Basics of DIY Wind Turbine Construction
June 19, 2009 by admin
Filed under Alternative Power
You’ve finally decided to go green and make your own wind turbine to power your house – once you’ve collected all the parts, how do you assemble everything?
Here’s how you do it in 9 easy steps:
Stage 1: Procure or buy all the components on either eBay or from a hardware shop in your area. You’ll need a DC power motor, metallic sheets, PVC pipe, hub, tower, deep-cycle battery, charge controlling device, dump load, AC inverter and sufficient nuts as well as bolts to connect the three blades to the tower.
Phase 2: To start with, cut the PVC pipe into a 3 ft long piece, and then cut the pipe into four pieces ” 3 will be used for blades, and one shall be a spare. You will have to shape each blade so that one side tapers into a 2 point. The blades should of approximately 6 ft long ” they could be smaller, but surely not smaller than 4 ft in which case they may not spin easily.
Stage 3: Make holes on the other side of the narrow end of the blades so that their positions align with your hub.
Part 4: Weld or bolt a coupling to your hub, and then attach the hub to the 3 blades as well as to the motor shaft using small steel bars (12″ by 2″ should be fine).
Phase 5: Align the blades and the hub by marking each blade with a number and making sure that the same blade does not land at the bottom every time ” if so, then you may have to scrape some metal off your connected metal bars.
Phase 6: Smoothly slide the DC motor shaft into the hole in the middle of your hub (or drill one if it’s not there already). Make sure the hub is securely fastened.
Phase 7: Determine the height of your tail shaft and again make a hole through the top (smaller) portion of your tower, above where the upper end of the tail shaft should be.
Stage 8: Then, cut the original tail shaft from your metal, so that it measures around 3 to 4 ft long and then attach it to the tower using a flat bracket.
Part 9: Now, connect your DC motor to the charge controller, connect the charge controller to the battery, connect the battery to the AC inverter, and then connect that to your utility box. The type of wire you need to use depends on the materials you’ve used – ask your electrician for help if all else fails.
Like I mentioned above, this is just a tip of the iceberg regarding DIY wind turbines – just enough so that you may understand how to build a simple turbine yourself.
The wind turbine described above should generate 300-500 watts of power, assuming that your mean wind velocity is a minimum of 10-20 mph.
Personal Wind Power 101
June 15, 2009 by admin
Filed under Alternative Power
Do you want to be part of the green movement and start supplying yourself with power from the wind? You aren’t the only one – now is the time to join in and use wind power to kick you power bill.
Getting started is a cinch if you buy a prefabricated wind turbine – one that is pre-made.
To totally power your house, you are looking at an investment of anywhere from $5000 to $20,000. Assuming you have average electricity usage, this investment pays for itself within about 10 to 15 years.
This return on your investment is tolerable, but to get the most bang for your dollar, the best option is to go the do-it-yourself route and build your own wind turbine.
If you build carefully, you will see that you can produce the same results as the pre-made wind turbine, for an investment as low as $200.
The following list should get you on your way to powering your home with wind:
* DC Motor
* Sheets of metal (for making the tail and body)
* ABS or PVC pipe (to construct your wind turbine blades)
* Hub (to connect your blades to the motor)
* Tower (to hold up your blades)
* Deep-Cycle Battery (energy storage)
* Charge Controller (to prevent the battery from overloading)
* A dump load to absorb excess power
* AC Inverter (if you need to use AC power)
* Nuts and bolts (connects blades, hubs, and other pieces)
* Tools
It is easy to see that a do-it-yourself wind turbine requires more technical savvy than it takes to produce your own solar panels. This is because the device is more complicated mechanically.
The best part is that a homemade wind turbine will output more power than a solar device. If you do it right and have enough wind you could get up to 500 watts from one wind device. This means you’ll only need a few to power yourself solely on wind.
Before you begin you should make sure you have enough wind to make it worth you while, otherwise all your work will be for naught. Your best bet is to only use wind turbines if you average wind speed is at least 10 mph. If you are in a low, tree-covered area, then wind power probably isn’t you best bet.
If it is the case that your home isnt ideal for the use of a wind turbine, consider solar panels, the next-best option!
Build Your Own Solar Cell 101
June 2, 2009 by admin
Filed under Alternative Power
Going green and already building your own solar panels? Good for you! You might be tempted now to build your own solar cells as well.
We all have noble aspirations, but you need to consider it carefully before you try to build your own solar cell. It requires a lot of time to make even one, and you probably won’t save much, if any, money by doing it.
The time involvement necessary to create one single solar cell is extensive, and it pays to remember that just one solar panel can have in the neighborhood of hundreds, if not of thousands of cells, depending on the size. So, think hard ” do you really want to commit the time and effort when it might be cheaper and most probably easier, to purchase them ready-made?
But if you truly want to proceed with making your own solar cells, here are the materials you’ll need:
1) Copper sheet – half a square foot should do. 2) Two clip leads. 3) Micro-ammeter measuring between 10 and 50 microamperes. 4) Either an electric stove, or some type of heating plate to put on your gas stove. 5) A large jar or plastic bottle. 6) A few tablespoons of salt. 7) A bucket of water. 
Sandpaper. 9) To cut the copper, you’ll need metal shears.
The first step is to cut the copper flashing to roughly the size of your electric heating element. Keeping the copper ultra-clean is key here, so use the sandpaper to scour the copper sheet then wash it, wash your hands, and do it all again to make sure.
Once you have your copper piece, put it on your heating plate and turn the heat to “high.” It should take 30 minutes to produce a blackened sheet, and then another 20 minutes for it to cool so you can handle it.
Afterward, the oxide will have disappeared and your copper will be covered with black and red spots all over.
Then, cut another copper sheet that’s approximately the same size as your first one and make sure that they can both fit into your plastic bottle or jar without touching.
Now, connect the positive terminal of your micro-ammeter to your “uncooked” copper, and connect the negative terminal to the copper piece that you heated up.
Now, pour the salt into the heated water you have, and pour them both into the bottle to fill it up just below the tops of the two copper sheets.
If done properly, your new solar cell should produce at least 10-50 microamperes of current. You can test it by placing it in the sun and seeing if your meter detects current coming from the cells.
Since copper is so inefficient compared to silicon, you’d need 80,000 square meters of these cells to power a single 100-watt light bulb. So I’d highly recommend eBay for buying cheap, manufactured silicon solar cells.
Solar Panels for the Home: Myths You Shouldn’t Believe
May 31, 2009 by admin
Filed under Alternative Power
With the popularity of green energy and especially solar power lately, more people than ever before are becoming interested in creating their own solar panels and going “off the grid.” But there are a lot of myths and misinformation out there about what you can really do with these solar panels, how much they cost, and how much in dollars they can shave off your electricity bill.
The first, and biggest, myth of all is that solar panels are extremely expensive. This is only true if you buy them through a large company and get a professional installation service – if you do that, it might cost over $20,000 to take your house completely “off the grid”!
Assuming you do it yourself, though, you can get the same great results at a fraction of the price with 2 different but equally viable approaches.
Method #1: Buy broken or not 100% functional solar panels, either on eBay, from solar manufacturing companies, or by calling local places like your hardware store or even the highway patrol.
Why highway patrol? Well, solar panels are used along many highways in the US, and traffic accidents often result in broken solar panels – so this can be a great source for making your home 100% green. And it’s something not too many people know about.
Another method: you can buy the individual solar cells from eBay or from your local hardware store, and then assemble everything yourself. These cells are very cheap, but they don’t function at 100% – and it will take a few days to assemble everything.
The second big myth about solar panels for the home is that you can completely eliminate your electric bill with them, all the time. This is nice to think about, but the truth is more complicated than that.
One big problem with this is that not everyone lives in the ideal area for solar power – if you’re in Alaska, or your house is in the shade, you’ll have a tough time extracting much power from your solar panels.
But even without that, the average house would require solar panels with the capacity for thousands of kilowatts to go 100% “off the grid.” And if you use air-conditioning, you’ll need double what the typical home would require.
However, even if you don’t make your electric bill vanish, you can still greatly reduce it. And if you build multiple solar panels or also use wind turbines, you really can take your bill to $0.
The third myth is that do-it-yourself solar panels will fall apart easily, or are very fragile. Don’t get me wrong – nothing lasts forever, and solar panels are no exception.
It starts with proper construction: prevent moisture from getting in by using silicone, and then use flexi-glass on the outside to prevent water, dust, and debris from settling on top.
And then there’s maintenance – you need to clean your panels, check the wiring, and clean out moisture at least once a year. Do this, and your solar panels will last for years and power your house long into the future.
