Considering the tough times we are now living in, you may likely be thinking of other options that could make living easier and inexpensive. Since we live our every day lives fully dependent on electricity, it is indeed beneficial to make use of the recyclable energy that is quite abundant in our surroundings. One good bet would be to take advantage of the wind that we have around us. To be able to do this, a device called a wind generator would come in handy. But how to build a wind generator?

That is a good question. Here are some simple steps to help guide you:

- First, find a suitable place where you can set up a tower. It must be 30 to 40 feet high, and within a 300 to 400 foot radius of open space. With regard to the tower, you can choose between tilt-ups and freestanding designs. Tilt-ups are most common since they are easier to maintain because you don’t have to climb up to clean it, but then free standing towers are taller, which means maximized output for your wind turbine.

- Next up on your list are the materials you are going to use. You can start with a high voltage, low current DC motor that runs at low rpm’s. This is the heart of the unit that will convert the wind into electrical current.

- Now you need to create the blades of your windmill. These can be made of wood, plastic, sheet metal, or better yet, PVC pipe. Keep in mind that the longer the blades, the better. A wider covered area means the more energy it can extract from the wind.

- The next step would be about fixing the hub, that which connects the blades onto the motor. One easy way would be to look for a scrap steel disc with which you can drill holes into and attach to a shaft that would connect the blades.

- Finally, you need to attach a tail and pivot to your windmill to keep it turned to the wind. You can do this with some square tubing and pipe nipple, a flange for the pivot, and some scrap sheet metal for the tail.

- After setting up your wind generator, one more important step must be covered and that is the battery. Batteries are essential basically because it is where the converted energy is stored. Keep the batteries close to the generator as much as possible to monitor the charging, and look for highly efficient batteries, which are low in maintenance.

Batteries to be used are those for power system applications are called “deep cycle,” which are rated in amp-hours and have indication of its charge-discharge cycles.

In knowing how to build a wind generator it’s best to remember that placing a diode between the battery and the generator is good in order to prevent the energy from being wasted and flowing directly onto the generator itself. Adding a secondary load is helpful as a depot for excess energy produced.

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