Looking for advise or information on generating electricity for my home.?

Question

I would like to be able to generate enough electricity to supply my home, and get off of the grid. I already have a home made wind generator powering a car alternetor, into car batteries going through an invertor for some things. I have 40 acres of land to work with, and the wind blows every day, but not consistantly. I would like some information that might further my indepenance with out huge expenses up front for set-up

Answer 1

The first step to energy independance is to reduce to an absolute minimum. Having electric wires coming into our homes, we have become used to unlimited energy availability. Find ways to maximize efficiency and minimize the amount of energy required.

The only reasonable budget I've seen from someone installing a full off grid system was in a house which was far from the existing power lines. The cost to run poles and wires was on the order of $15000. That immediately created an option for solar / wind and off grid independance. The home owner installed solar panels for heat and battery charging. A wind turbine supplemented the photovoltaic system. He budgeted energy consumption and purchased very efficient appliances. In the end his total energy created was just slightly over calculated requirements.

If you are entering this project with dreams of living forever with free unlimited electricity you will be sadly disappointed. The equipment and installation is expensive. The amount of energy being created is greatly limited and you will have to cut back greatly. You will learn not to leave the television on with no one in the room. No more lights on in every room either.

It is a very positive project, and absolutely worthwhile. I'm working on a small wind turbine project. It will consist of a 800 watt generator mounted on top of an 80 foot guyed tower. Right now it's tied up in municipal permits and other nonsense. In the end I hope to generate about 10% of my household electrical requirements. Payback time, assuming no downtime, maintenance or repairs will be about 12 years. Clearly it is not a money saving investment. I view it as a hobby to learn with and explore. I could blow an equal amount of money in a few months on cigarettes or beer and have nothing to show for it in the end. My justification for the money spent is to have fun with it.

Have a look at the project as it has proceeded so far. I have the wiring diagram, charge controller circuit, pictures of foundations, and so on online. Contact information is there as well.

http://members.rennlist.org/warren/wind.html

Good luck with your project!

Answer 2

well you can do solar panels. here in california they are costly upfront but you get a huge tax ride off and a tax cut. you can always put up more windmills