Power Your Home With Wind Energy For Less Than $140?




All this while, I have been writing about Do It Yourself home solar energy system on this blog. I thought of changing the topic slightly and write on another renewable energy source…the wind.

Couple of weeks ago, I wrote on how to build a DIY solar panel for less than $200. In actual fact, it can be done for less than $100, but you have to spend a lot of time sourcing for cheap solar cells.

It is the same case with a home built wind generator. You can really get the project cost down if you are willing to spend the time to source for the parts and building material.

The list below is a cost breakdown of a home wind turbine that I got from a very popular residential renewable energy guide.

Just in case you can’t see the list, let me break it down for you.

1) Motor / Generator from Ebay – $26.00

2) Miscellaneous pipe fittings from a hardware store – $41.49

3) Pipe for blades from a hardware store – $12.84

4) Miscellaneous hardware – $8.00

5) Conduit – $19.95

6) Free wood and aluminum from scrap pile – $0

7) Power cable from an old extension – $0

8) Rope and turnbuckles which are already at hand – $0

9) Electric parts from hardware store – $18.47

10) Existing paint – $0

11) Relay from auto parts store – $13.87

The total for of a domestic wind generator with 11 items is $140.62. Well, I guess it’s fair to add couple of dollar for the items that you do now have laying around in your garage.

Remember, the project costing above excludes the home battery storage system. Sourcing and setting up the battery bank is a different project all together.

As you can see, the most expensive portion of a domestic wind generator is in the pipe for blades and miscellaneous pipe fittings. The heavy duty PVC pipe forms the blade structure to capture the kinetic energy of the wind.

The second most costly component is the motor or electric generator. To be fair, the actual cost for the motor will vary.

According to the author of the manual, we can find relatively inexpensive electric generator from Ebay. The trick is to know what type of motor to look for.

There are a couple of criteria you have to follow when sourcing for motor in Ebay. You should look a generator that have:

1) High DC Voltage

2) High current

3) Low Revolution Per Minute (RPM) rating

It is recommended to look for permanent magnet alternators. However, they are usually more expensive but there are designed for wind turbine use.

Finally, the 3rd largest cost in a residential wind generator system is for controlling the power from the electric generator. That is the electronic parts for the charge controller and relay.

Regulating a battery storage for home DIY power generator is a tricky process. Too much power and it will damage the deep cycle batteries. Too little and you will not have enough electricity to run your home electrical appliance.

If you are planning to power your home with wind, you will need the charge controller to charge up the battery. When the batteries are fully charged, you will need a mechanism to dump the extra power on to a load.

Easy Wind Generator Plans

Remember the popular residential renewable energy guide that I got the wind generator construction cost above? It is actually the Power 4 Home e-book from John Russel.

According to John Russel, you can make your own wind power generator for $140 or less. The key is to know where and how to get inexpensive construction material. For more information, check out the Power 4 Home review on this blog.

==> Click here to visit Power 4 Home now!

Green DIY Energy Instructional Video 2 Review




In the second instructional video of Green DIY Energy “Build your own solar panel for less than $100”, there are 3 sections. In the first section, the host, Bryan Clark talks about the multi-meter. In the second section, he covers the Photovoltaic testing block and finally in the third section, you will learn how to construct a solar panel frame.

The Ins And Outs of Multi-meter

One of the most important tools you’ll need to have when building a home solar panel is the multi-meter. The function of the multi-meter is to measure the voltage and current generated by the solar cells.

If you have never used a multi-meter before, this video will give you’re a quick walk through of all the features on the device. It is important where and how you connect the testing rod. It is also imperative where you set the dial on the multi-meter. If you are not careful, you will get an incorrect reading from the device.

Making a PV Cell Testing Block

Why do you need a PV cell testing block? More importantly, what is it?

A solar cell has a front side and a back site. There are electrodes on the front and contact points at the back. Before we use the solar cell, we want to know if it is in working order.

If you are buying cheap solar cells from auction site such as Ebay, you want to check each and every cell to make sure it is working. To do that, you have to check the current it is producing with the multi-meter.

To get the correct readings from the solar cell, the testing rod of the multi-meter has to touch both the front electrodes and back contact point at the same time. As you can see, this is quite a difficult task.

To make the testing easier and faster, Byran is showing us a device specially made to help you with the testing of the solar cells. It is call the “PV cell testing block”.

Building The Solar Panel Frame

In this section of the video, Bryan walks us through the process of making the solar panel frame. In this section, you’ll learn to calculate the amount of power that will be generated by a series of PV cells. The calculation will involve a basic formula.

The idea is to make a solar panel that will generate 18 volts. To do that, you have to connect 36 solar cells in series. The question is, how do you arrange them in the solar panel to have to most efficient rating?

From the video, you will see 2 popular arrangements of the PV cells. You can either use the 4 cells across x 9 cells down or 3 cells across x 12 cells down arrangement. Each arrangement has its own advantages and disadvantages.

For more information on the homemade solar power system guide, check out the comprehensive Green DIY Energy review on this web site.

==> Click here to visit Green DIY Energy now!

Brian Clark Home Solar Video Review – Build Your Own Solar Panel



Brian Clark Instructional Videos

One thing that I really like about the Green DIY Energy program is the instructional videos. In the member’s area, there are a total of 6 videos. The videos are High Definition and professionally done which make them very sharp and clear.

There are many DIY home solar or wind power videos that you can find on Youtube. The problem is, the quality is really bad. Most of the time, you can’t even see or hear what the person in the video is trying to say. Luckily, you don’t have this issue with Green DIY Energy.

Building Your Own Solar Panel For Less Than $100

The video series in Green DIY Energy is “Build your own solar panel for less than $100”.

The first video in the series is on the process of building your own solar panel. The difference here is to make it with a budget of less than $100. Is it possible to work with such a small budget? Yes it is, if you follow their recommendation.

To make your own solar modules, the first step is tool preparation. In the first video, it shows you what are the tools and material you will need to build the solar panel.

The video was shot in Boulder, Colorado and the host is Bryan Clark. Bryan started off by outlining all the different material and methods you will be using to build a solar panel that can produce 75 watt of power.

Introducing The Tools You’ll Need

What are the tools you’ll need to build a solar panel? In the video, Bryan introduced 19 different kinds of tools and safety equipment to get you started.

You’ll see him talking about the tools and what you will use it for. Some suggested tools are hand drills, caulking gun, soldering gun, multi-meter, leveler etc.

Material For Building A DIY Solar Panel

After Bryan is done introducing the hand tools, he goes on to explain the material you will be using for a Do It Yourself (DIY) solar panel. In this section he goes through items such as the Photovoltaic (PV) cells, wires, electrician tape, wood glue, blocking diode, silicon II caulk etc. If you are wandering what type of wires to use, Bryan also gave a very good recommendation in the video.

How do you select the solar cells? Do you use PV cells with tabbed or without tabbed ribbon? Bryan actually explains the pros and cons of the different solar cells.

Do you want to use a residential solar or wind power system to reduce your home energy consumption? If you do, be sure to check out the Green DIY Energy program. For a comprehensive Green DIY energy review, go to www.greendiyenergyreviews.com.

==> Click here to visit Green DIY Energy now!


Related web pages:
1) Northeast Sustainable Energy Association – Promoting sustainable energy solution.

2) American Solar Energy Society – The Solar Nonprofit Advancing Education, Research, Advocacy, News, and Insight Since 1954