ited States wind energy is the second biggest source of new energy outpaced only by natural gas. At the end of 2007 wind turbines were producing over 16000 megawatts of electric power and nearly one third of that capacity was installed in 2007. In 2008 about 1% of the united States electric power will be supplied by wind energy. Most of this of course is from large commercial wind turbines but an ever increasing amount is coming from small wind turbines installed by individuals. The home wind turbine is definitely coming into its own as more and more people realise that something must be done to decrease our dependence on electric power supplied by fossil fuel burning generating stations. Gas and coal powered electric power production has increased dramatically over the years and emissions from the fuels burnt in these facilities is a major source of atmospheric pollution.
Wind power by comparision is absolutely clean and the only objectiion to it,voiced by some people,is visual pollution from the arrays of wind turbines necessary for large scale power production. However the residential wind turbine poses no such problems. Relatively small and unobtrusive home wind turbines including vertical axis wind turbines are the key to small scale wind power generation. A combination of home solar panels-wind turbines can produce much of the power required by the average home. Small wind powered turbines are manufactured by a number of companies and can be readily set up either as a rooftop wind turbine or mounted on its own small tower. The recommended tower height is about 30 feet. These are relatively expensive but will pay for themselves in the course of time.
If you know how to build a wind turbine your home wind turbine will cost much less and fortunately this is fairly easy to do. Plans and instructions showing how to build your own wind turbine are readily available and thousands of people have built their own home made wind turbine. You will often be told that strong winds are needed for wind power generation. This is absolutely not so. Even gentle breezes will produce power which is stored in batteries till needed.
If you live far from electric power lines you either get by with no electric power or generate your own. Gasoline powered generators will do the job but they are expensive to run and heavy polluters. You may be fortunate enough to have a stream which can generate power for you using a water power system but these are usually difficult to build and expensive. In most situations a wind turbine is the best answer. You can in fact build your own wind turbine for much less than the price of a commercial model. You could install two or three of them and have plenty of power for all purposes. Building your own home wind turbine is a fairly simple project which the average home workshopper can easily manage. Wind power is the coming thing and will save you money as well as reducing atmospheric pollution. Why not try it?
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