WE LOVE WIND POWER! You might have noticed this from the profusion of wind power articles here on our site. We specialize in teaching folks how to build their own wind turbines. But wind power isn't for everybody--most people don't have enough wind resource to make it pay off, or are not allowed to put up a tower tall enough to get to a good resource. Don't be fooled by snake oil salesmen on the internet! Instead, do your homework first. And always remember--solar works great, but it's boring compared to wind. We recommend you start with our The Bottom Line About Wind Turbines article, and browse through more in the menu at left. But if you're in a rush... Wind power basics in a nutshell:
- Wind speed is critical! Double the wind speed, get 8 times the power. The wind is slow and turbulent near the ground and on rooftops. The industry standard is that wind turbines must fly at least 30 feet above anything within 500 feet. If you can't do this, do some detailed research before spending any money on a wind power system.
- Size matters! Double the rotor diameter, get 4 times the power. A small rotor means you need high winds to make any significant energy at all--and high winds are rare at most locations.
- Wind really shines when installed off the grid! It's an excellent complement to solar in many locations.
- Snake oil is everywhere! Fancy websites are far cheaper than actual hardware, and there are plenty of snakes out there who will tell you only what you want to hear. Do your homework before you jump in.
We highly recommend these books for a solid wind power education, whether you are looking to buy or build a turbine:
- Wind Power for Dummies by our good friend Ian Woofenden is an excellent introduction to wind power.
- Build Your Own Small Wind Power System by Kevin Shea and Brian Clark Howard focuses on wind power systems from the perspective of the do-it-yourselfer who wants to install a system, and we highly recommend it also.
It's easy to build your own robust, reliable and quiet wind turbine! And that's what our web pages here are all about (and some other cool stuff too. Start here:
- Our book Homebrew Wind Power by Dan Bartmann and Dan Fink is the most complete and detailed reference out there about designing and building wind turbines. It's also available at any library or bookstore worldwide through their normal book distribution channels.
- The basics of building the wind turbine featured in our book are still available free here on our website.
- Our friend Hugh Piggott's Wind Turbine Recipe Book is an excellent reference too; our turbine designs are loosely based on his. He wrote a Metric Edition too.
- Our free Wind Turbine User's Manual walks you through all the other stuff you need in place to get your homebrew wind turbine installed and working.
- Get hands-on experience building wind turbines at one of our workshops! All of our wind classes are accredited for professional and educational continuing education credit hours by IREC, ISPQ and NABCEP. We teach all over the USA and internationally every year.
Wind Turbine Parts and Kits We offer for sale a large variety of the 'stuff' you need to build your own wind turbine. You can order a complete it, or any individual parts you need, ala carte.
- Complete wind turbine kits
- Welded metal frame kits
- Flat metal parts kits (you weld it together)
- Pre-wired and cast stators for 12, 24 and 48v systems
- Carved wind turbine blades
- Magnets
- Magnet wire
- Rectifiers
- Hub, spindle and bearing sets
- Stainless steel hardware
- And more!
It's all available at our Online Store!