June 8th, 2010 — 1:42pm
Energy costs keep sky rocketing with no end in sight. Pollution levels are increasing and our planet is facing a warming trend that could have devastating results. So the question is what can the average citizen do to save money and help the environment at the same time? One great way to help is to lower the amount of electricity your home purchases from the utility company by creating your own power. There are a few ways to do this, and wind power is one of the easiest and more reliable ways to produce energy at your home.
What is a Wind Turbine?
A wind turbine is a simple machine that collects kinetic energy produced by wind currents and converts this energy into power that can be used in the home. Wind turbines are installed on high towers; these towers are usually around eighty to one hundred and twenty feet high. Towers must be high enough to allow the turbine to be above any turbulence generated by objects on the ground. The higher the altitude also results in higher wind speed and in turn, a higher amount of energy can be produced.
How do Wind Turbines Work?
Wind energy is used to create mechanical energy. Turbines have blades that are turned by the wind; these blades turn a shaft to which they are connected. The shaft is then connected to a generator; the mechanical energy is transferred into the generator through the shaft and converts the mechanical energy into electricity. This electricity can then be used in the home for any electrical need. Homes that are using wind turbines to produce power are still hooked up to the power grid. Being hooked up to the power grid allows the home to still have power when wind currents aren’t strong enough to produce electricity. Another benefit of continuing to be connected to the power grid is that at the times your wind turbine is producing more power than your home can use, the utility company is absorbing the extra energy and paying you for it. This can lead to very low electric bills. A wind turbine can lower your power bill by 50-80% depending on the amount of wind in your area.
Types of Wind Turbines
There are two main types of turbines: horizontal- axis turbines and vertical-axis turbines. Turbines also come in different sizes as well. Utility companies use wind turbines that can range in size from 100 kilowatts up to several megawatts. These larger turbines are found in groups on wind farms. If you ever drive over the Temecula pass in California, you can see large wind farms along the highway. It is a spectacular site. Small turbines, 100 kilowatts or less, are used at homes. These are place on towers on the homeowner’s property and then used to provide some of the energy needed to run the home. Since the size of the tower is quite large, they are usually used in areas where the home is on one acre or more. There are very small turbines on very small towers that may be able to be of use in urban areas or on smaller lots.
Comment » | diy wind turbine
June 7th, 2010 — 12:10pm
While the image we would all tend to think of when we imagine wind turbines is of large blades spinning in the wind like propellers run in reverse, this is in fact a form of wind turbine which has numerous engineering drawbacks. Many of these drawbacks, however, are corrected by turning the turbine ninety degrees, to create the vertical-axis turbine.
What is a Vertical Wind Turbine?
A vertical (or vertical-axis) wind turbine is a turbine that spins around an up-down axis, rather than a forward-backwards one. While the horizontal-axis turbine has familiar examples such as the windmills of the past, it is more difficult to imagine what a vertical-axis wind turbine looks like. One particular form of vertical turbine resembles an elongated water wheel turned on its side, with of a set of airfoils resembling cut-out tubes arranged in a bundle, with all the tube segments pointing the same way around the circumference. Others have fewer airfoils spaced further from the center and open space in the middle, like an oak barrel with most of its timbers removed.
Aside from the form of the rotors, the rest of the process is the same for any sort of wind turbine. The rotors spin a shaft, which connects to the generator through a gearbox, which increases the rate of rotation. Resembling electrical motors run in reverse, all rotary electric generators operate on the same principles.
What are the Functional Differences between Horizontal and Vertical Wind Turbines?
While horizontal turbines must be pointed in the right direction in order to capture the wind at any particular time, vertical turbines need no such adjustment they work equally well with winds coming from any direction.
Vertical wind turbines with relatively low cut-in speeds can be built which can produce electricity a greater fraction of the time. Compared to a horizontal turbine of equivalent power, the more compact vertical configuration takes up less space. Finally, vertical axis turbines tend to run more quietly than their horizontal counterparts.
Finally, vertical axis turbines are much better suited to be used in urban areas due to their compact form and ability to run at low wind speeds.
Comment » | diy wind turbine
June 6th, 2010 — 1:11am
A new wind turbine blade design that researchers at Sandia National Laboratories developed in partnership with Knight & Carver (K&C) of San Diego promises to be more efficient than current designs. It should significantly reduce the cost-of-energy (COE) of wind turbines at low-wind-speed sites.
Named “STAR” for Sweep Twist Adaptive Rotor, the blade is the first of its kind produced at a utility-grade size. Its most distinctive characteristic is a gently curved tip, termed “sweep,” which unlike the vast majority of blades in current use, is specially designed for low-wind-speed regions like the Midwest. The sites targeted by this effort have annual average wind speeds of 5.8 meters per second, measured at 10-meter height. Such sites are abundant in the U.S. and would increase by 20-fold the available land area that can be economically developed for wind energy.
Sized at 27.1 meters – almost three meters longer than the baseline it will replace – the blade improves energy capture at lower wind speeds. Instead of the traditional linear shape, the blade features a curvature toward the trailing edge, which allows the blade to respond to turbulent gusts in a manner that lowers fatigue loads on the blade. It is made of fiberglass and epoxy resin.
“This design allows the blade to twist more than traditional designs, thus relieving some of the effects of gusty turbulent wind on blade life,” says Tom Ashwill, who leads Sandia’s blade research efforts. “This then allows us to grow the blade length for the same rotor, providing for increased energy capture of 5-10 percent and yet retaining the same expected fatigue life.”
Sandia is a National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) laboratory.
The K&C contract is part of the Low Wind Speed Technology (LWST) project that targets wind sites that are not the strongest but plentiful. In late 2005 the Department of Energy (DOE) and Sandia awarded Knight & Carver the $2 million contract that includes $800,000 in K&C cost share. Because of budget reallocations, this project was the only one of several LWST projects to receive 2007 funding.
Sandia’s role in the project has been in directing design and test planning. The K&C team provided the detailed design and blade fabrication.
The first STAR blade was tested in January at Knight & Carver’s fabrication facility in San Diego to determine its bending and twist behavior due to static loads. Natural frequencies were also measured. This data will be compared to design simulations to determine how well the design concept performs. Four additional blades will be fabricated in the first quarter of 2007 – three of which will be flight-tested on a turbine in Iowa.
“The DOE interest and funding are a big step for us,” Ashwill says. “We’ve been pushing for the incorporation of innovative concepts into utility-scale blades for some time now as a way of reaching program goals of lowered cost of energy.”
He adds that the continued increase in the average size of utility-grade wind turbines may come to an end before all efficiencies are wrung out unless blade weight growth (which is nonlinear) can be reined in. The challenge is to develop new concepts that reduce the rate of weight growth, such as the swept STAR blade.
Other weight-reducing concepts such as carbon spar caps, off-axis carbon fibers that facilitate bend-twist coupling, and new “structural” airfoils have been incorporated at a smaller scale in 9-meter-long prototype blade being flight-tested at Sandia’s test site in Bushland, Texas, at the U.S. Department of Agriculture ARS (Agriculture Research Station) facility.
Other members of the design team are Dynamic Design of Davis, Calif.; MDZ Consulting of Clear Lake Shores, Texas; University of California, Davis; and NSE Composites of Seattle, Wash.
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Comment » | diy wind turbine
November 2nd, 2009 — 5:10pm
When I started my wind turbine build project I had no idea where to start. I spent over $300 buying up guides that said they gave step by step instructions on how I could progress with my wind turbine build. It wasn’t until I brought Power 4 Home that I was able to progress my project.
With Power 4 Home you will receive not only the most complete, easy to follow step by step instructions written by an expert in the field, you also get high quality videos and information on where you can source the best parts at the best prices.
To see more information about what’s included in power 4 Home check out the Power 4 Home site.
I know that my wind turbine build would not have been a success without the information I got from Power 4 Home.
Since I started my initial project I have been able to build another wind turbine and together they cover all my electricity needs. Its great to get a check from the electricity company each month rather than having to write one for them!
Power 4 Home covers so much more than just wind turbines, you will also learn about solar power for example. I am working on a solar panel to heat the water for my home. This will mean I can sell more of the electricity my turbines generate to the electricity company.
If you really want to be in control of the future of your homes power you need to check out the Power 4 Home website, the guide is even at a reduced price at the moment*.
*I’m sorry if the price has been raised before you got to the page, information was correct at time of writing
Comment » | diy wind turbine
November 2nd, 2009 — 3:40pm
You can just buy a wind turbine kit and wait for it to arrive in the post. There are many different wind turbine kits that that you can purchase pre assembled from $500. A pre assembled kit will normally contain everything that you need to generate and store electricity for your home. Considering that you can save up to 80% on your electricity bills each month it seems like a very wise investment, After all it will pay for itself in no time!
If however you do not have $500 to buy a pre assembled wind turbine kit it is possible to build one yourself for about $200. Sure there is a little bit of effort involved in making your own wind turbine but you are saving $300.
To build your own wind turbine you are going to at least need a parts list and good set of instructions.
There are many guides available to you on the web, I personally feel that power 4 home is the most complete guide that you will find at the moment. With Power 4 Home you will receive not only the most complete, easy to follow instructions written by an expert in the field, you also get high quality videos and information on where you can source the best parts at the best prices.
To see more information about what’s included in power 4 Home check out the Power 4 Home site.
I have now built myself 2 wind turbines and a solar panel, Because of the amount of power my wind turbines generate I actually generate more power than I use so I sell power back to the power companies! It was buying the power 4 Home complete guide that allowed me to get into this position, if you want to save a packet on your bills or even get paid to generate your own electricity you to need to check out power 4 Home.
1 comment » | diy wind turbine, how to build a wind turbine
November 2nd, 2009 — 2:43pm
There are many reasons that you might want to build a wind turbine. The most obvious one is to generate your own electricity.
Why would you want to generate your own electricity? Just a few reasons may be to
- Reduce your electricity bill.
- Reduce your carbon footprint (and impact on the environment).
- Generate a second income.
There are many more reasons why you might want to generate your own electricity with your own home built wind turbine.
If you are wondering how to build a wind turbine then you have come to the right place because I am lucky enough to have been able to build two wind turbines of my own. These two turbines more than cover my electricity needs and even mean I can sell some of the electricity I produce back to the electricity company I use to pay every month.
When I was looking into how to build a wind turbine I searched all over the internet looking for a good guide that would give me all the information I would need to quickly and cost effectively build my wind turbines.
I purchased four different guides in the process and it cost me $300+ to do this. I would not recommend you waist your money doing this as I have already done that for you. The only guide worth anything is the Power 4 Home Guide.
With Power 4 Home you will receive not only the most complete, easy to follow instructions written by an expert in the field, you also get high quality videos and information on where you can source the best parts at the best prices.
To see more information about what’s included in power 4 Home check out the Power 4 Home site.
Comment » | diy wind turbine, how to build a wind turbine
