Residential Wind Generator

Modern residential wind power generators provide clean, green, and renewable electric power for environmentally conscious homeowners. The continued use of fossil fuels to generate commercial electric power is endangering our planet and rapidly depleting our natural sources of petroleum and coal. Our dependence upon these fossil fuels has also made us dependent open foreign countries for our economic well being.

Not too long ago residential wind generators were noisy, inefficient, and had difficulty generating power in extremely cold areas. That is no longer the case. Modern residential wind power generators have evolved into quiet, reliable, durable, and highly efficient system for transforming the power of the wind into inexpensive electric power for the home. The modern sleek and compact systems operate efficiently in all environmental conditions.

While the differences between the methods of generating power using sunlight and those that use wind are quite different, the two power sources are directly related. Wind is a form of solar energy. The sun warms the Earth's surface unevenly. The differences between these temperature zones causes the air to move from one area to the other. This movement is wind.

Mankind's use of wind power is not just a modern day innovation. Windmills have been doing useful work for centuries pumping water,  milling grain, and moving ships of discovery and trade over the world's oceans. Generating electric power from wind power is simply a new technological adaptation of an old workhorse.

Residential wind power generators, although they are technologically advanced, are simple machines in terms of component design and assembly. The simplicity of this design has prompted a sharp increase in the use of wind generators by homeowners to convert the kinetic energy of the wind into mechanical power that is used to create electric energy.

The operating concept of residential wind generators is simple, somewhat like an electric fan working in reverse. An electric fan uses electricity to operate a motor that causes a fan to rotate creating a breeze. A wind generator, on the other hand, uses a breeze to cause a fan to rotate and turn a motor/generator that generates electric power.

There are two types of wind generators that are currently in popular use: the horizontal-axis turbine and the vertical-axis turbine. The horizontal systems are the most prevalent and easily recognized by their windmill-like appearance with three or four propeller-like blades facing into and intercepting the wind. Residential wind generators of this type typically generate about 100 kilowatts. Commercial wind generators, such as those large systems seen in large wind farms, can generate power in the range of several thousand megawatts. The vertical axis systems are not so easy for the public to recognize. They are usually smaller in output capacity and located much closer to the ground.

Many modern commercially manufactured residential wind generator systems now include controllers that are solar powered, making these systems completely free from outside power sources. As public usage increases, these systems are becoming more readily available and considerably less expensive.

It is of historical interest to note that wind generators began their public life about eighty years ago in Europe with an experimental unit that produced 100 kilowatts of power. The systems have come a long way since then in terms of size, capacity, noise levels, and overall efficiency.

It seems obvious to state that wind generators required wind to operate. They are most efficient in areas of fairly strong and continuous prevailing winds. They are suitable for use in areas where wind speed averages are no less than ten miles per hour.