Some people enjoy taking matters into their own hands and instead of paying for a wind generator, they prefer to create a project of their own and build one. Building a wind generator from nothing is actually not as difficult as one may think. In order to build a simple model of a wind turbine, you will need to go to a shop with basic power and hand tools, and have some degree of dedication.
Large wind generators of 2000 Watts and up are a major project needing very strong construction so prepare yourself in advance for the time and effort if that‘s what you want to do. But the smaller ones in the 700 to 1000 Watt, 8 to 11 foot range can be built with not too much difficulty.
In fact, it is highly recommend that you tackle a smaller wind turbine before even thinking about building a large one. You will need to be able to cut and weld steel, and a metal lathe can be handy although to make life easier on yourself you could take into consideration hiring a machine shop that turns brake rotors to do some small steps for you.
In most locations, gentle winds (5-15 mph) are the most common, and strong winds are very rare. You should try to make a sturdy machine that will produce good power in low wind speeds, and that will be able to survive high wind events while still producing maximum power. Remember, the power available in the wind goes up by a factor of 8 as the wind speed doubles.
Other critical factors are rotor size and tower height. The power a wind turbine can harvest goes up by at least a factor of 4 as you double the rotor size. And making a tower higher gets you above turbulence for better performance and increased power output. Putting a wind turbine on a short tower is like mounting solar panels in the shade it simply just does not make any sense, doing so, does it now.
Before you jump into something serious like building your own wind turbine, do your homework. Some things work and other things will not work. You can therefore save hours and dollars by learning from other people’s successes and failures.
If you’re going to build a home wind turbine, you’ll be much further ahead if you thoroughly research each of the individual components involved in a DIY wind turbine system. Being aware of any potential issues before you start your build will save you not only time and money, but more importantly frustration that could derail your plans. Here, we’ll take a look at a couple of the more important pieces of the wind generator system. The generator portion, typically a permanent magnet dc motor, and the blade system.
The generator portion is the heart of any wind turbine. It converts the power of the wind to electrical power that you can use. Typically, this task is accomplished by a permanent magnet dc motor. As a general rule of thumb, you want a motor that will produce a large current and voltage at the lowest speed (rpm) possible. There are a few reasons for this, but one of the more important ones is that slower speeds mean less maintenance. Look for a motor that generates it’s voltage at speeds that are 300 rpm or less if you can. Also, pay particular attention to the bearings in the motor. Since the motor will be subjected to high thrust and rotational loads, you’ll want one that can handle these types of loads.
There are a couple of different paths you can take for the blades used on the wind turbine. If you want to build them yourself, they can be fabricated from PVC or ABS pipe, wood, aluminum, or even fiberglass or carbon fiber. Or they can also be inexpensively purchased as prefabricated units. And while it’s certainly possible to construct your own blades cheaply, the prefabricated blade kits are are very inexpensive and can help you start generating power much sooner without the hassle of building them. Often, these blades come with hub mounting hardware too, which eliminates the need to make the hardware yourself. Or even worse, have a machine shop do it for you. Not only that, some of the blade kits that are currently available come with a nose cone, thus saving you the hassle and expense of fabrication this very important piece. And the best part is that these kits are very inexpensive. We feel that because of these benefits, prefabricated blade kits are probably the best choice for most people, and well worth looking into.
As to how the size and arrangement of your blades, you’ll need to match this to the type of generator you have, the height of your wind turbine, the target power output of your wind generator, and most importantly your budget.
Building your own home wind turbine can be a great educational experience that’s not only financially rewarding, but a fun DIY project. Just remember to have a good set of plans and sources for the required parts before you start. Doing your homework ahead of time will help to make your project a huge success.