Eish!!: DIY wind power generation

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DIY wind power generation

As the title of the web page says "Wind is free" Living in close to the tip of Africa, means that along with the beauty comes the a fair amount of wind. The ever present power outages and the wish to become a South African and world citizen, made me look into the possibility of utilising the wind to supplement my electricity usage from national power grid.
My research brought me to windpower.org.za. The page is an conglomeration Peter's research, experiences, designs, and the source material, gathered on his ongoing quest to build his own wind turbine. His model is currently running, powering a battery bank which in turn powers a light source. And as a result this page is a wealth of useful information.

He says that that it has currently cost him R3500-00 for his current setup. This includes the cost of experimentaion. When compared to the quotes I have received from the only two distributors I could find in Cape Town (or South Africa for that matter) of over R30 000-00 it looks like a worthwhile project on which to embark. However, me being severely challenged when it comes to DIY, it will remain a pipe dream. The site as a pretty active forum which is used to exchange ideas, and their seems to be a healthy community of enthusiasts hell bent on utilising the free power source. All strength to them.

For those of you DIY challenged, here are the alternatives :

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Posted by roygbiv on Monday, February 4, 2008 at 9:30 AM |

Click here to see your ship come in.

Wind energy generation capacity in the USA grew by a staggering 45% in 2007, and accounted for 30% of all new generating capacity added throughout the country.

http://www.greenclippings.co.za/gc_main/article.php?story=20080203150425278

Posted by Anonymous Anonymous | February 6, 2008 at 1:38 PM  

Hey Anonymous, interesting stats. It makes perfect sense doesn't it.
Just wish it was a more accessible and affordable technology here in SA

Posted by Blogger eishman | February 6, 2008 at 4:49 PM  

Eish, man, thanks for the comments about my site. Too bad you are DIY challenged... its a comment made by others as well, and so I am desperately trying to make it more accessible by making components available for order via the web on this page.

You know the sad thing is SA is falling further and further behind the rest of the world - we get far less than 1% of our energy from wind and solar, despite having the highest number of sunshine hours in the world, and some of the best wind power potential int he world along the coastal regions. Instead Es-skom is planning more and more nuclear power stations, all relying on the limited resource of uranium which will not last more than 50 years if heavily used. Whats more, it leaves a trail of radioactive waste for our descendants to deal with, with NO PLAN in place to deal with it - which possibly will be considered one of the greatest crimes against humanity ever in the future. This site attempts to make light of this issue...

Posted by Anonymous Anonymous | March 3, 2008 at 10:42 PM  

Thanks Peter for the feedback. Well done on the component store, I hope this will mean wind turbines will start springing up all over SA.
Keep up the great work, we need to embrace the natural power we have at our disposal. It just makes sense.

Posted by Blogger roygbiv | March 4, 2008 at 8:42 AM  

Hi all
I am not DIY chalanged and currently researching ways to reduce electricity use or even get off the power grid completely as eskom and the councils continulay rip us off. My only concern is how much power you can generate and how to attach it to your current houses power. I have heard of a device that allows you to connect to power source eg eskom and diy turbine. This then shares the load between the two sources. Using less eskom power. If anybody can tell me what this unit is called it would be a great help. Contact me through my website Thanks

Posted by Anonymous Warren | October 11, 2009 at 10:16 AM  

Easiest solution to "powershare" with ESKOM is to generate your own power as per Peter, Use that power for all those items in your home which fall within the range of your power, and leave Eskom to tpower your heavy items suck as fridge, deepfreeze, stove, etc. Use those trip switches on your power board!
Daan

Posted by Anonymous Anonymous | July 16, 2010 at 8:36 AM  

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