How To Build A Wind Generator In 6 Simple Steps

You live your life every day fully dependent on energy, mainly gas and electricity. But with the constantly rising costs of these energy sources, you might be wondering how you can cut back on these expenses and make your life a little easier. You likely already know about renewable energy and th

at it is being used around the world. But how do you take advantage of this without spending a fortune? You might want to consider building a windmill, but do you know how to build a wind generator?

That is a good question. Here are some simple steps to help guide you:

- First you need to know where you are going to put it. You need an area with at least a 300 to 400 foot radius of open space and a 30 to 40 foot vertical clearance. There are two types of towers you can choose from, a tilt-up or a freestanding design. Tilt-ups are more widely used in residential areas because they are easier to maintain, since you don’t need to climb them to clean them. However, since free standing towers are taller, they help maximize the output of your wind turbine.

- Now you have to think about the materials you will need, beginning with the motor that will convert the wind energy into electricity. It needs to be a DC motor that is designed for high voltage, low rpm’s, and high current.

- The blades of your wind turbine are the next things you will concentrate on. Wood, sheet metal, or plastic are all good materials, but PVC pipe is usually the best. If you want to get the most power from your generator, make the blades longer, since this will cover a wider area.

- Now you need to connect the blades to the motor using a hub. One of the simplest ways is to look for a scrap steel disk that you can drill holes in. Attach this to a shaft that will connect the blades.

- Finally, you need to attach a tail and pivot to your windmill to keep it turned to the wind. You can do this with some square tubing and pipe nipple, a flange for the pivot, and some scrap sheet metal for the tail.

- After setting up your wind generator, one more important step must be covered and that is the battery. Batteries are essential basically because it is where the converted energy is stored. Keep the batteries close to the generator as much as possible to monitor the charging, and look for highly efficient batteries, which are low in maintenance.

“Deep cycle” batteries are best used for this type of power system application. They are rated in amp-hours and have indicators of their charge-discharge cycles.

Now that you know how to build a wind generator, there is one more recommended step. You need to place a diode between the battery and the generator to stop the current from being wasted by flowing back into the generator. It would probably be a good idea to add a secondary load as well, to act as a depot for excess produced current.

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Tags: Alternative Energy, Diy Wind Energy, do it yourself wind energy, energy, Home, renewable energy, Wind Energy, Wind Power