Did you know that 40% of your your homes monthly costs come from heating and cooling? Even more so if you’re like me and like it extremely cold in the summer and  blistering hot in the winter (I’m a little like a lizard and don’t generate any body heat )

I’ve often recommended that people replace their thermostats as part of an overall energy saving program. A $40 programmable thermostat can save you at least a hundred dollars a year.

The only problem with programmable thermostats is that they do what you tell them and they don’t change and evolve as your usage changes (unless you re-program them).

That’s why I was so excited when I heard about the Nest thermostat. The idea is you adjust the temperature how you like it and it learns what you like and programs itself.

“What an ingenious idea!” was the first thing that I thought to myself. Instead of my tracking exactly what we like temperature wise we can just adjust the dial and it will learn what temperatures we like and adjust accordingly.

How much money does it save?

Unlike other bold claims of saving you a couple hundred dollars a year Nest’s claims are actually realistic. They state you’ll save about $175 per year just by using the thermostat.

Using a programmable thermostat you can save roughly $100 per year so in effect they’re basically doubling that… which is doable because most of the programs we set could use a little improvement anyways.

Is it worth it?

Well, it does cost over $250; however, if you consider the payback time is only ~16 months or so and you’ll have it for 10+ years I’d say it’s more than worth it as your cumulative savings would be over $1500.

If you want to go check it out click here.

Connecting Solar Panels In Series

Connecting Solar Panels In Series

As you can see in the picture above connecting solar panels in series increases the voltage, but keeps the amperage the same. This is true for any series circuit. Basically, all you need to do to figure out how many volts will be produce is measure all the voltages and than add them together. Figuring out the watts is pretty trivial as well… just multiply the total volts by the amps.

The one thing you should take away is that it doesn’t matter what configuration you connect the panels in they are always going to produce the same number of watts. All you’re doing to either combining the volts or combining the amps (or both which we’ll talk about in a bit).

You would use series connected panels if you have an inverter or charge controller that is 24V, 36V or 48V as a standard 12V panel simply won’t charge those systems. You need to up the voltage produced so that they run correctly.

If you’re still in the planning stages of your system it is recommended that you go with a 24V+ system simply because the inverters are a little more efficient (and who doesn’t like more efficiency?).

Connecting Solar Panels In Parallel

Connecting Solar Panels In Parallel

By connecting the panels in parallel you are no longer increasing the voltage, but are instead increasing the amperage produced.

In this example at the left you can see that there are three 12V panels that each produce 4 amps and they are hooked up in parallel. Together they still produce 12 volts, but instead of producing 4 amps the amps are combined and they produce 12 amps.

Parallel wiring is generally how you connect panels if you’re running a 12 volt system. It’s essentially just connecting all the reds together and connecting all the blacks together.

Connecting Solar Panels In Series Parallel

Connecting Solar Panels In Series Parallel

If you are running a larger installation and running a 24V+ system this is probably how you’re going to be hooking your panels up. The basic idea behind this type of wiring is to get the voltage up to what’s required for your inverter or charge controller and than add parallel wired panels to increase the amperage.

In the example above you can see that there are 4 panels that each produce 12 volts and 4 amps. If you wired them up in series you’d end up with 48 volts and 4 amps. If you wired them up in parallel you’d end up with 12 volts and 16 amps.

The problem you face is your charge controller is 24 volts so you hook two of the panels up in parallel which gives you 8 amps and than you connect the two parallel wired panels up in series which gives you the 24 volts that you need to make things run.

Connecting solar panels isn’t terribly difficult. If you’re running a 12 volt system than parallel wiring will suit you and if you run a higher voltage system you’re probably going to be looking at series parallel wiring depending on how many panels you have.

Types of Solar Panel Mounts

• Roof mounts
• Ground mounts
• Side of pole mounts
• Top of pole mounts
• RV mounts
• Active mounts
• Passive mounts
• Low profile mounts
• Multi pole mounts

Roof Solar Panel Mounts

By far the most common type of mount there is. If you’ve decided to go the DIY route and build your own solar panels don’t cheap out on the mounting hardware. Here are a couple pictures of a nice installation that got destroyed because the mounts weren’t very good.

The safest way to use roof mounting is to mount them using the rafters in your home. In the pictures you see above the person who mounted the panels only mounted them using 3″ screws into the plywood. This is not strong! If you can’t get to the rafters than grab a piece of 2″ x 6″ and attach it to the rafters so you can than screw down into it.

In general roof mounting is used if your roof faces south; however, there can sometimes be a problem with that because your roofs elevation may not actually point the panels in the optimal position. The amount of energy that you lose isn’t terribly significant, but if you don’t have a south facing roof it may be a better idea to check out pole mounting solutions.

If you’re looking for roof solar panel mounts you can get some really good prices over on eBay.

Ground Solar Panel Mounts

I wouldn’t recommend that you use ground mounts unless it’s a portable installation. The nice thing about a ground mounting system is the face that you can easily position it correctly so it faces direct sunlight.

Pole Solar Panel Mounts

If you’re not lucky enough to have a south facing roof with the proper elevation than the next best solution is a pole mount. These come in basically two different flavors and also include active and passive mounts.

There are side pole mounts where the array of panels gets mounted on the side the side of the pole. Side pole mounts are generally used for one panel so if you’ve only got one panel to mount than this is a good solution for you.

Most side pole mounts allow you to change the elevation of the panel; however, it’s something you should check out before buying because you’ll generate more power by being able to point the panel directly at the sun.

On the other hand you’ve got the top of pole mounts. These are very similar to side pole mounts except the panels get mounted on the top of the pole instead. Top of pole mounts allow you to change the elevation and quite often you can mount several panels into an array on top of the pole.

In addition, top pole mounts can also come in active and passive tracker configurations. Otherwise known as sun tracking this is a very useful feature that keeps your panels pointed directly at the sun at all times.

As the name implies passive solar trackers don’t have any electrical parts. Instead, they use the heat from the sun to heat a liquid which moves the tracker from side to side keeping it pointed directly at the sun at all times. The nice thing about a passive tracker is the fact that it doesn’t require any extra electricity to operate so you don’t add any overhead in your power generation.

Active solar trackers on the other hand use a motor to continually reposition the array so it’s always pointing full on at the sun. Of the two I’d probably choose a passive tracker simply because it doesn’t introduce extra electricity usage.

Multi Pole Solar Panel Mounts

A multi pole mount is exactly the same as a side/top pole mount except the fact that there are multiple poles used to support a larger number of panels installed onto it.

The easiest way to decide what kind of mount is best for you is simply to ask yourself the following. Does your house have a roof that faces south? If it does than you’ll be fine mounting them on the roof.

If you don’t have a south facing roof than any one of the different types of pole mounts is recommended for you to use.

Wind Turbine Parts: Blades

The blades are the lifeblood of any wind generator. We’ve discussed before about wind generator blade selection so make sure to read that so you understand what types of blades your should buy that are the right fit for your situation.

There are really only two main parts that have to do with the blades. There are the blades themselves and than the hub and arbor. WindyNation carries all of these parts (in fact you can get everything from them except your tower).

Depending on what type of blades you get they may or may not come with a hub. If you need a hub than there are two things you’re going to need to look for. The first is that the blades fit correctly on the hub and the second has to do with the arbor.

A wind generator arbor is just a little piece of metal that allows you to easily mount the blades onto it and than attach it to the wind generator motor. That means there are two sizes there that you have to make sure are correct. The first is the little bolt part that lets you attach the hub to it (make sure the sizes match) and the second is the inside diameter that slots over your motor (make sure they match as well).

Wind Turbine Parts: Body

This is where the power is actually produced. There are quite a few different parts that come together and make the body of a wind generator and you need to make sure that you have all of them.

Of course, the first is the wind generator motor which produces the power. Than, there’s the mount that the motor attaches to which also gets attached to the wind generator tower and it’s also where the tail is attached to.

Unless you decide to buy a kit than you’re going to have to fashion the body of the wind generator yourself. If you’re not a competent metalworker (and I’m not) than a kit would be a good way to go. WindyNation has by far the most inexpensive kits I’ve seen (for 750 watt kits).

If you’re aiming to go above 750 watts (and who doesn’t) than it would make good sense to hire somebody who knows how to weld and get them to build one for you. Make sure you have the motor your going to use and the slip coupling etc. before starting so it can be tailor made to your parts.

The tail you don’t really need to worry about. As long as it will keep the generator pointed into the wind than you have nothing to worry about; however, if you want any sort of furling than additional research will be required (I’ll be doing a post about auto furling soon). If you don’t know what furling is it’s basically just moving the wind generator tail off to an angle so it doesn’t over rotate during high winds (which is a great safety feature to have).

Wind Turbine Parts: Towers

The type of tower that you choose really depends on how big your generator is. For small generators an old TV tower will work just fine. They’re light and strong, plus these days if you can find one you can usually get it for free.

The other option is schedule 80 steel pipe for larger installations. Depending on how large/high up your generator is you may need some guy wires to help keep everything stable. Before you can really pick out a tower you’re going to have to figure out what wattage your wind generator will be so you know how strong the tower needs to be.

The other part that goes with a tower is called a slip ring. This is basically installed at the very top and allows your wind generator to rotate, but it also serves another important process… and that is preventing the wires in your tower from tangling up. This is a critical piece that is sometimes overlooked. Tangled wires can lead to big headaches so make sure this is on your shopping list.

All in all, a wind generator is a pretty simple machine. When sourcing that parts to build one just keep in mind the arbor sizes because it can be frustrating to order the wrong size one. In addition, make sure the output power of your blades matches the output power of your motor.

Finding wind turbine parts use to be difficult, but you should be able to find everything at a great price on eBay or Amazon.

Tempered Solar Panel Glass

Tempered glass has been hardened at the factory and is at least six times harder than regular plate glass. It has the unique property of shattering into a billion pieces when it breaks rather than producing long jagged shards like plate glass though.

In solar panels tempered glass is used for two main reasons. First, it’s extremely strong and will stand up to punishment that would otherwise break standard plate glass.

The other reason that tempered glass is used is because it doesn’t cloud up over time and reduce the output power of the solar panel.

The downside to tempered glass? It costs quite a bit more than standard plate glass, so you should use it if you’re worried about something breaking the glass and ruining a panel… or if the extra cost is justified because of clouding (which it really isn’t).

Plate Solar Panel Glass

Plate glass isn’t nearly as strong as tempered glass, but it’s quite a bit cheaper which is why you’ll find it used most often in DIY projects and lower end solar panels.

I really have no problem with plate glass. I’ve used it in DIY panels and although it wouldn’t survive a drop from the roof, it certainly stands up to being hit by stuff (the latest being a baseball).

The nice thing about plate glass is that it’s much easier to get for free than tempered glass. I still haven’t found a good source where you can get rectangular pieces of tempered glass for free, but you can with plate glass.

All you need to do is call up local contractors and ask them if they have any windows left over from old jobs. The bigger the contractor the better because they’ll have a bigger selection. The nicest part of these pieces of glass? They are rectangular and just the perfect thickness for a solar panel.

Although I’ve never actually done a test using the same solar cells and different types of glass you will generate less electricity using plate glass over tempered. Although plate glass looks clear if you look at the side you’ll see it’s a greenish color which means it’s going to block some sunlight. It won’t be much, but you should know that it does so you can make an informed decision.

So, what should you use: plate or tempered solar panel glass?

Well, the decision ultimately lies with you. I’d recommend tempered glass if you are concerned about it breaking (ie. there are trees near your house and a broken branch in a storm could break plate glass). Also, you’d want to use tempered glass if you want to get the most out of your panel and don’t mind that the payback period will be a couple years.

For the DIYers or those who want to save a little money… go with plate glass. Sure, it will break if it gets high hard enough but the odds of that happening are extremely low. It’s cheap and if you used it on a DIY or repaired panel it will probably save you more money in the long run because tempered glass does cost quite a bit. Plus, if you search around you can get it for free!

The other fact that affects how people use energy is the new smart metered pricing. If you’re not on it yet… don’t worry you will be within a few years. Basically, you’re charged more per kWh during the day and less during the night. To me, it’s a money grab but there’s nothing you can do about it other than work on your plan towards living off grid.

Ways To Save Electricity Plan

One of my very favorite quotes is “Before you can get where you’re going, you have to know where you’ve been”. I apply that everyday in my life and I’ll show you how to apply it in saving energy in your home.

Taking that quote and applying it to saving energy simply means that you really have no idea whether you’re saving money unless you’re measuring how much energy you use. You can do this a variety of ways… from keeping track of how your electric bill usage changes (which is hard because energy usage changes with the seasons) or using something like a Kill-a-Watt or a Home Energy Monitor. I like both devices and you really can’t go wrong with the Kill-a-Watt for it’s price.

The plan is now to pick a room in your house that you want to focus on. I suggest you start with your living room. You’ll be surprised how much energy a cable box or satellite box uses. Choose an outlet you want to monitor and take readings for about a week. Average them together to get a daily average and than try to reduce the amount of power it uses!

Ways To Save Electricity: The Follow Through

This is the fun part because there’s just so many different things that you can do to reduce the electricity usage in your home without sacrificing (or running them late at night). To get started you’re going to need something like a Belkin Conserve Socket as well as a Belkin Conserve Smart Power Bar. The socket is really neat because it has a little button and you just press it to turn the socket on and there’s a timer that turns it off (you can set the timer length).

The power bar is for an entirely different scenario. For example, when your TV is off do you really need your cable box, DVD player etc. drawing power? Those are known as phantom loads and they account for 10% – 20% of your homes energy usage (depending on what study you read).

After you’ve installed your energy saving device you’re once again going to want to plug in the Kill-a-Watt or Home Energy Monitor and repeat collecting how much energy that outlet uses for a week.

Now the not so fun part! You need to compare the amount of energy saved per day in kWh, multiply it by 365, and than multiply that by how much a kWh of energy costs you. Now, is it worth it for you to install that energy saving device there? These little things will last you forever so if it pays for itself in a year or two (or even three) than in my opinion it’s definitely worth it.

Ways To Save Electricity: Is It Worth It?

I play the long game with energy savings and most of the stuff I have installed will take 3 – 5 years to pay back, but these things last quite a bit longer than that so the return on investment will be at least 100% (you try and get a 100% return on your investment with the bank).

If you want to get started I’d recommend that you grab a Kill-a-Watt and scour your house. It’s always surprising when you find out that all the stuff hooked up to your TV sucks down a couple hundred watts even when it’s off.

The following are a series of videos by a company called Windy Nation (just click the link to see what they sell… it’s got good prices and excellent quality). The videos have terrible audio, but you’re definitely going to pick up a few tidbits here and there that will help you with building a wind generator.

*Note: I know the audio isn’t great, but the information is so try to ignore it

In the first video they talk about connecting the yaw bushing to the three phase slip ring. The yaw bushing is what allows your wind generator to circle around so that it can always be facing the wind and a slip ring prevents the wires from getting tangled up inside of the tower.

In the second video they talk about how to apply strain relief to your slip ring cabling. Many people don’t realize that fifty feet of wire that goes up a wind generator tower weighs a lot and it is constantly pulling down. Applying strain relief helps deal with this problem.

In the third video they discuss how to mount the slip ring and yaw bushing onto the wind generator tower. One of the nice things about the slip ring and yaw bushing that WindyNation has designed is the fact that the slip ring screws right into the yaw bushing and the yaw bushing fits snugly in schedule 80 pipe. That means no fiddling around trying to get things to fit.

Step four has the guys showing you how to mount the wind generator onto the tower. This step is recommended that you have a second person to help because you need to guide the wires from the slip ring up through the generator mount. A piece of string is extremely useful so you don’t have to do any fishing around.

Now it’s time to wire everything up and tighten everything up! In this video they show you how to tighten the strain relief up to make a watertight seal and than wire up the generator to the tower wiring.

In the next step the guys assemble the furling tail of the wind generator. This is what’s required in order for the wind generator to always point in the direction that the wind is blowing.

And now we come to the last step which is attaching the wind generator blades to the shaft of the generator. It’s a pretty simple process, but do make sure that you double check everything and ensure that it’s tight!

In a few short years the cost of building a homemade wind generator has dropped dramatically. No longer do you need to figure every single thing out yourself.

I personally recommend that you go check out everything that WindyNation offers (just click the link). For the most part they cater to wind generators, but recently they’ve started branching out into solar products as well.

The nice thing about the flood of DIY wind generator products that has hit the market in the past 2 years is the amount of flexibility that you have when choosing parts. It’s basically like a buffet and you figure out what you want and than go out and get all the parts.

I do need to make a note about the serious DIYer though. It has been common to use PVC blades in the past hooked up to an Ametek motor. While this does work whatever you do don’t use PVC blades. I’ve heard horror story after horror story about them snapping. If you’re looking to save money you can build everything yourself, but get a set of aluminum blades… you’ll be thankful that you did.

Building a homemade wind generator is well worth it considering that they’re so much cheaper than buying a commercial model.

PVC Wind Generator Blade

Whatever you do please don’t use PVC wind generator blades! Not only are they terribly inefficient, but they are also a safety hazard.

I know that renewable energy is still pretty expensive; however, cheaping out on your system is only going to cost you more money in the long run, it’s not going to produce nearly as much energy as you think and you could kill somebody if a blade breaks.

The reason that PVC isn’t a recommended blade isn’t the fact that it doesn’t work very well (they aren’t very efficient), but rather the fact that over time the UV rays from the sun make the PVC brittle.

Blades are more likely to snap in high wind speeds which is what makes these dangerous. All you need is a PVC blade that’s been exposed to the sun for 6 – 12 months and a good gust of wind and you’ve got a killing piece of flying pipe. PVC blades are also more likely to snap because they aren’t balanced either. Sure, the balance may be close, but it’s not within a tight enough margin to not introduce wobble that places additional stress on the blades.

Wood Wind Generator Blade

Wood is definitely not a good blade selection either. Although they are a lot stronger than a PVC blade and if you make them right they can be almost as efficient as fiberglass or aluminum blades wood still suffers from one fatal flaw.

That flaw is the fact that little bits of stuff flows along with the wind and hit the blades. Over time your pristine wood blades are going to get some knicks in them. When it rains that blade is going to start absorbing water which is going to throw the balance off and soon enough you’ve got a wooden blade flying through the air (which in my opinion is more dangerous than a PVC blade). I talked to a guy who saw it happen once and let me tell you he was glad that the wind generator wasn’t anywhere near people because it would have killed someone.

Fiberglass Wind Generator Blade

Now we start getting into blades that are a better fit for a DIY wind generator. Fiberglass blades don’t suffer the balance issues or weakening issues that PVC has to deal with. These would be the blades you’d go with for a lower budget wind generator build because they’re cheaper than an aluminum blade and offer decent performance.

You can find fiberglass wind generator blades on eBay or Amazon.

Aluminum/Stainless Steel Wind Generator Blade

These would be the cream of the crop of blades. An aluminum or stainless steel set of blades is going to last you an extremely long time. If you don’t mind spending the money up front and really not having to ever replace the blades than this option is for you.

Sure, these types of blades are going to cost almost double or triple up front; however, these will literally last you forever. There is no weakening that you have to worry about and unless something substantial hits the blades (in that case you’d probably have a lot more to worry about) you don’t have to worry about nicked blades either.

My personal recommendation is that you use aluminum wind generator blades. You can find them at both eBay and Amazon and the costs have gone down quite a bit recently (our favorites are the WindyNation blades).

Check out this video of some Aluminum blades in action!

Number of Wind Generator Blades?

The number of blades that you choose for your wind generator is largely dependant upon your wind speed. Generally, you use more blades the lower wind speed you have because more surface area will help the turbine start up in lower wind speeds. It’s easy to find out the average wind speed in your area… just do a google search for wind speed data.

Generally, smaller wind turbines (1000 watts and under) will benefit from the added blades and my recommendation are the aluminum wind generator blades from WindyNation.

It’s not hard to find good wind generator blades. Just remember that if you buy quality from the outset your going to have to deal with less repairs, will be safer and in the long run your going to save more money. I know it’s enticing to save money up front, but once you start calculating just how much money you’ll save over the lifetime of your wind generator than good wind generator blades make sense if you never need to replace them.

Solar Cells For Sale: Power Output

Since solar cells come in a dizzying array of shapes and sizes they all put out a different amount of power.

There is a little trick though. Each solar cell puts out 0.55 volts and different levels of amps depending on the size.

That means a 1″ x 3″ solar cell produces the same amount of volts as a 3″ x 6″ cell (0.55 volts); however, the 3″ x 6″ cell puts out quite a bit more amps than the 1″ x 3″ cell.

If you’re going to build a solar panel than it’s best to buy the biggest solar cells available to you that have the highest output. The highest output cells I’ve seen put out 1.98 watts (o.55 volts @ 3.98 amps) per cell so you only need 36 cells to put together a 72 watt solar panel.

Solar Cells For Sale: Tabbed vs. Untabbed

What the heck is the difference between a tabbed solar cell and an untabbed solar cell?

For the most part all it has to do with is how difficult it is to build your panel as well as how long it takes to build each panel. You see, untabbed cells… while a little bit cheaper take an extremely long time to tab (the picture at the left shows a tabbed solar cell… basically it means soldering little wires to the face of the cell. I can personally attest to the fact that it’s grueling work).

I’m of the opinion that untabbed solar cells simply aren’t worth it unless you have some sort of machine to tab them. Each cell takes at least 5 minutes to tab and for a extra 10 – 20 cents per watt you can get tabbed ones.

My recommendation? Go for the tabbed solar cells and save yourself the headache (and remember… don’t get short tabbed cells because they’re just as difficult to work with).

Solar Cells For Sale: Quantity

As with most things that you buy in bulk the more you buy the cheaper they get. Solar cells are no different.

Generally, you can buy solar cells in multiples of 36. If you take a loot at the prices you’ll notice that buying 108 cells is vastly cheaper per watt than buying only 36 cells. If you’re serious about building solar panels my recommendation is to start with a small 36 – 108 cell pack and once you get the hang of it go for a 500 cell pack. They’re WAY cheaper than buying the smaller packs and you’ll save a lot more money.

Solar Cells  For Sale: Where To Buy

A couple of years ago I happened to be searching on eBay for something and decided that for the heck of it I’d do a search for solar cells. What I found was probably the best price per watt for solar cells that I’ve ever seen.

If you’re able to buy a higher quantity of solar cells (in the 500 range) than Amazon has the best deal for larger quantities of solar cells.

I would definitely check both places out(click here to see solar cells at Amazon and click here to see solar cells at eBay) and do a little math to see who is cheapest per watt because the prices are always coming down (sometimes you can find a deal for 0.60 cents a watt!).

Although the prices of solar panels have dropped (and continue to drop!) the price of solar cells has dropped just as much and you can now build a 72 watt solar panel for $60 (as long as you find some free glass… just ask local contractors).

Although it can seem like a daunting task at first picking out which solar cells to get hopefully these tips will help you filter through all the junk and pick the perfect ones for your project.

All you need to remember is that if you’re building a solar panel than bigger cells are better because they produce a lot more power and thus you need less cells per panel.

Also remember that unless you want to have a hair pulling contest than you should get tabbed cells because they are going to save you hours and hours of time building each panel. They aren’t that much more expensive, but the reduced headaches makes them more than worth it.

Lastly, always make sure that you compare the price per watt of the various quantities available. Generally, larger quantities are cheaper, but I’ve gotten some good deals by doing the math.

Hopefully, you’ll get a good deal on solar cells for sale and be on your journey to building your first panel.

What Is Wind Generator Motor Cogging?

‘Cogging’ of a wind generator motor is something that many people overlook when selecting a wind generator motor. Cogging basically refers to ‘sticking points’ that happen as the motor turns.

If you happen to have a motor lying around right now you can actually do a test and see what cogging feels like. Just grab the motor and slowly turn it until it ‘sticks’. Depending on the motor this will happen several times per revolution.

Why is this important when choosing a motor though? Well, it effects the startup speed of your wind generator which in turn effects how much power you’re able to output. You see, if your wind generator can start up in a slower wind speed you’ll generate more power because your wind generator will operate over a wider range of wind speeds.

Low cogging motors are more expensive, but you’ll generate more power and that in turn will save you more money over the long term. Most of the DIY motors such as the ones by Ametek have little cogging and are good to start with.

Wind Generator Motor Specs

These are pretty general and can vary widely depending on how much power you want to produce. The first rule of thumb is that whatever motor you select make sure that it’s a permanent magnet motor (that means vacuum cleaner motors aren’t going to work!). In addition, make sure that it’s a DC rather than AC motor. While you can use AC motors most of them need to be retrofitted with permanent magnets and are used when wire runs for more than 200 feet or so.

The next thing you need to look at is the RPM, voltage and amperage that the motor is rated for.

Many people will try to trick you by listing something like a 600 watt wind generator motor for sale, but when you look at it you need to spin it at 2000 RPM’s in order to achieve that! You’re looking for a motor that produces at least 48V @ less than 650 RPM. Remember that those are the top ratings and most of the time you won’t get that kind of output from it.

A good rule of thumb is to figure out how much power you want to produce and set that as 60%. So if you want to generate 100 watts of electricity that’s 60% of total output power so you’d look for a motor that outputs 166 watts of power. That way you achieve your 100 watts of output power in most conditions.

Other Wind Generator Motor Considerations

If you’re going to build a wind generator than the absolute best advice that I can give you is to not cheap out on the motor, blades or blade mounting equipment.

The reason is simple. I’ve seen people who buy $100 or $200 motors and attach some PVC blades and off they go. They almost always come back to me saying something along the lines of “my blades broke” or “my motor isn’t generating power”.

If it costs $200 more for a better motor and blades, but you don’t have to replace it over the course of 10 years than in the long run you’ve saved money (and it’s a lot safer). So spend the money and get a good motor. You’ll generate more power in the low end and it’s going to last longer.

Where To Get A Wind Generator Motor

As with most of my renewable energy shopping I’ve taken a real shine to Amazon and eBay. They have great prices and you can find exactly what you’re looking for.

My personal recommendation is the 750 watt permanent magnet alternator from Windy Nation (click the link to check it out). This is a motor that has been designed precisely for generating electricity with a wind generator.

Not only does it produce AC so it’s more efficient, but they include a bridge rectifier to convert it to DC to charge batteries.

Although that’s my personal recommendation it is possible to find cheaper alternatives on both Amazon and eBay.

Click here to check out wind generator motors on Amazon

Click here to check out wind generator motors on eBay

Remember what you’re looking for: high power output at low RPM’s and a permanent magnet DC motor. AC is preferable and if you find one that says it’s for wind generators just make sure it has permanent magnets in it or it’s not going to work.

Hopefully that helps you with the hard task of choosing a wind generator motor for your project. Remember, buy a quality wind generator motor and quality blades and your life will be a whole lot easier.