Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Wind Power's Role In Powering The Future

By David Sullivan

Alternative energy sources are becoming more desirable as the cost of fossil fuels rise and more people are concerned about the future availability of these fuels. Additionally, many people are choosing more environmentally friendly energy choices that are renewable, free and don't produce harmful emissions.

If you are concerned with rising energy costs too, an excellent energy that you can implement yourself if wind energy. You can build your own turbines that will last for years and end up saving you a lot of money and worry.

You'll want to make sure your location will be suitable before you build a wind turbine generator. You'll want to look at your zoning laws, your neighborhood, and consider how much electrical power you want to generate. You'll need either at least a half an acre of open land or you'll need a tower higher than anything in your immediate surrounding area so the blades can catch the wind. The average wind speed in your area will determine how much energy you can generate.

If you have a lot of energy blowing through your backyard, the amount of power a wind power generator can create may surprise you. If you make an efficient generator from good plans, you can save a large chunk of your energy bill each month.

The surplus energy generated by your turbine can be sold back to local power companies, making you a profit. In order to do this, all you need is to be connected to the grid. You'll be able to watch your energy meter spin backwards as you feed power back to the utility company.

Some people end up with only a turbine or two because of zoning restrictions or backyard size restrictions, but you can still manage to save a large amount of your power bill.

Many have built homemade wind turbines already and can save up to 50% of their energy bill with just one turbine. These types of turbines can also be made in only a few weeks, depending on how much effort you are willing to put in and how much spare time you have.

A wind turbine requires very little maintenance, and you can mount one on a single pole located in your yard. It can help you decrease your power costs by a decent amount every month. - 16732

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