Thursday, October 22, 2009

How To Build A Wind Generator Or Buy A Ready-Made Wind Power Energy System

If you know how to build a wind generator you will eventually know how to live off the grid. Build your own wind generator with this step-by-step guide for under $100,00.

How to build a wind generator is a popular query for many who see their disposable incomes drop and power bills go up. Time to do things differently.

Wind and solar power are viable options for getting out of this bind. Especially DIY homemade windturbines and PV solar panels. Download a free preview copy of an effective home made wind generator plan right here. The people who put it together have lived off grid themselves for over 15 years now.




Wind turbine power is not new technology of course. It's well understood and there are no quirks associated with new product development.

Now, whereas you'd get an immediate benefit from power saving with a build-it-yourself-home made-wind-generator you have to pay some attention to the return on your investment.

Some history on wind mill electricity

Like the Dutch dependency on wind mills to pump out the seawater, the US owes much of its development to wind power.

It had over 8 million wind mills running since the 1860s, powering farms all over the country. Folks knew how to build a wind generator allright.

After 1930, all this went out of the window with the disappearance of Federal incentives and favouring of grid power fed by fossil-fuelled power plants.

With an energy crisis in the 70's and focussed attention on Peak oil, wind energy became viable again with help of Federal policies. But when the Federal tax credits expired in late 1985, and oil prices dropped to $10 a barrel two months later, wind power was out of favour again.

This time around, we're seeing the need for a change to renewable energy that can no longer be put off and world wide billions of dollars are invested in solar and wind off grid systems.

With the passing of the “Economic Stimulus Bill” into law, there are juicy alternative energy tax credits and incentives to be had...

Suddenly asking for how to build a wind generator is a reasonable question again.

Small scale, single dwelling wind energy turbines are here to stay.

So now you are looking again, in the 21st century for how to build a wind generator.

ROI - Return on wind power investment

Wind energy is generally cheaper than solar energy, as things stand. But a wind power system, capable of running your entire home costs from US$2,500 upwards.

This where you can download a free preview guide for How to build a wind generator DIY wind generator plans Download now. Or, again Michael Harvey's kit works just fine too.

To find out what best suits your situation, first, pay attention to your electricity needs. If you need more than 100 watt power for your home, school or business, wind energy is a more cost-effective option than the obvious renewable energy alternaative, solar power.

The smaller your energy need, the more cost-effective option is solar PV. The other way around for wind energy. DIY geothermal energy is great too as a clean energy source but that's another story.

The power from homemade wind generators is of course dependent on your local wind strength and reliability. The Alternative Energy Shop states that:


For homeowners connected to the utility grid, small wind turbines are usually the best "next step" after all the conservation and efficiency improvements have been made. A typical home consumes between 800-2,000 kWh of electricity per month and a 4-10 kW wind turbine or PV system is about the right size to meet this demand. At this size wind turbines are much less expensive.

On average, to buy one "off the rack", you are looking at an 8 – 12 year complete recoup of your wind energy turbine system's cost. Obviously, if you're up for building one yourself, you will recoup much sooner, maybe in months.

How To Calculate Your Payback Period from Your Investment In Wind Or Solar
The simple payback period (i.e. the time taken to repay the initialinvestment) is equal to the system cost divided by the value ofelectricity produced by the PV system each year. The value of theelectricity is generally equal to the output of the PV system multipliedby the price of electricity, e.g. for Perth it is 1600 kWh multiplied by14 cents/kWh. Some countries have feed in tariffs where electricityutilities are required to pay a higher price for electricity generatedby PV systems.

Source: Independent expert advice by Evan Gray.




Reliability

Before you can know how to build a wind generator you need to know the nature of your local wind conditions.

To power a wind turbine you need a reliable, constant supply to have a steady source of power – unless you have enormous battey storage capacity. But unlike solar power, it keeps going at night!

So, it's important to research the prevailing wind strength in your location and build a sturdy, reliable wind turbine.Wind energy should generally be thought viable if your average wind speed is above 8 mph to 10 mph.

The other variable is height. The higher your turbine the stronger the winds.

You can check wind speeds in your area yourself. Go to Wind Energy Resources here.

These days some wind turbines can operate for more than 5 years without maintenance or inspections, complete with a five year warranty.

How to build a wind generator - You can do it yourself

So, all of this serves to say that there are no excuses for not installing wind or solar power on your home, business or school.Either buy a system and get it installed, or do it yourself much more cheaply.

To your success!

Wind energy resources

Download your free preview copy of Les & Jane's "How To Build A Wind Generator" Guide

Check out the alternative energy store that is much more than that, to find wind mill parts, whole systems and in-depth how-to information.

Find your local wind strength


Local wind strength for the USA
Local wind strength for Australia
Local wind strength for the UK
Local wind strength for New Zealand
Local wind strength for Europe
Local wind strength for Asia
Local wind strength for Russia
Local wind strength for Africa
Local wind strength for South America
Local wind strength for the world

For online calculators and other practical information on renewable energy appliances, parts and systems go here

Click above to learn all about the various renewable energy options open to you for your home or business

More about wind power here:

Wind Power Energy - Renewable Energy For A Warm World


What Is Wind Energy? It's Solar And Renewable

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