Build Your Own Wind Turbine - An Introduction

Today more than ever folks are looking for innovative and new ways to reduce their overall home energy consumption and their monthly power bills. Recently, home wind power generation is becoming a more popular solution to this problem. With the proper information and guidance it is now possible for almost anyone to build their own inexpensive and reliable wind turbine as part of an overall home conservation plan.  

Before you build your own wind turbine, you need at least a basic understanding of how these machines operate and their major components. Most wind turbines consist of the same few basic parts. None are terribly complicated on their own, and all are easy and inexpensive to acquire. Assembly is fairly uncomplicated and straightforward. It should be noted though that, power output will suffer if any single component isn’t properly optimized and sized to work with the others.

Find ou how to build your own wind turbine here.

So let's break this down.

The blades, which we're all used to seeing, are bolted to a hub in the center of the machine. Electrical current is produced in the alternator to which the hub is attached. When they encounter wind force the blades turn the hub because of how they are shaped. Electrical current is created by the alternator through the rotational movement and the current flows into the power system through the wiring.

The turbine’s blades are shaped into a “twist” that creates a a slight pitch in the center, nearest the hub, and a greater pitch as the blades extend outward. The degree of pitch along the length of the blade must be specific to the blade length and to the speed of rotation required by the alternator. The blades must also be balances (sort of like the wheels on your car) to prevent wobble.

As already noted it is the alternator's job to produce the electrical current.  It most commonly includes a stator which houses magnetic rotors and copper wrapped coils. Current runs through wiring from the alternator to your energy distribution or collection system. Once again, compatibility of parts is important because efficiency will suffer if the wire gauge, batteries and inverters aren't properly sized for the alternator, or if the total length of wire run is too long.

The tail assembly consists of a horizontal boom to which the tail vane is attached. The entire wind turbine sits atop a pivot point (called the yaw bearing). As wind direction shifts, the tail and yaw bearing allow the turbine to turn as needed to maintain maximum speed.

To prevent excessive speed that the alternator can't use, the turbine must also turn partially out of the wind when it gets too strong. This is known as “furling”. The turbine will not furl when it needs to unless the size and weight of the tail are correct.

Finally, it is highly advisable that every turbine should have some kind of mechanical or electrical shut off device for times of very high wind and/or maintenance. There are a number of ways to accomplish this including a mechanical breaking system or a switch that shorts out the alternator. However it is accomplished, the ability to shut the machine down is an important safety feature .

This isn't nearly as complicated as it all might sound. In fact it is completely achievable to build your own inexpensive and reliable home power generating wind turbine with the right guidance and instructions to follow.