| Some people enjoy taking matters into their own | | | | In most locations, gentle winds (5-15 mph) are the most |
| hands and instead of paying for a wind generator, they | | | | common, and strong winds are very rare. You should |
| prefer to create a project of their own and build one. | | | | try to make a sturdy machine that will produce good |
| Building a wind generator from nothing is actually not | | | | power in low wind speeds, and that will be able to |
| as difficult as one may think. In order to build a simple | | | | survive high wind events while still producing maximum |
| model of a wind turbine, you will need to go to a shop | | | | power. Remember, the power available in the wind |
| with basic power and hand tools, and have some | | | | goes up by a factor of 8 as the wind speed doubles. |
| degree of dedication. | | | | Other critical factors are rotor size and tower height. |
| Large wind generators of 2000 Watts and up are a | | | | The power a wind turbine can harvest goes up by at |
| major project needing very strong construction so | | | | least a factor of 4 as you double the rotor size. And |
| prepare yourself in advance for the time and effort if | | | | making a tower higher gets you above turbulence for |
| that‘s what you want to do. But the smaller ones in | | | | better performance and increased power output. |
| the 700 to 1000 Watt, 8 to 11 foot range can be built | | | | Putting a wind turbine on a short tower is like mounting |
| with not too much difficulty. | | | | solar panels in the shade it simply just does not make |
| In fact, it is highly recommend that you tackle a smaller | | | | any sense, doing so, does it now. |
| wind turbine before even thinking about building a large | | | | Before you jump into something serious like building |
| one. You will need to be able to cut and weld steel, | | | | your own wind turbine, do your homework. Some |
| and a metal lathe can be handy although to make life | | | | things work and other things will not work. You can |
| easier on yourself you could take into consideration | | | | therefore save hours and dollars by learning from |
| hiring a machine shop that turns brake rotors to do | | | | other people's successes and failures. |
| some small steps for you. | | | | |