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Peek at the Workshop from Guemes Island, WA.,

hosted by Ian Woofenden of Solar Energy International (SEI)

and taught by the guru of homemade small-scale wind turbines, Hugh Piggott.

Helping out were Brian Faley, Andy Gladish, BJ Daniels, Michael McGuinness,

Dan Bartmann and Dan Fink (the Dans of Otherpower.com). From blueEnergy,

Mathias Craig, Lâl Marandin, and Darin Bird in attendance.

Technorati Tags: blueEnergy, homemade small-scale wind turbines, Hugh Piggott, solar, Solar Energy, Solar Energy International, turbine, wind, wind energy, WIND TURBINE, Wind Turbine Workshop, Workshop

There are basically two major area’s of information required to have an essential knowledge of domestic wind turbines. The first is understanding energy yield and energy consumption. The second is choosing which type of turbine wind generator best suites your needs and situation.

Understanding Energy Yeild and Energy Consumption A simple way of putting things is

• An average modern homes requires 4,500kWh. per year.
• A domestic wind turbine with a 5 meter rotar diameter provides 4000 – 4,500 kWh, per year in good wind conditions.
• A domestic wind turbine with a 2 meter rotar diameter provides 500 kWh, per year in good wind conditions.

Which type of Turbine Wind Generator? Lets begin with a quick overview of the different types of turbine wind generators available and some of the pros and cons with each.

Horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWT)
These are far and away the most common type of domestic wind turbines. HAWT’s also have a long history, being the principle behind the famous Dutch Windmills. Advantages: An obvious key advantage is that they are easily available. In addition the blades of HAWT’s can be changed in pitch so as to more fully catch the wind. Secondly they are easiy mounted on high towers which maximizes their access to wind shear. Lastly HAWT’s have had the most research and development backing and use in the field. In simple terms at the low end they are easy to build and at the high end there is some pretty complex wind turbine management systems build in. Disadvantages: HAWT’s don’t operate well at ground level. All other disadvantage relate to large installation HAWT’s – such as difficulty with installation of the towers, signal clutter if installed near radar installations, and cost of shipping and the tower system. For use as domestic wind tubines we only recommend micro-HAWT installation. For micro-HAWT installation and how easy it is an advantage, details on easy building and installation of turbine wind generators can be found here.

Vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWT)
There are a few subcategories of (VAWT)’s.

They are:

• Darrieus (or eggbeater) wind turbine
• Giromill
• Savonius wind turbine
• “H” vertical wind turbine

Although many would argue long and hard about the various merits of each design (and the do have them) fundamentaly the advantages of VAWT’s are the same regardless of design.

Advantages: They can be built on the ground making installation and maintenance easier, they generate power at a lower RPM rate than HAWT’s , they integrate better into an urban environment and some claim they are quieter and easier for birds to avoid.

Disadvantages: They generally produce power at 50% of the efficency of HAWT’s. A great deal more stress is placed on the tower structure reducing relaibility and maintenance costs can be high. This is due to the whole structure being under it’s own weight, so to change a component at the bottom of the structure may require you to dismantle almost all of it.

Large vs Small Turbine Wind Generators

Both HAWT’s and VAWT’s com in large configurations. A very simple way of understanding the whole arguement regarding large and small turbine wind generators is to simple say “The larger they are the more efficently they generate electricity but the less flexible they are to manage.”. Almost all of advantages and disadvantages related to the size of a wind turbine fall into this area. Since we have already summed up our view on them, here are a few advantages and disadvantages that don;t fall under the above mentioned umbrella.

Advantages & Disadvantages: Large wind turbines have been blames for bird deaths, they cost much more to build and require much more approval than micro-wind. They are also much more noticable in the immediate environment. Small turbines are have more moving parts and are less efficent. However they are easy and cost effective to build at home and are more fleixble, being accessable enough to move or upgrade.
Basically electricity provided by micro-turbine wind generators will be more expensive on a per kWh. basis, however you will be in control and able to manage your supply and use of energy.

Building Integrated Wind Turbines.

Lastly a word on a recent innovation on integrating wind turbines. New plans are underway for the Bahrain World Trade Center to include wind turbines in its superstructure. These turbines will provide 11-15% of the buildings needs.

So if you build a new home in future, considering engaging an architect who can offer integrated wind turbines. Like with all alternative energy solutions, look into the return on investment (ROI). Will these integrated wind turbines pay for themselves in energy savings…? Will it take 2 years or 10?

However if you just want advice on how to best integrated you domestic wind turbines into your current housing structure then “Wind Energy Basics” is a good place to begin.

In Conclusion. Turbine wind generators come in many variations, with many advantages and disadvantages for each. The fact that domestic wind turbines are overwhelmingly HAWT configurations suggests they must be working. However a wind only approach to homemade electricity generation is not an effective strategy. Any attempt at energy independence must include multiple energy sources.

Dr Self Help

The most common are solar and wind. Excellent information on running your own successful energy independence project can be found here

Technorati Tags: Electricity generation, Savonius wind turbine, turbine, Vertical axis wind turbine, wind generator, WIND TURBINE, wind turbines

You can make this wind turbine all yourself from a BRUTE trash can, no kidding

Cut two flaps on the side of the trashcan and bent them inwards

to make two airfoils (one facing each direction) using a high speed rotary blade

and cutting out the foil to bend it back…

Also used thrust bearings on the bottom of the shaft and

a regular bearing around the shaft which was attached to the mast just below the turbine

Technorati Tags: DIY wind power, diy wind turbine, do it yourself wind energy, trash can wind power, trash can wind turbine, Wind Power, WIND TURBINE

If you are like many Americans, you are probably scared to receive the utility bills at the end of the month. This is normal in this uncertain economy.

Did you know that you can save more than 70% on your utility bill by switching to alternative sources of power?

If you want, you can choose to live off the grid and say goodbye to your energy bills for good. Thousands of people are already doing it, and you can to by creating their own homemade wind generators.

How can you create alternative energy and save money?

You can create alternative energy by using the power of three natural elements.

1. Sun power

2. Wind power

3. Hydro power
wind power article, we are going to talk abouhomemade wind generatorreate electricity. To make your own energy with wind power, you are going to create your own homemade wind generators.

Before you consider building your own wind generators, make sure that there is enough wind in your area. If there is not enough wind, you will not be able to produce the amount of kinetic energy you need to convert the wind into electricity.

Once you installed your own windmill, you will not have many things to do since they don’t require a lot of maintenance. The only problems I can see would be when a bird is is made prisoner by your windmill, or a major storm in your area. In this case, your tower will probably suffer.

Be aware that installing your own home made wind generators can cost you from a few hundreds dollars to a few thousands. You need to conduct your project seriously and learn about all the option available to you before you start. If you really want to do it yourself, you may want to invest in a good guide like Earth4energy manual for example. You will save a lot of money.

The benefits of installing your own windmill generator beside saving money is that you will contribute to the reduction of carbon dioxide reducing emissions.

Franck Silvestre

http://www.articlesbase.com/electronics-articles/how-to-generate-electricity-from-wind-756466.html

Technorati Tags: Alternative energy, Electrical generator, Electricity From Wind, energy power, Wind Power, WIND TURBINE, windmill

Before we get into the technicalities of building a wind turbine, something you should know about DIY wind power is that although it has become a realistic and reasonable source of energy, it is really not efficient enough on a small scale size to compete with more traditional electricity sources. It can be rather strenuous and expensive to construct, but if it is something you really wawind powerinvolved in, make sure you know what you are doing, especially when dealing with wires in your home.

There are several things you have to look out for when you are considering building a wind power turbine, the first being that most residential areas are not windy enough for wind power. The trees and other obstructions diffuse the force of the wind and don’t serve as good surroundings for a turbine. An alternative to this would be to build your wind power turbine on an extremely tall tower, but one would have to consider how his neighbors felt about it first.

Another thing that is important is the equipment you want to use in your turbine.

Primarily, what size you want to make your turbine. And because your blades need to be large in proportion to the energy it is going to put out, the blades need to be about 5 meters long in order to power a modern sized home in a good site (windy enough for the turbine to be efficient). Luckily, you can build these blades by carving wood, or if you aren’t into the labor intensive route, you could easily buy the blades as well. Now, to harness this energy, you need a generator. And for DIY wind power, the best choice would probably be a car alternator.

It obviously will have to be tweaked or modified slightly to up the RPM, 2,000 is about enough, but it will probably be the hardest part of the project. The generator is the core part of building wind power turbines and it can be the thing that separates you from success and failure.

The last thing you have to do is to go out and build it. But a last bit of advice would be to be careful in what you do, and make sure you always know what you are doing. Don’t only put have your energy into this, if you put a lot of effort into it, it will yield great possibilities.

Technorati Tags: Building Your Own Wind Turbine, diy wind turbine, energy, renewable, Wind Power, WIND TURBINE

The answer to this question is yes, if you build your own homemade windmill generator then you will definitely save thousands of dollars off your electricity bill annually, not to mention help the environment along the way. So the question now is can anybody do this and how does it all work?

CAN I BUILD A WINDMILL

Of course you can, it is just like doing a woodwork or building project. Here is what you need: (please remember that this is a brief overview)

Wind turbines (or blades) Strong building material (for the stand) Power cables A generator or two (simple affordable one’s will do)

The next step is to build a support tower to place the turbines onto and be sure to make sure it is sturdy. A generator should be secured on top of the support tower and the turbines attached to this generator. This generator should be attached via your power cables to a power source or a bigger generator to store the energy produced.

IT IS BUILT SO HOW DOES IT WORK

Once you have built your windmill and placed it in a secure area it should have the wind blowing the turbines around. This movement or energy is transferred through the initial generator down the power cables and into your power source. The beauty of this is that any movement the turbines make is transferred into energy no matter how big or small.

WILL IT DECREASE POWER BILLS

Absolutely it will and in some cases if you build an efficient enough windmill and also use solar power then you can completely replace your entire electricity bill. If you are reading this article then you are doing your research on the matter which is a very responsible thing to do but let me assure you that to build a homemade windmill is a great use of your time.

If you would like to know in more detail how to go about building your own windmill then have a look at this recommendation and all the best with your renewable energy endeavors.

Technorati Tags: homemade, windmills, work, worth

Just a short decade ago, the only information that was available on alternative energy generation was difficult to locate and even more difficult to understand. Over the last few years, the internet has allowed a large amount of information to become freely available that there is no longer any excuse to not take responsibility for your own power needs.

The popularity of solar and wind generation systems has overwhelmed the alternative energy forums and websites and anyone with just a rudimentary knowledge of diy is now able to harness energy from both the sun and the wind. These systems however, have the disadvantage of only being viable for people who live in areas that get an abundance of sun or wind in order to generate that energy. For those people living in areas that experience limited sun and wind there is an alternative that is growing in popularity by the day.

Magnetic energy generators, until recently were considered to be in the realm of science fiction, but this technology has been around for many decades and is now as easy to manufacture in your backyard or garage even without any previous technical experience. There are a collection of excellent diy manuals available online that offer comprehensive step by step instructions. Many of these manuals are written with a complete novice in mind.

In addition to the easy to follow instructions, some of the better systems offer complete component lists, lifetime updates and most importantly technical support, should you happen to find yourself having any trouble during your construction.

While the construction of solar panels and wind turbines promise to deliver up to 80% of your power needs, the magnetic energy generators will generate a mere 20% – 30% of a standard home, but the cost of constructing one of these devices will be no more then one hundred dollars and multiple devices can be constructed to up your personal power generation.

It is also extremely easy to integrate these systems into the grid system enabling you to turn your meter back and feeding any additional power back into the grid. With enough magnetic power generators, you could eventually earn money from these devices by selling your excess power back to the power companies.

For anyone looking for a way to save money as well as becoming more self-reliant, this is an ideal system that will generate power endlessly. An excellent investment for your future.