Sunday, September 6, 2009

Home Made Wind Mill - Harness the Wind to Create Electricity

Wind power is not quite a mainstream energy source yet, at least in the U.S., but it is for some a viable way to power their homes. It can be expensive to buy a wind power system, so some who have made the choice to use alternative energy sources instead opt for a homemade wind mill instead. Basically, a turbine for wind power is made up of three components.

Rotor
Generator
Tower

This sounds simple enough, but keep in mind that a wind turbine should be built of strong materials which can stand up to the elements for at least five years. This periodic replacement is a great tradeoff when you compare it to the electricity savings of at least 10% over the next five or six years. You might want to talk to someone who has already built their own wind turbine before going ahead and building your own.

You can generate enough energy to power your home with a wind turbine that turns at an average speed of 10 mph. While you may not be able to generate enough power with wind alone to meet all of your electricity needs, you can store surplus electricity in batteries and even sell it back to the utility company in your area. If your home is in a very isolated area, however, wind power and other alternative energy sources may be your only options for generating the electricity you need.

Before you get started, make sure that you have all of the necessary supplies. Here's some of the most important:

Motor
Tower
Blades
Hardware and Wiring
Hub
Rotor
Battery Backup
Tail and Body Assembly

Typically, a wind turbine is built like so: the rotor blades will face into prevailing winds. The wind turns the blades and the kinetic energy is converted into electrical energy. All of this happens in the shaft/motor assembly.

TURBINE > MOTOR > BATTERY > INVERTER

This is the pathway that the energy will follow. There are other elements (such as wiring) that will control the current and turn your meter back when you generate more power than you are using.

1. Once you have all of your materials together, then cut your blades from a round section of pipe - PVC is typically the material of choice, but remember to cut your blades to a uniform size for balance.

2. Typically, windmills rotate on a horizontal axis. This axis will be mounted at the top of your tower. For the sake of balance, the back needs to be longer than the front. Bolting your axis to the tower will keep it from rising up as it is turned by the wind.

3. Your tower needs to be sturdy, but that's the only real requirement. You can use metal pipes, a satellite dish stand or anything else which will be sturdy and stable. Use cement to secure it to the ground.

4. You'll need to wire everything together to make the system functional. Run wires from the motor to a controller for saving energy and then to the battery to hold excess energy. From this point, the wiring continues to the household electrical system via your breaker box.

These are the basics of creating a home made wind mill. If you are a bit handy and can use the tools you probably already own, then you can easily make your own home made wind mill.

To learn more about how a Home Made Wind Mill can significantly reduce your electricity bills while supplying you with unlimited power visit http://www.solarwindenergys.com.

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