Posts Tagged wind

Designing a Home Wind Turbine

Posted by outside_voices on Wednesday, 14 April, 2010

A home wind turbine is device that converts wind energy into mechanical energy which is later converted into usable electricity.

It typically consists of the following parts:

• The blades – A wind turbine can consist of any number of blades from 4 to 20. Some special wind turbines have higher number of blades.

• The tower – The tower holds the rotating blades high up in the air so that the winds rotate them.

• The shaft – The shaft is responsible for joining the blades with the tower and for the smooth rotation of the blades.

• The generator – These home wind generators are what that generate electricity from the mechanical energy. It also stores power for future usage.

• The base: The base of the home wind turbine keeps it grounded to the earth.

There are many factors that affect the design of a home wind turbine and they are:

• Wind speed: The wind speed can be accurately measured with the help of an anemometer. It is not possible to determine the right kind of wind turbine without knowing the accurate wind speed.

• Wind direction: For designing a wind turbine, it is also important to know the direction from which the wind flows most of the time.

• Change in wind speed: Apart from the constant speed of mind, it is important that you know how the wind changes its speed.

• Change of wind direction: The direction of wind turbine not be constant, so it important to note the way it changes its direction.

• Obstructions on the site: It is best to install a wind turbine at a place without many obstructions. Look out for existing and potential structures that may affect the performance of your wind turbine.

• Wind turbulence: The movement of the wind is not always predictable. However, it is a great idea to understand the patter of wind turbulence in your site.

• Distance of wind activity from the ground: The height of the tower is dependent on the height of which the wind is active.

The designs of home wind turbines vary in the following measures:

• The number of blades
• Shape of the blades
• The height of the tower
• Types of generators
• The distance of the installation spot from the ground
• Distance between the tower and the generator

How To Build a DIY Home Wind Turbine

Posted by outside_voices on Friday, 23 October, 2009

A home wind turbine is specially crafted to be environmentally friendly and cost saving. With the presence of harmful greenhouse gases in our environment today, it is recommended to have one of these home wind generators to reduce the amount of pollutants being produced into our environment.

The home wind turbine generates usable electrical power by spinning a generator. This generator is attached to the rotor, made up of three aerodynamic blades, that is then attached to a tower/support. To maintain the turbine from facing the wind, the rotor has a tail, which acts as weather vain.

In general, the generator is an electric motor. When the coils in the motor spins past the magnets, an electric current is produced. The power produced is stored in batteries, which are connected to an inverter that changes the direct current to alternating current, and this can then be used to power your home. The advancement of motor efficiency is the main reason why home wind turbines have become so popular among homeowners.

Taking your area's wind conditions into consideration, the tower/support can vary in length. If you are living near the sea where the wind power is more significant, the tower/support can be shorter, but in low-wind areas the tower/support will need to be taller to catch the required amount of wind.

Over time, the blades have improved drastically as researchers developed lighter, stronger, more efficient blades, with the capability of turning even in the lightest breeze. Back in those days, wind turbines had five blades, and looked identical to windmill water pumps, but recently they have moved to three blades, taking the form of over-sized airplane rotors. Like the tower/support, the blades vary in size, base on your wind conditions and energy requirements. Build your own wind turbine and benefit from all its features today.

Benefits of a home wind turbine:

  • Achieve tax breaks and lower electrical bills
  • Power appliances, charge batteries and generate water pumps
  • Environmentally friendly machine
  • Increase your efficiency and never worry about power outages again
  • Ease of Use