How to Build a Wind Turbine By: Terry Dunn

With society slowly moving towards a cleaner and greener planet, alternative energy is being pushed more and more into the spotlight. Wind power currently comes in second only to natural gas as a renewable source of energy. Last year there was over 1700 megawatts of power product by wind turbines. This year it wind power is expected to account for about 1.5% of the US power needs. Commercial wind farms will account for most of this energy however residential wind turbines are becoming more and more popular and are slowly helping to reduce harmful emissions which tend to pollute our atmosphere; this is why more people want to know how to build a wind turbine.

Wind power is a very clean source of energy, especially when compared to fossil fuel energy which is the main stay in today’s world. Usually the only objection to wind turbines is their so called "visual pollution” and sometimes even the noise that they create. This however is not the case with residential wind turbines. Today's wind turbines are very compact thanks to technology and they can contribute quite considerably to the overall household energy consumption which in turn saves you money. In fact if you combine it with a solar power unit you could quite easily power your average sized home. While there are household commercial units available, with the advent of the internet there are a number of guides that can easily show you how to build a wind turbine and often at a cost of less than $200.

Some people think that if you are planning on installing a wind turbine at your home that you have to be in an open area so you can get a maximum amount of wind hitting your turbine, this however is not the case as even the smallest amount of breeze can be enough to generate so electricity which will be stored in the battery units. The amount of energy that you can produce is a combination of wind flow and design. Obviously the more wind that the wind turbine is exposed to, the more energy that it can generate and the more energy that can be stored in its batteries. However the traditional windmill design that most people are familiar with isn’t the only design. Roof top mounted wind turbines are comparably small units which do not use the traditional tower as these turbines are designed to be used in relatively sheltered or built up areas where there is not a good wind flow.

If you live out in the country, these units can be fantastic for you especially if you are prone to having power outages and don't like to use your gasoline generator. The great thing about learning how to build a wind turbine is that you can make more than one turbine for your home which of course means that you will generate more power for your home which in turn means that you will save more money by cutting your power costs.