How Wind Power Creates Electric flow

Curious about wind power?

Harnessing wind power and converting it into electricity is something that most people have heard about. The wind has long been powering the farmhouses of old and the ships that sail the seas. Even children know what a windmill is and what it does. In modern times, the wind still remains one of the paramount sources of power.

One way to harvest wind power is with a wind turbines. But wait, is your home ideal for wind power system installation? To take advantage of the use of wind power as a source of electricity, you have to be located somewhere windy. Houses in states that constantly get at least 7 mph breeze can make use of wind power. Some of the best places for setting up a wind turbine are The Rocky Mountains, Great Plains and some coastal areas.

Wind power systems are attached to AC or DC generators and battery banks, which may be outsourced to the electrical grid.  Because of changing wind velocities, you can expect variations in wind turbine revolution speed.  Wind turbines have a standard operational velocity based on their aerodynamics. Maintenance of this operational range is achievable using modern load control and different pitch blade systems.

Horizontal axis wind turbines are the most prevalent model in the wind power market at present.  These are a long-established design of windmill with two to four blades facing wind stream.  Sizes range from small home units that will produce a few kilowatts, on up to bulky industrial units in excess of 1 Megawatt.

The most important thing to keep in mind when it comes to wind power is your local wind speeds.  The amount of energy you can make is a function of the wind speed to the third power.  The difference between a 14 mph and 8 mph breeze, then, is actually quite good.  It is for this reason that a wind turbine system should be at a higher altitude, so that obstructing plants and shelters that slow down the wind speed can be avoided.

Wind is one of our most ancient sources of electric flow.  If you have this precious resource, then a wind power scheme is well within your capability.  You will have to choose a size for your wind power turbine system and put some thought into the installation.  The best thing about owning a wind turbine is you can set it up and it will passively create power for you as long as the wind velocity allows.

Using Renewable Energy – Solar and Wind Power

Renewable energy has plenty to offer all of us. It may surprise you to know that the wind and the sun around us can be used to generate usable electricity to power our houses. These renewable energy sources can be great helpers for many homeowners when combined with some DIY home building kits.

In some locations, it does not make sense to rely upon certain types of them. Yet, in other places, it certainly does not make sense not to incorporate such fascinating opportunities. The type of renewable resource that most people are aware of is solar energy. This means you are able to collect energy as long as the sun shines in the sky. You aren't depleting any of it, but you are using what it has to offer. These home solar power systems have to be placed on the top of a structure to collect sun energy. These energy collected from the sun are converted into usable electricity to power home appliances. The amount you can collect daily will vary due to the amount of sunlight changing due to the weather.

You will be able to immediately kick back over to the grid for electricity should your need for it exceeds what you have collected. If you are able to create more than what you use, it can be stored and then used on other days when you don't create as much as you need to. This entire process is automatic so once you have those panels in place you don't have to do much else to benefit from it day after day.

Renewable energy includes the wind. Some days it blows a soft breeze. Other days, it can be extremely harsh. A home wind turbine can be placed out in the open to be able to collect this type of energy. Some of them are small in size to be placed in your own yard. Others are huge and are found on the open plains strategically placed.

Being able to use renewable energy out there is extremely important to the future of our world. We can't continue to use up the resources we possess have now and not understand how that will affect us in the future. Changes are needed now, so that we can continue to have what we need without destroying the Earth.

What to know about a Residential Wind Turbine

Residential Wind Turbine – Important Facts

The performance of a residential wind turbine system is greatly affected by the unit’s power curve.  The power produced by the wind generator is determined by the power curve of the unit and is measured in watts or kilowatts.  It is important to determine how much wind velocity your site location is capable of producing. Once you have determined the wind range, you should install a wind turbine system that has a power curve that matches this velocity.

How to Select a Residential Wind Turbine

If you are in the market to purchase a small wind turbine, the diameter of the rotor of the turbine or the swept area is a major factor when making your purchasing decision. Keep in mind that most small wind turbines work at about 10 to 20 miles per hour.

Residential Wind Turbine – The System

The advantage of living on a large tract of land, i.e. one acre or more, affords you the opportunity to capture the wind and turn it into your own renewable power source. If you have a good wind resource, a small residential wind turbine can cut your electricity bill by 50 to 90 percent.        
The workhorse of the system is the wind turbine, which also costs the most. The blade diameter or rotor of the turbine produces the power by sweeping the wind. The generator or alternator converts the sweeping rotation into electricity. The turbine is kept pointed into the wind by the body or tail. Finally, the tower lifts the system allowing the benefit of being in the higher air to gain maximum efficiency for the system.

How Do I Find and Measure the Wind

You can start by visiting the world-wide-web and going to the United States Department of Energy’s website under the heading Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy which provides wind power classification maps of the United States.  These maps provide estimates of the wind resource as expressed in wind power classes.  Each class represents a variety of mean wind power density or equivalent mean speed at specified heights above the ground. The maps are based on average wind speed.  You’ll want a location that gives you consistent wind speeds.
Next, to calculate local wind conditions, visit a science or weather equipment store to find your wind speed equipment. The data collected should be sufficient to help determine the size of your residential wind turbine needed.

I hope you have found this article informative.  If you wish to find out more please visit www.sold-on-green.com!

Building Your Own Wind Turbine Is Nowhere Near As Hard As It Sounds!

About a month ago, I proclaimed to my friends and family that I intended to build a wind generator. Seeing as how I’ve never been very handy yet can be quite tenacious, there were mixed predictions on my success. In all honesty it’s not that difficult to build a wind generator on your own with the proper instruction manual and I know I’m not alone in being a homeowner who is tired of paying the utility company’s escalating fees to the point of being ready to take some action. Renewable energy systems, like wind generators and solar panels, are now much more attainable and affordable than they used to be. It’s certainly not a 2-hour job to throw one of these together but with the proper instructions, and a good dose of tenacity, you can be assembling your own wind turbine pretty quickly.

I definitely would not recommend taking on a project like this without a guidebook. And for anyone who has worked on a project with the assistance of an instruction book before, you know that all guidebooks are NOT created equal. Whatever you do, do not shop based on price alone. Search for value but also make sure that you find something that is simple to understand, preferably with plenty of illustrations. There are numerous internet forums and online resources that can help in your quest to build your own wind generator.

Wind turbines are made up of four basic parts that should help you get familiar with their design and function. These are the batteries, the towers, the turbines and the tail/propeller assembly. The tools that you should have on hand for your project are fairly basic and you may not need to purchase anything special. Make certain you have a drill, a saw and a set of wrenches to start. Depending on what type of project you chose, you may need additional tools but I’d hold off until you take a good read through your instruction book before making any purchases.

One part that you likely will not be putting together from scratch, thus will need to buy, is the motor. Motors on wind turbines do not require much in the way of maintenance so that should not be a major concern. Just be prepared to do some oiling and follow the manufacturer’s directions and you’ll have a more efficient operating machine. Space is a concern as well. If you haven’t already done this (it’s one of the first things I did), take a stroll outside and think about 1) just where you’re going to construct this thing, ie – work space, and 2) where you are going to set it up. Depending on how much electricity you are seeking to generate, your turbine blades can reach up to 8 feet in diameter.

In the end, I put the doubters in their place and built my own wind generator. It’s not that difficult if you can follow directions and the whole thing pays for itself very quickly because I am now generating my own electricity. How cool is that? Pun intended. Building wind turbines and solar panels is becoming very popular these days and there are some great products on the market to help consumers do just that – affordably.  Our site reviews several of these products to help take the guesswork out of DIY solar power and wind power projects.There’s plenty of fantastic information on there as well.

Visit us today to get your FREE report on how you can start saving money on your electric bill NOW! We’re here to bring information on alternative renewable energy sources for your home- solar power, wind power, hydro and more! Product reviews, articles, tips… We have a great Squidoo Lens also:

Green Energy Technologies Launches WindCube(R) at Windpower 2009

First Commercial-Scale Urban Wind Power System for Rooftop Use Customers With Small Footprints, Moderate Wind Can Expect Short Payback AKRON, Ohio, May 5 /PRNewswire/ — Green Energy Technologies LLC, a privately held company founded in 2006, announces the launch of WindCube(R), a 60kW rooftop wind turbine designed for on-site power generation by commercial and industrial power users in urban and suburban locations. The turbine, which captures and amplifies the wind, fills a previously unmet need for wind turbines that can be placed into service in a very small footprint and take advantage of the nation’s net metering laws. “Now building owners anywhere can consider being a part of the renewable energy picture,” said Mark L. Cironi, president and founder of Green Energy Technologies, and with John W. Fedor, the technology’s inventor. “With WindCube, it’s not necessary to have the wind of Kansas or Nebraska to become a generator of wind power. In states with excellent renewable energy incentives, moderate wind and high electric rates, the payback can be as little as three years.” The turbine is available as a single (60kW) or dual (120kW) system and in rooftop or tower-mounted design. The product is modular to satisfy a customer’s electrical requirements, and produces the same amount of energy in a 22x22x12-foot framework as a traditional turbine with blades 50 feet in diameter. It is ideal for a wide range of users, from industrial companies and commercial office buildings to big-box retailers, college campuses and electric users in remote locations. Innovative Technology Amplifies Moderate Wind The WindCube features a groundbreaking patent-pending design that relies on the wind tunnel effect known in physics as the Bernoulli Principle. While the rest of the wind industry generates energy through the use of free-stream wind, the WindCube captures and amplifies the wind, which produces more kilowatt-hours (kWh). As the wind comes into the WindCube shroud, it becomes concentrated, creating increased velocity and in turn, more power. Because of the amplification effect, the WindCube is able to capture wind energy as low as 5 mph. The WindCube generates electricity by running its motor backwards using an impeller (the opposite of a propeller), eliminating the need for a gearbox. This lowers the cost of ownership because the gear box is the source of most of the maintenance problems and failures on conventional wind turbines. Value-Added Energy Services Part of Each Sale Roth Bros., Inc. (Youngstown, Ohio), a national energy management company, will provide WindCube customers with 24/7 monitoring of energy usage using an online remote system that it designed for the WindCube. Roth will also provide professional installation of the WindCube turbines at each customer’s location, from initial site analysis to commissioning, and Roth can provide post-installation preventive maintenance and service on the units. Roth currently provides remote energy management and HVAC and roofing services for more than 100,000 locations throughout the United States. “Adding Roth Bros.’ construction and installation capability, contractor network, and energy management and services expertise gives us the infrastructure to truly launch the WindCube on a national basis,” said Mr. Cironi. “In our business, we are working every day with energy and facility managers looking for ways to reduce their energy bill and shrink their carbon footprint,” said Paul Belair, president of Roth Bros. “We believe there is a huge potential demand for a product like the WindCube from building owners and managers as well as developers seeking renewable energy credits from green building programs like LEED and Green Globes.” Along With Net Metering, Stimulus Bill Tax Credit Lowers Cost Net metering is a simple, inexpensive, and easily-administered mechanism for encouraging the use of small-scale wind energy systems. When a customer produces more electricity than is needed in a building via an on-site generation system such as the WindCube, the existing electricity meter spins backward, yielding a credit to the electric bill. At an average wind speed of about 15 miles per hour, one WindCube will generate about 160,000 kWh per year of electricity. In addition, a highly favorable element in the timing of the WindCube launch is the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 federal stimulus bill, which contains a provision that allows buyers of “small wind” systems (up to 100 kW) an uncapped investment tax credit of 30 percent of the total installed cost for systems placed in service between now and 2016. The American Wind Energy Association predicts the federal subsidy could help the small-turbine market grow by 40 to 50 percent annually, a boost that would parallel the growth of the U.S. solar photovoltaic industry after a similar 2005 initiative. Moreover, in addition to the federal tax credit, most states provide some form of applicable renewable energy incentive. Ohio, for example, offers a tax rebate of 40% (capped at $200,000) of the overall project cost on facilities served by the state’s investor-owned utilities. About the Inventors Mr. Cironi has more than 30 years of experience in corporate management, sales management, and project management in the information technology field with IBM, Oracle and Digital Equipment. Mr. Fedor is the co-founder and former president of Cleveland-based Masco Machine, Inc. Green Energy Technologies’ chief engineering consultant on the project is David Spera, Ph.D., who served as Chief Engineer of NASA’s wind turbine projects from and is the lead author and editor of internationally recognized book Wind Turbine Technology. He also led the development of the ANSI-ASME Performance Test Code for Wind Turbines, which is an industry standard. Dr. Spera now works as an independent consultant for DASCON Engineering, which he founded in 1991. About Green Energy Technologies (Booth #1517 at Windpower 2009) Green Energy Technologies (www.getsmartenergy.com) is the manufacturer of the WindCube(R), a unique wind turbine designed specifically for commercial and industrial power users located in urban and suburban settings. As the premier provider of urban wind systems, we are committed to delivering innovative, reliable technology and providing best-in-class customer support. The WindCube’s groundbreaking design allows large power-users to integrate wind energy into a variety of standard urban roofs. If roof space is limited or incompatible, the WindCube may be tower-mounted. With the WindCube’s superior flexibility, a wide-range of users can now benefit from the power of the wind. It is ideal for everyone from industrial companies to developers with LEED-certified commercial office buildings to electric users in remote locations. WindCube is a registered trademark of Green Energy Technologies.

SOURCE Green Energy Technologies LLC