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Home Made Wind Power Kits
Welcome to the world of home made wind power kits. Not only can you create real,
usable power, you'll have a great time doing it. I can't think of another activity that will
pay you AND the environment back for your efforts.
One option is a traditional kit where all the parts are supplied with instructions for
assembly. Others prefer to create their own kit by acquiring or making the individual
parts themselves based on information provided by a how-to book or website.
But there's a big difference in price between an all inclusive kit and the do it yourself
version. A turbine kit with all the necessary parts costs around $475. A similar sized do
it yourself generator should cost around $100.
Currently, the only seller of complete wind turbine kits I know of is Wind Blue Power
which sells for $474. For that kind of money you might be better off buying something
like the Sunforce Air X that generates 9,000 watts a month in 8 mph winds and costs
less than $600. The purchase price would further be reduced by the new 30% energy
tax credit and you'd get a 3 year warranty to boot.
For the do it yourself wind power folks there are numerous no cost or low cost
resources to help you build and maintain a home built wind generator.
How I home-built an electricity producing Wind turbine by Michael Davis is available
online at no cost.
If you need parts, service, or advice on how to maintain your small wind turbine, you
can subscribe to the Yahoo group small-wind-home. There are several knowledgeable
participants at this group who offer a wealth of technical information.
Homebrew Wind Power by Dan Bartmann and Dan Fink (320 pages)
The book is quite detailed and all the steps involved in making a wind turbine are fully
described. The best part about the book is that you can modify the design to your
requirements. Considered the bible for do it yourself wind power.
How to increase the performance of your wind turbine
Speaking of wind speeds, there are a couple of factors you should consider while
you're in the planning stage that can make a huge difference in your turbine's output.
Propeller length (or diameter for measuring rotors with three props)
The length of the propeller determines the diameter of the "swept area." The swept
area is the amount of space, measured in square feet or meters, that the propeller
covers while spinning. You can also think of the swept area as the collector area, much
like a solar panel. Small increases in blade diameter can result in rather large
increases in swept area. In fact, doubling the rotor diameter yields a fourfold increase
in swept area and a corresponding increase in electrical output.
For example, a 2 foot rotor (propeller) in wind speeds averaging 8 mph will produce
around 2.5 kWh (kilowatt hours) per month. A propeller doubled in length to 4 feet in
those same 8 mph winds will produce 9.8 kWh per month.
The second factor is wind speed
As the wind speed increases, the difference in energy production is cubed. So
increasing the wind speed from just 8 to 9 mph with the same 4 foot rotor will increase
energy production from 9.8 kWh to 14 kWh per month.
But since you're dealing with winds low to the ground it's difficult to escape the
turbulence created by obstructions such as trees and buildings. Some areas of your
home or property will have better wind resources than others, so you might consider
buying an inexpensive hand held anemometer (wind meter) and test different
locations - you can always resell the meter on ebay when you're done with it.
Here's a tip. Email your friendly TV meteorologist and ask him or her what the average
annual wind speed is in your area.
usable power, you'll have a great time doing it. I can't think of another activity that will
pay you AND the environment back for your efforts.
One option is a traditional kit where all the parts are supplied with instructions for
assembly. Others prefer to create their own kit by acquiring or making the individual
parts themselves based on information provided by a how-to book or website.
But there's a big difference in price between an all inclusive kit and the do it yourself
version. A turbine kit with all the necessary parts costs around $475. A similar sized do
it yourself generator should cost around $100.
Currently, the only seller of complete wind turbine kits I know of is Wind Blue Power
which sells for $474. For that kind of money you might be better off buying something
like the Sunforce Air X that generates 9,000 watts a month in 8 mph winds and costs
less than $600. The purchase price would further be reduced by the new 30% energy
tax credit and you'd get a 3 year warranty to boot.
For the do it yourself wind power folks there are numerous no cost or low cost
resources to help you build and maintain a home built wind generator.
How I home-built an electricity producing Wind turbine by Michael Davis is available
online at no cost.
If you need parts, service, or advice on how to maintain your small wind turbine, you
can subscribe to the Yahoo group small-wind-home. There are several knowledgeable
participants at this group who offer a wealth of technical information.
Homebrew Wind Power by Dan Bartmann and Dan Fink (320 pages)
The book is quite detailed and all the steps involved in making a wind turbine are fully
described. The best part about the book is that you can modify the design to your
requirements. Considered the bible for do it yourself wind power.
How to increase the performance of your wind turbine
Speaking of wind speeds, there are a couple of factors you should consider while
you're in the planning stage that can make a huge difference in your turbine's output.
Propeller length (or diameter for measuring rotors with three props)
The length of the propeller determines the diameter of the "swept area." The swept
area is the amount of space, measured in square feet or meters, that the propeller
covers while spinning. You can also think of the swept area as the collector area, much
like a solar panel. Small increases in blade diameter can result in rather large
increases in swept area. In fact, doubling the rotor diameter yields a fourfold increase
in swept area and a corresponding increase in electrical output.
For example, a 2 foot rotor (propeller) in wind speeds averaging 8 mph will produce
around 2.5 kWh (kilowatt hours) per month. A propeller doubled in length to 4 feet in
those same 8 mph winds will produce 9.8 kWh per month.
The second factor is wind speed
As the wind speed increases, the difference in energy production is cubed. So
increasing the wind speed from just 8 to 9 mph with the same 4 foot rotor will increase
energy production from 9.8 kWh to 14 kWh per month.
But since you're dealing with winds low to the ground it's difficult to escape the
turbulence created by obstructions such as trees and buildings. Some areas of your
home or property will have better wind resources than others, so you might consider
buying an inexpensive hand held anemometer (wind meter) and test different
locations - you can always resell the meter on ebay when you're done with it.
Here's a tip. Email your friendly TV meteorologist and ask him or her what the average
annual wind speed is in your area.
| Check out our NEW Average Monthly kWh Calculator. Now you can quickly determine how the combination of different prop lengths and wind speeds affects monthly kWh output. This calculator is exclusive to this site and can't be found anywhere else. |
