By Kaye Michael Platinum Quality Author

I think we can all agree that the current recession stinks. It’s been so hard on so many people. One good thing that seems to be coming out of it, though, is the fact that people are looking for ways to save money and cutting electric bills is one thing they are trying to do. Using wind power is a great place to start. Harnessing the power of the wind requires the use of a wind turbine. These are specially designed to capture the wind, convert it to electricity, and store it.

Wind turbines don’t have to be the huge fan looking things you see in the field. As a matter of fact, they come in a lot of different sizes and shapes.

More people are making their own wind turbines and placing them on their roof or in their yard as a way to generate some electricity for their own use and save some money on their electric bill. You can easily do this too. There are manuals available that will walk you through the process of building your own turbine, inexpensively and easily. Many times you can build one for less than a few hundred dollars.

You do need to have realistic expectations though. One small turbine won’t generate enough electricity to completely power most homes. It can provide some savings since you won’t have to buy quite as much electricity but unless you have very small electrical needs, or you build several turbines, you probably won’t be able to completely un hook from your utility company.

By all means learn how to harness wind power for your household electrical needs. It can be fun, rewarding, save you money, and save the planet. What a great combination!

Did you find those tips on Wind Power useful? You can learn a lot more about how Wind Power can help you by clicking here: http://energy.must-read.info/wind-power/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kaye_Michael

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By Admin
The first usage of wind power dates back more than three thousand years. Windmills, which we all know from literature, were used primarily in the west between 1300 and the late 1800′s. None of this means anything to the modern homeowner, considering a wind turbine as a possible alternative energy source, however. What you do need to know is that wind power is not as expensive to impalement as you might think. This may sound funny, but you must determine first, if it is windy enough where you live, to justify a wind turbine. Many use wind power as a back up to solar, while still others use them both in conjunction, as an alternative energy package.

Just how much energy can a wind turbine produce? Again, we must determine how windy it is where you are planning to install it. This is not a question about whether it is ever windy where you live, it is probably windy during storms, but that is merely an observation about the weather. What you want to know about is the long-term average wind speed for your area, or historic climate data, not day-to-day weather. Obviously it will produce a greater amount of energy the more the small turbine spins.

So what exactly is a small wind turbine. They are designed for individual homes, farms, and small businesses, and are electric generators that utilize wind energy to produce clean, emissions-free renewable power. They are defined as having rated capacities of up to 100 kilowatts. So if you were thinking that one wind generator will power your house, I’m sorry but it won’t. Keep in mind that the wind turbine is simply a collector just like a solar panel is. In this case the collector is the spinning rotor, made up of a number of blades that rotate to turn the electrical generator. Small blades result in a small rotor diameter, which translates into a small collector area, which further translates into small amounts of generated electricity.

Positioning is Very Important

It Must Be High Enough to Catch the Wind
To properly access the wind flow and generate enough electricity, wind turbines are installed on high towers that rise above any trees or surrounding buildings. Your roof top might not be the right place unless a tower is utilized. It is advisable to get your neighbors permission before installing such a structure. For whatever reason you chose not to have a high enough tower, it won’t matter when it comes to generating adequate energy. It is better not to install a wind turbine in the first place, rather than to not have it high enough. There is simply little energy in low winds that you can convert into usable electricity.

Is it better to have many wind turbines or one larger one? To answer this question, you first have to determine what it is exactly that you plan to power. Are we talking about an all electric home, or perhaps one that uses other energy sources such as natural gas? Considering that most homes do have more than one energy source, the average household consumes about 1,000 kWh of electricity per month, or about 12,000 kWh per year. Depending on your wind resource and the tower height required to get the wind turbine above the trees, a wind system designed to generate that kind of electric capacity would have to have a very large rotor. The price tag could easily exceed $50,000.00 to install. Another option could be to have multiple smaller turbines. This of course would depend on the space you have available to erect the amount of towers needed.

Smaller is Better

Limiting the Size Can Be Very Cost Effective
Even if you decided to go with several smaller wind turbines, the cost could still run you about $12-$15,000. Yes it is a far cry from $50,000, but it is still a pretty penny. Depending of course what your electric bill is currently, you must determine how long it will take to pay for it. There is of course another option that, depending on your situation, can save you thousands of dollars. I am referring to making this a do-it-yourself project. There are kits available that will cut your cost in half. Even better than that there are online instructional guides that will walk you through the entire process step by step. Small wind turbine system can be constructed for literally pennies on the dollar in this manner.
For those of you who don’t have either the time or the inclination to do it all yourself, I might suggest that you take advantage of the current work shortage by hiring a couple of competent handymen to construct the entire project. I bet with the right instructions, you could bring it in for a tenth of the original estimate.

My own extensive research has helped me narrow down the best of the best instructional guides, complete with blueprints, photos, for that do-it-yourself wind and/or solar power project you might be considering.

For more articles on ways to save money by going green please go to my Possibly GREEN blog.

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By CLARENCE JOHNSON

Since the beginning of time wind has been used to power ships, grind grain, and pump water. Wind power is the fastest growing renewable energy source in the world. It is said to be at a rate of 30% annually here in the U.S. Germany outranks all other Eurogrowing pean countries for this type of power generation. Wind power is clean, renewable, and produces no carbon dioxide emissions or waste products.

President Obama and the new administration, has allocated millions of dollars to subsidize the creation of green jobs. One the main objectives is to specifically increase the manufacture of windmill powered generators. Just recently an out of work Maytag company was revived to produce propellers for wind powered generators.

According to the U.S. census there are approximately 20 million homes located on land that is appropriate for small windmill systems. The government will actually allow a tax credit of up to 30% of the cost of installing a solar or wind powered home system. There is also a law that requires local utility companies to purchase any excess power generated by a homeowner. That means if your system produces more power than you can use then your utility meter can actually run backwards and you would receive a credit or real money back.
Wouldn’t that be a change, the utility company paying you?

Small wind power systems for residences usually save homeowners up to 50% of their utility bill. Contrary to popular belief, windmills are very efficient and it does not take much wind to produce electricity. If combined with solar panels, the electricity costs could be eliminated all together.

The major drawback up until recently has been the costs of installing wind powered systems. A typical windmill generator for a private home would cost $3,000-$6,000 installed. That would make the utility payback period 10-20 years and might not justify the investment. Unless you were just doing it for the environmental benefits, which would be commendable. Just as anything else though, as more and more windmill generators are starting to be manufactured the prices are falling. You can go online a find a windmill for about $800-$900.

In the last couple of years DIY kits for wind and solar power are becoming more popular. Step by step guides that teach regular people how to build their own personal windmills and solar panels. Video tutorials are also included and that makes it that much easier to follow along. Material costs are somewhere around $200 for the windmill parts and about the same for the solar panels.
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CLARENCE JOHNSON

My name is Clarence Johnson and I love Internet Marketing/Affiliate Sales. I have researched several DIY manuals on building solar panels and windmills for in home use. If you would like more specific information on starting your own solar generation system for under $200 then visit my website at http://www.greenenergy1.homestead.com /

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By James Nash

Wind power, or wind energy, is a renewable resource; it is from the sun. The advantages of wind power are many, including practical, environmental as well as economic. There are also disadvantages to using windpower, such as the natural variability of wind, the competition for other land uses, and bird deaths.

Wind power, or wind energy, is a renewable resource; it is from the sun. The intensity of solar radiation differs across the globe. Some areas receive intense amounts of sunlight, while others receive much less. The result is a temperature gradient; a gradient which is mediated by the flow of air to and from areas of dissimilar temperatures and pressure systems in our atmosphere. Uneven heating of the earth’s atmosphere,
in addition to irregularities on the earth’s surface and the rotation of the earth create wind. Terrain, water bodies, and vegetation then shape flow patterns.

The recent history of wind power in the United States has a similar impetus to that of alternative fuel sources in general – it was an idea borne from the 1970′s Oil Crisis. It does, however, have a more extensive history reaching back into to late 19th century in the colonization of the American West; millions of windmills were erected for irrigation and cattle purposes to facilitate the growing number of farms and ranches. Many soon feel into disrepair as inexpensive energy sources became more widespread and grid power extended its reach into rural areas used small electric wind systems.

Outside of the US, however, wind power has a broader history. In fact, there was evidence that boats were propelled along the Nile as early as 5000BC via wind energy. China used wind for pumping water several millennium ago.

Wind is harnessed to make mechanical power or electricity. The kinetic energy from the wind is converted through various different processes to create mechanical energy that can be used in lieu of fossil fuels. There are two types of modern turbines – horizontal and vertical axis, both of which work similar to one another and as decried above. Between the two types, they come in an array of sizes from small 100 watt units for single homes to much larger or ones (with a blade diameter greater than 50m). These larger turbines can generate 1 MW of electricity.

The most common used today are horizontal axis turbines with three blades (15-30m in diameter) and produce approximately 50-350 kW of electricity. Often wind turbines are grouped together; the arrangement in called a wind farm that provides energy to an electrical grid.

Vertical axis turbines are more efficient in areas with vast amount of lands and moderate wind speeds. Current technology is looking to develop different turbine types for different areas of wind speed given the amount of land available for farms.

The advantages of wind power are many, including practical, environmental as well as economic. Worldwide, the total kinetic energy contained in wind is more than 80 times that of human energy consumption. While only a fraction of this can be used for electricity purposes, the potential-given future technological developments is great.

Environmental advantages include the fact that a renewable source of clean, nonpolluting energy curbs the demand and use of fossil fuels and emit no air pollution of greenhouse gases, In the US, wind plants have offset the emission of than 2.5 billion pounds of carbon dioxide, and 15 million pounds of other pollutants. Also, wind energy is free: the cost of installation and maintenance has dramatically decreased in recent years and future technology ensures only a continual decrease in the prices. As a result, the lifetime investment is much lower than most fossil-fuel systems.

One of the primary disadvantages to wind power is the natural variability of wind in any given locale. Indeed there are certain areas with extremely high average wind speeds, but in most places, wind exposure is quite variable. Wind energy can only be stored with a battery, otherwise it is not. In the latter case, not all energy demands can be met through the natural timing of winds. For these reasons, it may not be a viable option for some. One other disadvantage is the competition for other – more highly valued and profit generating – land uses.

Economic disadvantages include the fact that the initial investment is often higher than fossil fuel systems. The higher costs is mostly due to the machinery which is involves. Other costs include site preparation and installation. The primary environmental drawbacks to wind power are as follows: Noise pollution via the rotor blades Aesthetic impacts (“visual pollution”), and bird deaths.

It is important to keep in mind that many of these problems have been resolved with increasing technology. Avian mortality, however, is still being studied.
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James Nash

James Nash is a climate scientist with Greatest Planet (www.greatestplanet.org). Greatest Planet is a non-profit environmental organization specialising in carbon offset investments. James Nash is solely responsible for the contents of this article.

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