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