Wind Energy Turbines...diy Electric Power
Author: Avery Mann
Is it really feasible to harness the wind to generate enough electric power for your entire home? Are wind turbines affordable and can you put a workable wind energy system together yourself? These are the questions that have led you to this article. The answer is yes and yes. However, if you are expecting that one wind turbine will power your house, you might be in for a shock. There are many factors to consider before you even think about that scenario. This may sound funny, but you must determine first, if it is windy enough where you live, to justify a wind turbine. Many use wind power as a back up to solar, while still others use them both in conjunction, as an alternative energy package. It is not a question about whether it is ever windy where you live, it is probably windy during storms, but that is merely an observation about the weather. What you want to know about is the long-term average wind speed for your area, or historic climate data, not day-to-day weather. Obviously it will produce a greater amount of energy the more the small turbine spins.
To properly access the wind flow and generate enough electricity, wind turbines are installed on high towers that rise above any trees or surrounding buildings. Your roof top might not be the right place unless a tower is utilized. It is advisable to get your neighbors permission before installing such a structure. For whatever reason you chose not to have a high enough tower, it won't matter when it comes to generating adequate energy. It is better not to install a wind turbine in the first place, rather than to not have it high enough. There is simply little energy in low winds that you can convert into usable electricity.
Is it better therefor to have many wind turbines or one larger one? To answer this question, you first have to determine what it is exactly that you plan to power. Are we talking about an all electric home, or perhaps one that uses other energy sources such as natural gas? Considering that most homes do have more than one energy source, the average household consumes about 1,000 kWh of electricity per month, or about 12,000 kWh per year. Depending on your wind resource and the tower height required to get the wind turbine above the trees, a wind system designed to generate that kind of electric capacity would have to have a very large rotor. The price tag could easily exceed ,000.00 to install. Another option could be to have multiple smaller turbines. This of course would depend on the space you have available to erect the amount of towers needed.
There is of course another option that, depending on your situation, can save you thousands of dollars. I am referring to making this a do-it-yourself project. There are kits available that will cut your cost in half. Even better than that there are online instructional guides that will walk you through the entire process step by step. Small wind turbine system can be constructed for literally pennies on the dollar in this manner. For those of you who don't have either the time or the inclination to do it all yourself, I might suggest that you take advantage of the current work shortage by hiring a couple of competent handymen to construct the entire project. I bet with the right instructions, you could bring it in for a tenth of the original estimate.
My own extensive research has helped me narrow down the best of the best instructional guides, complete with blueprints, photos, for that do-it-yourself wind and/or solar power project you might be considering. Obviously, I can't go into great detail in this article, but if I have piqued your interest, you can get all the facts of this or many other ideas on how to go green at my site Possibly GREEN.
There you'll find the right ways to live a greener life, including up to date articles and information on Wind Energy Turbines...DIY Electric Power. At Possibly GREEN you will find the right ways to live a greener life, including information on how to convert your car inexpensively, grow an organic garden, live chemically free, and even find green jobs in your area.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/diy-articles/wind-energy-turbinesdiy-electric-power-2102568.html
About the Author
Now in my late 50's, I consider myself to be a Jack Of All Trades And Master Of a few things. I was a struggling actor for 25 years. During that time I learned a little about a lot of things, and would like to pass along some of that knowledge. As a person that deeply cares about the environment, I feel that we should do all we can to pitch in to save our beautiful planet with Wind Energy Turbines...DIY Electric Power
What are all the tranfers of energy that occur in an electric circuit with only an electric source and a resis
…and a resistor? Explain me everything right from the beginning if you can, please… Cuz I know the source makes charge circulate inside the circuit. And then what is the useful energy? Where is energy dissipated? Can you please give me a detailed explanation because my Physics book really sucks, it shows me a formula in which dissipated energy is only the dissipated energy inside the source, but then there’s a question which asks the dissipated energy in the cable, and you have to use that formula, but it didn’t say it worked for the cable too, so I really don’t get it…
You are really close on this one.
The thing to remember that the cable acts like a resistor, too. That’s because wires and cables are not perfect conductors. Now , they are 1000 times better than other loads that are in the circuit, but are resistors, nonetheless.
So, for a circuit with one source, and one resistor, you really have a second resistor, which is the cable. If you wanted to calculate the energy dissipated in the cable, the calculation is the same. Someone has to give you the resistance of the cable, though.
Think of it as calculating a circuit with two resistors in series, the load and the cable,too.
Could we build clouds that could collect lightning energy, using controlled discharge have a new energy source
to supply electric energy, wherever we wanted it to go? We could fly the cloud to a place that needed a charge, discharge to it, then move on. We might not get all of the energy at first, but there is tremendous energy in lighting! Even a fraction of that could be useful to mankind, right?
Man made collector clouds could be flown to man made collector plants and we could control discharge the man made collector clouds to the ground collectors/capacitors and then control discharge to a power grid for consumption?
“lightning”…..sorry..
I have never heard any talk about this but i’d think it is possible. In texas they are building a gaint circle build that is going to rotate many walls really fast different directions which is going to cause huge fiction. There then well have a way to release this energy which will be very simular to lighting from the clouds. It will be captured and stored as energy for us to use. There numbers will still being figured out but they said just one of these puppys could power a whole state with no toxic waste no fosile fuels. Hope there right but if i remember correctly they said something about 2020 before it will be completled
Gas operated instant water heater-common in Europe where they know how to save energy. Anytime you have to store and reheat water especially during work hours and weekends away from the house you are paying for nothing. If you have a big family and someones always home just gas water heater is OK.
Build yourself a nice R/C King Tiger tank.
http://www.modelflight.com.au/pics/k_tiger_box2.jpg
I need to make a car model using electric energy, with a small ecological footprint. Any ideas?
I am being supplied with a car set and a motor, i just need to have a source of energy (for example a type of battery).
Electric energy froma car’s tires…is it possible?
I was just looking at a site about electric cars the other day and was thinking about how they mentioned wind power as an alternative energy source. Well, is there any way we could use the spinning of the tires on our cars to help do the same effect as a windmill and produce electrical energy that way, which could recharge the battery or even be used to power an electric car??
I dont see where the extra energy would have to come from. The idea I had was to make the axle of a car magnetized and then have coils surrounding it so that when the axle spins like it does during normal driving, you would have an electric field produced. Or you could also use rims like “spinners” to create the spin of a “windmill” to produce the energy. Or you could do both!
Great imagination, but bad science. You can’t get something for nothing. The energy output from the motor is already used to spin something to make electricity to keep the battery charged; ever heard of an alternator? In general you can make as much electricity as you want, but the more that you make the more extra gas it will take.
=======================================
The extra energy is needed because the motion of the magnetic axle causes a resistance to movement as the lines of magnetic flux induce a current on the windings.
What is the least expensive source of energy for a hot water tank – fuel oil, propane or electric?