Residential wind power works in the way of placing a wind generator on top of a high tower so that the wind turbine can collect the kinetic energy and convert this kinetic energy into clean and green electricity. The electricity is then supplied throughout your home like normal electricity that you are use to having in your home. Because a residential wind turbine can be even more effective generating more electricity then is required for an average home utility companies offer a buy back system where they will purchase any unused electricity that has been generated by the residential wind power. The turbines used for residential wind power is small but efficient making them very effective. Using this alternative energy will help significantly when it comes to reducing your electricity bill.

By using residential wind power not only will you be giving the environment a better chance of survival, you will also be decreasing your electricity bill. Residential wind power is great for the environment as you are using a natural product to turn the turbine and create electricity and as such there is no pollution created. You are also reducing the amount of pollution put into the air by the utility company when producing your own power from the wind. During the lifetime of a residential wind turbine, the wind turbine can prevent 1.2 metric ton in air pollutants entering the environment. This alone will help preserve the earth for future generations, especially our children. The cleaner the air around us, the better we breathe and the healthier we will all be.

Many residential customers think that converting to residential wind power will be difficult or that they will need to replace all the wiring in their home. The fact of the matter is that residential wind power can be connected directly to any home with out the need to change any of your current wiring or appliances. The only extra add on may be that your utility company might install a second utility meter so that they can measure any surplus electricity they will be purchasing from the residential customer who is utilizing residential wind power. Wouldn’t you love to be paid by the utility company instead of having to pay them every month. Wind power for residential housing is a fantastic source of clean power. The earth provides us with all of the energy we need to live, it is up to us to convert this free energy into electricity.

Why would you want to build your own wind turbine? The question really should be why wouldn’t you want to build your own wind turbine! The real answer is that you can save a heap of money by reducing your utility bill, reduce your carbon footprint and help out the environment. On top of this is the satisfaction of building something of real value to you and your family for a measly $100.

The people who have designed this plan on how to build a wind turbine have been successfully living off the grid for over 15 years. During this time they have tried many different wind turbines but have chosen this particular plan as the best value for money.

The plan comes with all of the information you need to get started on your wind turbine project and provides a simple to understand format on how to build a wind turbine.

If you are interested in wind power and want to know how to build a wind turbine then you simply have to head over here and have a look at out top 3 do it yourself wind turbines.

Having an environmental conscious is all well and good but before you go and install your brand new wind turbine or solar panel you should look at your current energy use and see where you can reduce your bill.  The following list outlines different methods you could save electricity and save money through lighting.

1) Turn off the light when you leave a room

This may sound ridiculously simple but it amazes me how many people leave ten or fifteen lights on in different areas of their house when they only need to use one or two.  Why does you bedroom light need to be left on when you are on the couch watching television? By using two 60w lights instead of ten you save 480w each hour or over 11.5Kw every day.

2) Switch to energy efficient lighting

Last year the Australian government passed a bill to ban sales of your every day incandescent light bulb.  These light bulbs have been used for years to light our nights however the design of the incandescent light bulb has one major flaw - it chews through electricity.  By switching your light bulbs to compact fluorescent bulbs you can save up to 52w each hour and still produce the same amount of light.

Compact Fluorescent light bulbs come in a variety of shapes, power ranges and light colors.  Power consumption starts at as low as 8w per hour and the only difference you will notice is in your power bill!  In am writing this right now under a 8w compact fluorescent light bulb and the light is superb.  These lights should be available at your local hardware store and fit into most sockets.

3) Remove Halogen Lighting

Halogen down lights are common place in many new and renovated homes as they look really sweet.  Sitting flush with the ceiling and emitting a nice amount of light you can see why they are so popular - until you get your utility bill.  The problem with halogen down lights is that people are fitting four, eight and even ten of the lamps to light a room where just one standard incandescent light bulb would do.  At around 50w per hour for each of the lamps you can see why they are bad news.

Think of it like this, by replacing one 60w incandescent light bulb with four 50w halogen lamps you are using 140w more each and every hour to light the same space.

4) Install a sky light

Why use a light bulb and electricity to brighten up a room during the day when you could use the light from the sun for free?  Granted you have to install the sky light at a cost however during the day you will have enough light from the sun to brighten the whole room and it won’t cost you a cent after installation.

There you have it, my tips on saving electricity through lighting.  You don’t need to be producing your own renewable energy to get started with these tips but when you do decide to install that 1Kw wind turbine you can be sure that your lighting isn’t going to be draining all of the juice!

The £10million SeaGen turbine based in Northern Ireland’s Strangford Lough generated enough green energy during testing to supply power to over 150 homes. Full-blown production of the first commercial wave powered generator in Ireland is expected later in the year where it will power over 1000 homes.

Working like an underwater windmill, the turbine’s two rotors are propelled by some of the world’s fastest tidal flows that stream in and out of the Lough at speeds of up to 8 knots.

It is moored to the sea floor 400 metres from the shore and will work for about 20 hours each day. No energy is generated during tide changes as tidal speed drops to below 2 knots.

Greenies fear not - The speed of the rotors is so low - no more than 10 to 15 revolutions per minute - that they are unlikely to pose a threat to marine wildlife.

In a speech in Washington DC, the Nobel Laureate said greater use of renewable and carbon-free sources would help to solve the “present danger” of the problems of energy supply, climate change and economic downturn in the US.

He warned that the climate crisis is getting “a lot worse much more quickly than predicted”; the economy is in “terrible shape”; and fuel prices are increasingly “dramatically”.

“When we look at all three of these seemingly intractable challenges at the same time, we can see the common thread running through them, deeply ironic in its simplicity: our dangerous over-reliance on carbon-based fuels is at the core of all three of these challenges - the economic, environmental and national security crises,” Mr Gore said.

“If we grab hold of that common thread and pull it hard, all of these complex problems begin to unravel and we will find that we’re holding the answer to all of them right in our hand.

“The answer is to end our reliance on carbon-based fuels.”

Mr Gore claimed that solar power could provide all the electricity America uses and that “enough wind power blows through the Midwest corridor every day to also meet 100 per cent of US electricity demand”.

He admitted that “many obstacles” need to be overcome to meet the ten-year challenge, including improving the US national grid and ensuring jobs are available for “those who have toiled in dangerous conditions to bring us our present energy supply”.

“We must now lift our nation to reach [a] goal that will change history,” Mr Gore challenged.

“Our entire civilization depends upon us now embarking on a new journey of exploration and discovery. Our success depends on our willingness as a people to undertake this journey and to complete it within ten years.

Engadget and Inhabitat are both running articles this morning of a unique vertical axis wind turbine named ‘Democratic Ecology’.  The small wind turbine that has been designed by prolific product design star Philippe Starck was created with home wind power in mind.  Starck’s wind generator was created so ‘enable every man, woman and child on Earth to generate their own power in designer style’.  Hey, who can blame him.  A lot of residential wind turbines aren’t exactly built with aesthetics in mind.

The residential windmill can generate 20-60% of the energy needed to power a home, at a price point of around 400 Euros ($633). Not realistically within everyone’s budget, but by combining creativity and elegance with ecology Starck will hopefully encourage more people to take greener steps. And for those who don’t want their conservation pieces to be conversation pieces, a subtler version has been proposed.

The transparent small wind turbine will be available to all in September 2008 and, in typical Starck style, if everyone’s going to have one he’s going to make sure they all look great.

From the land of the long white cloud (New Zealand) comes this single blade wind turbine that the inventors are pitching at the home wind power market.  The Power House Wind Turbine which is due to be released into the market in late 2009 features a blade that can change position to protect itself from strong and destructive winds.

Developed by two former Fisher & Paykel engineers the variable speed wind turbine is designed to power a single house, a market that has a massive world wide potential.

For more information on the single blade residential wind turbine check out the video below.

Keen to jump on the renewable energy bandwagon? Wether your looking to buy or build your own wind turbine or solar power system we recomend you have a look at our top 3 home brew wind turbines.

Wind power generation, an alternative and renewable energy source, has seen a dramatic increase in popularity over the last few years. Technological advances make it more and more feasible to install wind power generators for individual homes. The newer systems are more efficient and quieter then their older equivalent wind generators.

Not every geographical location however, is suited for installing a wind power generator. A consistent wind, with average speeds of approximately 11 miles per hour is required to make a wind energy system feasible. Lower wind speeds can be suitable for battery charging and water pumping in your remote weekend cottage.

Wind availability maps are published by the US National Renewable Energy Lab. You can get a general idea from these maps if you are living in a state and county with sufficiently high winds.

Once you confirm this, you will need to also check if your exact location experiences the required, consistent average wind speeds. If your home, your property is located on the side of a hill, your sheltered location might not provide the required wind speeds. Maybe you can install the wind turbine high enough, to just extend it over the ridge. You will then possibly be able to pick up sufficient wind.

Local wind maps, can also be found at the National Renewable Energy Lab. These maps howver, are not very easy to read and understand. Fortunately though, you can simply contact a wind power manufacturer, such as those listed in the American Wind Energy Association website. They can tell you if it is feasible to install a wind power generator for your home.

At this point, just get some general information about the feasibility of installing a wind power system for your home. You have some more checking to do, before you spend a lot of your and the manufacturer’s time on details.  If you are handy on the tools and like the odd DIY project then perhaps you could even build your own windmill.

Next step is to check the local codes and requirements. Your town might have some bylaws, or if you live in a subdivision, there might be restrictions in place, that will not allow you to install a wind power generator for your home. Don’t let that deter you! Get a petition going in your town or city to change the bylaws, perhaps you can even get a community buying plan in place.

Talk to the neighbor hood association. Who knows, maybe the whole subdivision will end up supporting a wind power generator for all the homes!
Don’t forget to also talk to your neighbors. Unfortunately, some people still believe that all wind energy generators are noisy and kill birds. Inform the neighbors as you investigate and learn more.

Once you know that no local laws, regulations, neighbors or neighbor hood associations will stop you, it is time to talk to the manufacturers again.

I recommend talking to at least two different wind power manufacturers with different types of rotors, such as horizontal axis wind turbines, or vertical axis wind turbines. Each of these has advantages and disadvantages. You want to make sure that the type of system you end up installing is the best for your particular application.

Ask the manufacturer a lot of questions, such as:

- How much clearance is required around the tower and rotor blades?
- How tall will the wind tower be?
- What are the noise emissions? Do they have certified sound data?
- How many installations have they done? Can you go see one?
- What output can you expect from their system?
- What is the installed cost per kilowatt-hour?
- What kind of warranties do they provide?
- What will they need from you to do to make it happen? (besides money)
- Will they apply for the required permits?
- Will they make the connection to the electric grid?
- Will you have to hire a general contractor?

Compare all the answers between the different models and manufacturers and then you can make an educated decision.

A handful of States provide some incentives for installing small wind power systems. Check with your state and local governments. Another option could be to get a reduced-rate mortgage for adding the wind power system. Check with your mortgage company or mortgage broker.

If you find after doing all this research, that wind power is not the solution for you, then maybe a solar photovoltaic system is your solution.  On the other hand if a wind generator is still at the top of your renewable energy list then i suggest you look at our do it yourself wind turbines.

Want to ditch your reliance on the electricity grid? Perhaps you still want to be attached to the grid and have the utilities pay you for your clean, green excess wind power. The guys at Quietrevolution have a neat looking vertical axis wind turbine that they clain can produce up to 10,000 kWh of wind power right in your own backyard.

Beneath the skin is what Quietrevolution calls the world’s most efficient turbine for capturing air currents near buildings and other structures, with carbon-fiber blades shaped to grab gusty city winds without making much noise.  But make sure your credit card is ready for a beating because at $48,000 the QR5 costs twice as much as a traditional horizontal axis wind turbines unit that generates the same output.

For more information on the QR5 head on over to Quietrevolution to see images, plans and even video of the turbine that they are calling ‘elegant wind power’.

Wind energy is a plentiful, renewable and clean source of power that can be used in a large range of applications from wind farms through to home wind power. In residential applications a wind turbine, which is installed on top of a tall tower, collects kinetic energy from the wind and converts it to electricity that is compatible with a home’s electrical system.

As wind energy is governed by nature as wind speeds increase, turbine output increases and the amount of power purchased from the utility is proportionately decreased. When the turbine produces more power than the house needs, the extra electricity is sold to the utility. All of this is done automatically. There are no batteries in a modern residential wind system.

Small wind generation systems with capacities of 100 kW or less are usually used to power farms, homes, and small businesses. Remote communities that would otherwise rely on diesel generators may use wind turbines to replace diesel fuel consumption. Home owners purchase residential wind generators to reduce or eliminate their electricity bills, or simply to generate their own clean power.

Wind turbines have been used for household electricity generation in conjunction with battery storage over many decades in remote areas as a reliable source or residential wind power. Increasingly, U.S. consumers are choosing to purchase grid-connected turbines in the 1 to 10 kilowatt range to power their whole homes. Residential wind turbines of more than 1 kW are now functioning in several countries, and in every state in the U.S.

In the United States, wind power receives a tax credit for each kilowatt-hour produced; at 1.9 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2006, the credit has a yearly inflationary adjustment. Another tax benefit is accelerated depreciation. Many American states also provide incentives, such as exemption from property tax, mandated purchases, and additional markets for “green credits.” Countries such as Canada and Germany also provide incentives for wind turbine construction, such as tax credits or minimum purchase prices for wind generation, with assured grid access (sometimes referred to as feed-in tariffs). These feed-in tariffs are typically set well above average electricity prices.