What is your first thought about wind turbines? Do you think that the people who make them must be highly qualified technicians who have studied for donkey’s years?
What would you think, if one of your neighbours said that they were going to assemble their own wind turbines in order to create their own electricity?
The fact is that it is not really very hard to make a wind turbine. You certainly do not have to have been to university to do it and you do not have to be an amateur electrician either. You will, however, need a good set of plans in order to put up an effective wind turbine.
There are various sources of plans for wood turbines. You could go to a hobbyist shop, a DIY warehouse or the Internet. If you search on the Internet, search for a web site that specializes in alternative energy technology.
Once you have you manual, guide or drawings for making wind turbines, you should study it well and get any questions you have answered on forums on the Internet.
If you believe that I am exaggerating how easy it is to build a wind turbine, do not forget that people have been building windmills and water pumps for hundreds of years without the advantage of power tools or contemporary materials.
The only dissimilarity between those early devices and a wind turbine for making electricity is the addition of wiring and a coil, which you will buy anyway.
The basics of building a wind turbine include building a tower to put it on; installing batteries to take the generated power; the fan and the tail assemblies. The tools that you will need to achieve this are fairly simple too: bricklaying tools, carpentry tools and a few spanners, but that really depends on how much you sub-contract out.
You will almost surely have to buy the turbine, fan and tail section yourself as one element, because, if you want a high-powered unit, this section will have to be professional, not that it cannot be manufactured locally.
You will be able to maintain it yourself as well, if you want. These fan blades can be 1.2 metres (4 feet) in length each, which is something that you will have to bear in mind when constructing your tower.
You may need a spot of professional help when you build your first wind turbine, but use the experience to learn as much as you can, so that you will be able to be more independent on your next one. You could even turn the experience into a profession, because there is a dire shortage of people who know anything about wind turbines.
Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with a favourite topic – alternative power sources. If you are interested in Sustainable Energy At Home, please click through to our site.
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