absorb excess power * AC Inverter (for AC power) * Hardware to connect the pieces together * Tools: socket set, screwdrivers, a grinder, a jigsaw, and sandpaper It is easy to see that a do-it-yourself wind turbine requires more technical savvy than it takes to produce your own solar panels. This is because the device is more complicated mechanically. For this extra work, though, you will find that a wind turbine can produce more power than a solar panel. 300 to 500 watts of power can be generated by your own windmill, provided that there is enough wind and that you’ve built it correctly. With that kind of power generation, you can take a big bite out of your electricity bill. Before you begin you should make sure you have enough wind to make it worth you while, otherwise all your work will be for naught. Your best bet is to only use wind turbines if you average wind speed is at least 10 mph. If you are in a low, tree-covered area, then wind power probably isn’t you best bet. If you aren’t in a wind friendly area your best bet is to go with solar panels instead.
