How to Build a Wind Generator for $150
Anyone looking for a fun winter project? Wind generators work great in the Fall and Winter seasons when the sun isn’t as strong for solar power but wind storms happen day and night. Kevin Harris, a 25 year old blogger records all this steps how he made a wind generator in his backyard on a tight $150 budget. He posts videos and diagrams and records the results of the better designs.
From Kevin – Lately I’ve been spending a great deal of time working on ways to generate my own electricity. It isn’t a necessity for me yet, but someday being electrically self-sufficient could really come in handy. My interest started a while back when I stumbled upon a how-to article on building wind generators from treadmill motors and PVC pipe. It sounded easy enough, so I decided to try and design my own. This particular design can be built for $100-$150 if you are thrifty and can regularly generate 50-250 watts (considerably cheaper than a solar panel of similar power output). Here’s how I built it for those of you who are interested.
Read his entire How to Build a Wind Generator Post
Wind Generator Options:
500 watt wind generator 12 Volt 500 Watt Wind Solar Power System:
Rated power: 400W
Rated speed: 46 ft/s
Voltage system: 12V
Cut-in wind speed: 6.7mph
Solar Wind Package System 12 Volt 500W 500 Watt Wind Solar Power System:
12V/24V 400 Watt Wind Turbine Generator
12V 100 Watt Polycrystalline Solar Panel
1 Pair MC4 Connectors with 12cm Cable
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Just found this article, as I’ve been trying to find all the low priced wind generator info I can. I’m looking to go off-grid on as low a budget as I can manage, and things like this help a lot.
Great!
Congratulations for the project.
I have a question, you don’t use any current regulator between the generator and the battery’s?
Simply connect it directly? It can be dangerous for the battery integrity, isn’t it?
Thanks
Bruno
I love these posts and I have learned quite a bit from this blog! Sadly my current housing does not allow wind turbines like the one in this post.
Please review this amazing 77w CdTe thin film panel for 12v system,
http://www.dmsolar.com/cdte.html