Comments on: DIY WIND TURBINE BLUEPRINT REVIEW

By: DB

DB — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 22:49:30 +0000

I have thought a lot about this in the past couple of years, and so I am grateful for the review and the encouragement to do it. For those of you that are wondering how to tie into your grid, the power company will probably have a program exactly for this. Out here in the West, Pacificorp has a “net metering” program, where they send someone out to hook up your source of power (wind, solar, generator) to their grid. I think they take care of the inverters, but I am not totally sure about that. In short, you use the power you create plus any that you need to buy from the company. If you have any surplus, they will buy it. They have certain limits (like 25 kW) but this sounds like a great device for the general consumer. For more information, I have included the article from the Pacificorp website. I would imagine that other companies would do something similar.

http://www.pacificorp.com/Article/Article59318.html

Thank you . . . DB

By: Kay Horn

Kay Horn — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:08:26 +0000

Thank you so much. I have called everyone in the Envirormental/Goverment fields for some kind of advice as to how I could go about building some larger wind Turbines on my farm in Ky.,but everyone one I talked to said they had no knowledge of any information about them. Now at least I know some smaller ones are out there and I can maybe build one myself at a very low cost. You are awesome…. I have about 30 acres of land on a higher elevation and was just wanting to lower my electric bill which is usually sky high, because my electric company buys it’s electric from another company, so they double the cost for everyone in my area. You are a very generous person for sharing this information with us. Thank you so very much…Kay

By: James Dawson

James Dawson — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 23:56:33 +0000

Eric, sorry I do not have decibel level results as each wind turbine’s noise output would vary greatly on the equipment you purchased (or obtained).

As with standards, the build of the turbine is obviously not certified by any national organization and you do so at your own risk. If you plan on tieing your power into your grid, you need to consult with a licensed electrician on how this can be done as it’s illegal to do this yourself.

A basic rule is that you want the average wind speed in your area to be at least 10mph, and if money is a concern wind turbines start to make economic sense at about 10 cents per kilowatt hour.

By: James Dawson

James Dawson — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 23:35:53 +0000

Richard, the wind turbine output is DC and therefore an inverter is required to run your household appliances and electronics

By: Richard Reese

Richard Reese — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 20:40:50 +0000

is this an ac gen or dc?

By: Eric

Eric — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 16:00:17 +0000

I know you said that it makes hardly any noise whatsoever, but are there any tests on the decibel level? My town’s ordinance requires that it not exceed 50 decibels. In addition, I was wondering if the plans are in compliance with the International Building Code and National Electrical Code? What about wind loads? Your feedback will be helpful in determining if I can get the project off the ground.

By: James Dawson

James Dawson — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 04:01:10 +0000

Lynn, it comes down to the bi-laws of the city you live in. Some have specific rules about erecting wind turbines and other cities do not. Like I recommended to Kathleen I would contact your local city hall or consult your city’s municipal website to find out what the rules are for your area.

By: James Dawson

James Dawson — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 03:52:08 +0000

Thanks for your question Kathleen. As far as permits from the city or county go to build a wind turbine on your property, it would really depend on the bi-laws are for that particular city. I would recommend contacting your local city hall or going to your city’s municipal website to find out what the rules are for your area.

By: lynn

lynn — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:22:51 +0000

windmills sound great i’d love to try it! my question is do you have to get permision,or permit to bulid this in your own back yard. is there limits to where and who bulids them. thanks lynn

By: James Dawson

James Dawson — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 02:14:05 +0000

KB: Larger windmills can be built but there are size limits etc. A large windmill would require a very big tower/generator/blades etc. Not for home use.

I would recommend building smaller windmills and joining them. All depends on the RPM you require:

Parallel wiring if using a low RPM generator (generators that do not need as many rotations to reach the required voltage) can be used to charge a battery bank of 12v.

Series should be used if you have a higher RPM turbine. High RPM generators obviously need more RPM to reach 12v. They can be wired in series to increase the voltage at lower RPMS.

With multiple wind generators you can fix problems on one while the other still produces power etc. and are much easier to maintain.

The power can be fed into the power grid through a grid tied inverter. These plug straight into the power outlet and feed power back into the system.

Multiple grid tied inverters can be used if enough power is being generated.

Hope this helps!