Windmill Tower

The tower of your homemade windmill is very important because it determines how efficient your wind turbine will be. The main reason is that you do not want obstruction from the wind by other factors so it is wise to have your tower up to 30 feet above ground but remember I am saying "up to 30 feet", it is dependant on your location.

Other factors to consider

Does your location have flat land, is it uneven and are there many trees in the immediate area. It is fine if you need to place your windmill away from your home but I would not recommend any further than a 300 foot radius.

Tower base

Make sure that the base is very solid and grounded, generally it is wise to dig into the ground a few feet and have a concrete base. If you do not want to use concrete I recommend stainless steel or very hard wood. In terms of your hole cover the base of the hole with sand, pebbles, sand again and then place the tower base on top of this.

Tower materials

The best thing to make your tower out of is steel piping so that you can run your wiring down through the middle of it, this prevents wear and tear on your wires. Have 3-4 straps or metal cables attached to the top of your tower and secure them into the ground with pegs or sand/water/concrete weights.

Final tips

Remember your tower is facing the elements so paint it for rust prevention if need be, make sure the straps (metal cables) are a few feet below the complete top of the tower and all your wiring is securely strapped or screwed down.

How does a Windmill generate Electricty/Power

So you have heard about windmill electricity or power generation which is probably why you are interested in building one for yourself but you need to understand how it actually works. No problem let me explain how.

Battery or energy storage device

So if you are using a homemade windmill then you will be generating electrical power through a battery system. Usually if you want to charge a battery you plug it into the wall socket and allow electrical current to run from the grid into the battery (energy storage device) and then use this power for what ever reason you see fit. So what you will do is generate this electrical power from the generator on your windmill which is attached to your battery. Now you are asking how does the generator create electricity?

How does wind generate electricity?

I will explain how a basic magnetic generator works and then it will become quite clear. A magnetic generator has a large magnet in the middle and a large turbine around it covered in copper. When the turbine rotates around the magnet, energy is generated and directed through a copper wire into whatever power storage device is connected (battery).

So with a windmill the turbine is connected to the rotor which has the windmill blades attached. The wind blows and causes rotation of the blades/rotor and turbine therefore creating wind power. The faster the rotation the more electricity that will be generated etc...

What size generator should you use?

This is dependant on the wind speed in your area, the size of your windmill and what you need to power. I would recommend looking at a more detailed source so if you follow the link at the top/right it will take you to a homemade windmills website that links to a professional source. (It's worth checking out).