Make your own electricity and get your power company to pay you for the excess!
Today more than ever, people are looking for ways to save money. The cost of everything is going up. Utilities, especially, are impacted by rising costs of fuel, and now more than ever, we should begin to consider alternative ways to power our homes and our vehicles.
One of the more popular trends right now is creating your own residential wind power. If you do a search on the internet, you will discover there are literally dozens of websites offering instruction manuals, do-it-yourself wind turbine kits and all kinds of tips and equipment for powering up your home with wind.
If you would like to build a wind mill or wind turbine, and connect it to your home, it can be a very satisfying project, and eventually save you a lot of cash. There are some very important things to consider before you get started:
Important Steps to Creating Your Own Wind Energy
(1) Test your available wind power. You will need to determine what kind of wind turbine is best suited for the area you live in. You can buy this contraption at your local hardware store called an “anemometer”.
An anemometer is a device that will measure and record your home’s average wind speed. It will help you determine the type of wind that you normally have (steady wind, gusts of wind, etc.).
You place this device in the area that you would be installing your wind mill and let it record wind data. Preferably, you want to let it record for about six months. This is an important step in your process of creating your own wind power, because the data you compile is going to talk to you.
It is going to tell you which type of wind turbine you will need to install. Anemometers are sold at many hardware stores and usually cost $75-150.
(2) Select your turbine. The wind speed data you collected will help be very important in determining what kind of wind power system you need. You will share this information with the turbine system distributor (the folks you are buying your wind turbine/mill from).
By analyzing the data generated by the anemometer, they will have a much better idea on how to advise you.
(3) You may need a permit from your city or county. In some areas, this may require submitting plans—including drawings and details about the wind turbine system you are planning to install. Check with Department of Building Inspection and the Department of Planning for your city or county.
This is an important step, especially if you are planning on connecting to the grid. You absolutely cannot connect any type of power generating system directly into the wiring of your home without the proper permits. It is a matter of safety for you and for the utility company employees that service your area.
(4) Install your turbine. This is the part you’ve been anticipating, and if you are the kind of person that enjoys doing home projects, you are in for a very satisfying experience. This is one of those rare do-it-yourself projects that is potentially going to save you a lot of money down the road!
(5) Connecting to the public power grid. Connecting your wind power to the public power grid allows you to qualify for net metering in many areas. Net metering measures the excess power you create, directs it into the local power grid and…the power company pays you!
Now, they probably won’t pay you cash, but they will give you credits on your electric bill. How awesome is that! A couple of things to remember here. Connecting your wind power system to the grid through your home’s service panel, can only be done by a licensed electrician, and must be inspected by the local planning department for your city or county.
