If you're anything like me you'll want to learn how to build a wind generator because it is just so expensive to buy one! The 2500 watt wind generator that I was going to need as part of my renewable energy system cost in excess of $10,000. For me, and probably you too, that is a lot of money. A lot of money! I knew I could find a better solution. I eventually decided to build my own.

The search for an answer...

After an exhausting search I finally found the best plans for building a wind generator (I designed them myself). The criteria I set out was: the parts have to be readily available and it has to be cheap enough that anyone could learn how to build a wind generator. After quite a bit of experimentation (and lots of failures) I managed to design a wind generator that was easy to build... and that wouldn't chew a hole through your pocket.

The story of how I built my own homemade wind generator follows. This project has proven to be a great addition to my renewable energy system. It seems that if the sun isn't shining than the wind is definitely blowing. Send me along any pictures of your own wind generator and I'll put them on the site for people to see.

What about buying a used wind generator?

After careful checking around on ebay, and other online sources, as well as scouring newspapers and magazines I couldn't find a single wind generator that fit my budget.

There were quite a few small 100 to 400 watt wind generators out there, but none that were large enough to run the house.

I kept looking for weeks and finally stumbled on to the answer. I happened to be looking through some old Mother Earth News magazines when I found it. In there was a story about how this family had built their own wind generator instead of buying an expensive new model.

I was so excited about the prospects of building one myself! I love to tinker with things and this seemed like the perfect project.

Upon further investigation the plans from the magazine turned out to be old and oudated... calling for parts from old cars that I had never even heard of... but the idea of building a wind generator was again brand new.

I checked around on the Mother Earth News website for the plans and found that they were dated 1975... yikes!!

The price was only $37 so I purchased them in hopes to get a basic understanding of wind generators. I got a basic understanding from them, but since they were so old they weren't really of any use since there has been many innovations in the past 35 years.

What I really needed were some up to date plans... and it would be nice if they came at a decent price as well, compared to the thousands it would cost for a new wind generator.

The search continues...

I continued to search for new plans and finally found a couple of sites that offered plans for sale. The first one I found, "Earth4Energy" was priced at $49. The price was right so I bought the plans.

What a mistake!!! These plans were garbage. I think this guy was out to make a quick buck. The plans were watered down and it seemed like he didn't understand anything.

After a couple of failures I decided that I would have to do it the hard way and come up with my own plans.

I had read that PVC can be used for blades, but I had no idea how that would work. Since I figured that would be the most difficult part I started with that. I can't recall how many blades I made (using different cuts), but I eventually stumbled upon a design that works quite well. It requires you to offset the cuts you make into the pipe. This allows the blades to catch the wind more efficiently. Although I now recommend eventually getting a set of good quality blades (after you've saved a bunch of money from your wind generator), I still recommend starting with PVC blades if money is tight.

Now that I had a working set of blades the rest was a cakewalk (not really, but quite a bit easier). I got a working design for the body which I attached my motor and tail to. After attaching the blades and hub to the motor I set it up on a makeshift tower I built and prayed that it would produce some power. It did!!! I couldn't believe it.

I hadn't really thought about what I would use for a tower, but I was over helping a friend re-shingle his house when I noticed his old TV tower. He had switched to satellite several years ago, but had never taken his tower down. I knew immediately that it would work great (plus it looks pretty good too). I asked him if I could take it and he said sure.

I quickly made a foundation and mounted the homemade wind generator on top of the tower. Everything seemed good so I hooked it up to my batteries.... at which point it turned into a huge fan!! I had forgotten to put a diode in so that electricity can only flow in one direction.

Once that was sorted out I had a working wind generator, but that didn't stop me from improving the design. Since the first design I've made a ton of improvements, but those can be shared in another post as this one is getting pretty long.

Would you like to learn how to build a wind generator? Just click the link at the left.

If you liked this article consider signing up for our newsletter. Simply enter your information below.

I will never rent or sell your information. I hate spam too!