Generate Free Electricity

Wind power is an excellent weapon for fighting climate change because wind generation produces no carbon emissions at all. When you consider that every unit of energy generated by wind, is a unit of energy free of carbon pollution, wind makes sense. Producing just 10 per cent of electricity from renewables could cut carbon emissions by 2.5 million tonnes a year.

Small wind-electric systems can provide electricity to remote sites, or to houses that are also connected to the utility grid. But the prices! A small turbine can cost $US 2,000! A medium turbine $3,000! A large one can cost $8,500 – and that’s without the rest of the equipment you will need, and installation costs! Although wind systems require some attention, if you build a strong system, following a proven design, wind-electric systems make great economic and environmental sense.

How much FREE electricity will I get? There seems to be a myth that wind power produces little power. Strange, when a 1.8-megawatt turbine produces enough power for 1,000 homes.

More realistically for the DIY wind turbine maker, a small wind turbine, with a rotor diameter of 7 feet (2.1 m), and a swept area of 38.5 square feet (3.6 m2) will produce, per month, at average wind speeds of 10 mph – 80 KWH! This is enough power for a low-energy home, yacht, or business. A medium sized wind turbine with a rotor diameter of 10 feet (3 m) and a swept area of 79 square feet (7.3 m2) will produce, per month, at average wind speeds of 10 mph – 130 KWH! This would be suitable for a medium-energy home, business, or school. A large wind turbine with a rotor diameter of 12.5 feet (3.8 m), and a swept area of 120 square feet (11.2 m2), will produce, per month, at average wind speeds of 10 mph – 230 KWH! This is for big energy consumers. A huge wind turbine with a rotor diameter of 56 feet (17 m), and a swept area of 2,462 square feet (229 m2) will produce, per month, at average wind speeds of 10 mph – 5,060 KWH! These power large farms, very high-energy businesses, villages, islands, and massive heating projects.

Smaller turbines can be built for boats, caravans, cabins, or where only a small amount of electricity is needed. But for significant amounts of energy, you need a large enough rotor, as this is the wind turbine’s ‘energy collector’. When sizing a wind-electric system, you don’t add windmills in as you need them, as you can with solar panels. Because wind is more cost effective as you increase in system size, most people put up only one wind turbine, big enough to significantly slash their electric bills, or to fulfill all of their energy requirements for the foreseeable future.

System Components: The turbine is only one component of a wind-electric system, and very often is not even the most expensive component. You need all of the necessary components to have a functional system. Plan ahead to buy quality components properly matched to each other and to your energy use.

A complete wind-electric system includes: • Turbine—blades + hub = “rotor,” which is the “collector” of the system. • Tower—supports the turbine, getting it up out of the turbulent zone created by trees and buildings, and exposes the turbine to more wind • Wiring and conduit—carries the electricity down the tower and to power-conditioning equipment • Controller/Electronics—controls charging of battery or input to inverter • Batteries—used for storage in off-grid systems or grid-tied systems with battery backup • Inverter—converts direct current (DC) electricity from batteries or rectifier to alternating current (AC) for home use or “storage” on the utility grid • Metering—allows user to understand and manage system operation.Small wind turbine: needs a controller or inverter, and is suitable for battery less grid-tie or 12, 24, 48 VDC battery charging Medium sized: needs a controller or inverter, and is used for charging 12, 24, 48 VDC batteries Large: needs controller, dump load, and inverter. Suitable for battery less grid-tie or charging 48 VDC battery. Huge: suitable for battery less grid-tie

How does a wind turbine actually produce electricity? The rotating blades convert the wind’s kinetic energy into rotation in a shaft. The rotating shaft turns an alternator, which makes electricity. The electricity is transmitted through wiring, down the tower, to batteries, or an inverter. The blades are designed to intercept wind and capture its energy. Most modern wind generators have three blades, to compromise between the highest efficiency possible (one blade) and balance (multiple blades). The blades must turn to face the wind, so a yaw bearing allows the wind turbine to track the winds as they shift direction. A tail directs the rotor into the wind. In small-scale designs, the rotor is connected directly to the shaft of a permanent magnet alternator, which creates Alternating Current. This wild, three-phase electricity means that the voltage and frequency vary continuously with the wind speed. The AC output is used to either charge batteries or feed a grid-synchronous inverter, which turns it to steady, usable Direct Current. In small designs, the rotor is connected to the alternator, eliminating the need for gears. In larger systems, a gearbox is used to increase alternator speed from a slower turning rotor. A governing system limits the rotor rpm and generator output to protect the turbine from high winds. A shutdown mechanism is also useful to stop the machine during an extreme storm, or when you want to service the system. Understanding the Ratings Wind turbine rating is difficult because rated output is pegged to a particular wind speed, and different manufacturers compare different wind speeds to better promote their particular model. To understand the real power of wind, cube its speed. For example, 10 kph of wind, gives 10 x 10 x 10 = 1,000 watts. Or, a 10% increase in speed gives a 33% increase in power. This means that very small increases in wind speed create huge increases in power. This also means that a turbine that produces 1,000 watts at a wind speed of 28 mph, might produce only 125 watts at a wind speed of 14 mph – so half the wind produces 1/8 of the power. So ignore the rated peak output of a turbine, and look for the monthly (or annual) energy production you require (from your energy audit), estimated for the average wind speed at your site. After all, long-term energy is what you’re after, not peak output! If, for example, you know your home has 10 mph winds, and you need 400 KWH per month, you know what turbine to build. Knowing a turbine’s swept area may also help you calculate the annual energy output for the wind turbine. Jim Green at the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) developed a formula: annual energy output (AEO) in KWH = 0.01328 x rotor diameter (ft.) squared x average wind speed (mph) cubed. Easy!

Getting Started: Consider: Is it your aim to slash your bills, or to be completely independent? Are you going to be stand-alone, or will you still be connected to (and adding into/taking from) the grid? If you’re staying connected to the grid, will your local power company pay you for the electricity you generate?

First you need an energy audit of your home. Go to www.njcleanenergy.com for an accurate home energy audit, and great ideas on saving electricity and money. Sit down with your family, work out how many kilowatt-hours you all use, and find out where the waste is. But be realistic, reasonable, and think laterally. Just because you are now horrified at how much electricity your plasma TV uses, doesn’t mean the kids are never allowed to watch it. You may consider a smaller, more efficient TV for weekly use, and save the plasma for the weekend family movie.

Next, work out your location’s average wind speed, at a website like www.awea.org for the USA. When you know how much energy you need, and how much your wind will provide, you will be able to see the size of turbine you will need.

Now that you have a good idea of what you’re after, check out the DIY Wind Power Kits at EarthEnergyPlus.Com These kits have been selected with the DIY novice in mind, and include all the information you will need to build your own electricity-producing windmill! Detailed lists of the tools, parts, and where to get them. Video instructions you can play over and over. Great back-up from dedicated designers! Build your own wind power system this weekend, then sit back and watch your home-built wind generator turn a summer breeze into FREE electricity!

Home wind power generator

Is about generating wind power electricity for the home and work sheds or out buildings for dam pumps and security lights using the free energy that is available most of the year.

Renewable diy enthusiast are trying to disconnect from commercial utility power grids  find an alternative power source by building and  erecting home wind  turbines generators outside their homes to save money and mainly reduce their electricity use.

In some cases the home owner can produce excess wind electricity and sell the excess power back to the commercial utility power company.

Installing a home wind power generator for the home can be an easy task. Purchase a wind power package from the internet and follow the step by step guides.

Residential – Domestic home wind power generator

In case when the wind has stopped the home owner needs to have a battery bank then converts this battery power into house electricity 120 volts A.C.

Wind flow may be higher than the house and a wind generator Towner may be erected  to put the wind generator up into the wind flow or the Towner could be positioned away from the house and take advantage of a slight hill.

The tower is just a technical name for the pole that the home wind turbine generator or other type of generator mounted on, and in some cases will need steel guy ropes for strength in high winds.

Another issue with home wind turbine generators is when strong winds are present the wind generator needs to have a electrical brake system installed because it would be not be practical to lower the Towner every time there are strong winds.

There are many wind generator installation services. Some things to look for when installing a home wind power generator on the property. 1 Safety Issues/Laws 2 Municipal Regulations 3 City Regulations 4 State Regulation concerning the home wind generator system

There are safety issues that can be overcome with common sense. Example. The Towner would not be position or mount to low to cause harm.

Regulation is relative to where you live. The extremes in regulation go from no regulation at all, to extremely prohibitive. A good site to check out is the EERA website and do a Google search for wind power in America. Both websites will give the home owner all the relative information regarding state regulations, detailed information about tax credits and rebates for wind power listed under each state.

Home wind power is becoming so popular that a lot of local authorities are either ignoring the usage of wind energy by saying nothing or they simply are not caught up with the times.

The general way that home wind power system works is: Wind Turbines or wind generators will take advantage of wind [spin the Blades] that will agitate magnets in the motor [permanent magnets] to generate friction [Magnetic flux] and produce electrical power [current – AMPS] for home electricity.

The potential growth is strong for the wind turbine generators to power home throughout the states.

Wind power for the home is a great alternative to traditional grid power, it is simple to put in place and can help off-set or eliminate power bills and save the money each month. $$$$

Contributed by Bret Parker

It almost sounds too good to be true – diy renewable energy for your home, your firm, and/or your RV, free to get AND good for the planet AND you can simply install it DIY!The good fact is that it isn’t not only achievable but one hundred pc TRUE!Renewable energy comes immediately from nature – wind, sun, wave and water.Nearly all of us don’t live beside the sea or by a watercourse or river and this rules out wave and water power for all but a few, but we will be able to still have DIY renewable energy from the sun or from the wind all in our own backyard and aside from for the primary expense it is all for without charge.Whether you select wind energy or solar power, or a combination of the 2 will depend upon where you reside. If you live in an area that has a regular wind blowing, a good wind turbine system capable of delivering 500+ Watts of power is a massive energy saver. Wind power is maybe the oldest technique of getting free power – we’ve all seen Western movies with an old windmill pumping water from the well. Fortunately things have moved on a great distance since those days and nowadays wind turbines, a turbine being a very efficient windmill, and provided the wind speed is in the region of 10mph, or above, you should pretty much get enough power to meet most, if not all, of your electricity desires. Clearly various turbines have different power outputs and do depend on the wind speed but you should nevertheless about save up to about 80% on the electricity expenses that you currently pay to the utility company. Industrially made and custom fitted wind turbine units can cost thousands of dollars but doing it yourself can cost way below $200. How much do you pay every year to the power company? Stop wasting so much money – a minimal investment of less $200 and you begin to get power free day after gusty day using DIY renewable energy AND it helps save the earth!It should be noted though that it does need a bit of room and if you only have tiny yard or flat area of roof you might have to put in a smaller unit which will deliver less power will still do the business if mixed with a DIY solar energy system.The other cash saving way to scale back your power costs is DIY solar electricity. There are 2 systems for receiving free power from the sun – standard heating direct heating from the warmth of the sun or electricity production which uses solar cells.Both systems are well in the budget of everyone and are simple enough to put together to be well in the capabilities of DIY’ers everywhere.For in the region of $200 it is feasible to have an electrical generation DIY solar system that may provide satisfactory power for your fridge, washing machine, PC, TVs, lights etc. The beat thing about this is its size meaning it can also used in RV’s. The more panels you can put together the more power you can get.The other DIY renewable energy system is capturing heat by using water or liquid filled panels. These are extraordinarily effective in providing heat for central heating or hot water. Dollar for dollar these systems give the swiftest payback against outlay as the power heat saving gains are significant.Finish wasting cash today and in its place start helping to save the environment and get plugged into DIY renewable energy.Most people do not realise that it is feasible to use DIY Renewable Energy like solar energy and wind power to create sufficient electrical energy so you might save as much as 80% of your normal electricity expenditure, in fact in some cases it is even feasible to create so much electricity that you are able to sell it back to the power company. Discover how DIY Renewable Energy can save you money.To find out how you could save on your electricity bills using DIY RenewableEnergy visit http://www.renewableenergyuniverse.com/diy-renewable-energy/