Building
one’s own wind power system involves several issues that
include assessing one’s power requirement, the wind
speed in the area where the wind turbine would be
installed, the turbine’s power factor, local bylaws
permitting such installation (however most local
authorities in the US now not only permit, but actually
promote the spread of wind power) and finally building
the generator that produces electricity through wind
energy.
As
far as assessing one’s annual power requirement or
annual energy output is concerned, this may be achieved
by using the following formula.
AEO
= 0.01328 D˛V˛
Where: AEO
= Annual Energy Output (kWh/ year)
D =
Rotor diameter, feet
V
= Average annual wind speed (mph) at the
site
Note:
The
difference between power and energy is that power is
measured in kw which is the rate at which electricity is
consumed while energy is described at kwh, which is the
quantity consumed.
Assessing
wind speed in a given area may be obtained through the
help of an Anemometer, but measurements often go haywire
if the terrain is hilly or where wind comes from
different directions. In fact, it is read from a graph
where electrical power output is plotted against the
wind speed to reach at the required figure. However,
average wind speed at any particular site (within the
Nevertheless,
once these are reasonably obtained, you need to pay
attention towards building the wind power generator that
is technically termed the ‘wind turbine’. Building a
wind turbine involves several items that include (a) a
small motor that can be turned into a generator; (b)
blades to turn the motor; (c) a converter to convert the
DC voltage obtained through the wind power generator
into usable 120V AC current; (d) an electronic control
system to switch the generated current from the
batteries in order to save their lives (over-charging
often spoils the batteries) to a dummy load.
Alternatively, it also turns any surplus current to the
grid in which case the utility pays for the power
directed to them. A tower is finally required to set the
generator high up in the air for the operation to start
functioning.
As
for the motor, it is mostly available at the local
hardware store. The blades for the motor/generator are
also not so difficult to procure. They can either be
curved out of wood or sliced out of 6” ABS pipe 24”
long. These blades (3 in number) are next bolted onto a
hub for which another trip to the hardware store is
needed. The hub along with the blades is then bolted to
the generator’s spindle so that it may rotate freely at
the first touch of a gust of wind.
A
charge controller is then needed to monitor the power
obtained from the generator while a tower is made ready
to set the generator at a considerable height to receive
the force of wind. A 10 feet long conduit will serve the
purpose fairly well.
In
view of the harmful effects associated with fossil fuel
generated power, it should now be the aim of every right
thinking American to look for alternative sources of
which the wind is of paramount value. First of all, it
is available free of cost and is a renewable form of
energy. It does not pollute the air nor does it increase
the greenhouse effect and is almost maintenance free.
And secondly, just build your own wind
power system and you will see a dramatic reduction
in your power bills as well. So are you interested? All
you need to know before opting for electric wind power
is where to buy cheap parts from, know about the safety
precautions, learn how to choose the best location and
also know to wire the system.
