Unique Original Articles » Building Wind Turbines - Choosing the Blades

When making a homemade wind turbine the two most critical questions you need to answer are what type of motor to use and what type of blades to use. Let’s talk about what type of rotors you should use when building your wind generator.
For most of us (myself included) it’s best to start out with PVC wind generator blades. The reason being they can be made quite cheaply (less than $25 in most cases) and are superb for wind generators with diameters up to 8’. These types of blades can be made with a piece of PVC pipe and a handsaw. I don’t recommend using these blades for turbines whose cross section is going to be larger than 8’ because these blades can bend quite a bit. One of the disadvanteges of using PVC blades is the fact that they aren’t nearly as capable as fiberglass blades. These rotors are only 20% - 25% efficient while some fiberglass blades are upwards of 50% efficient. This is the trade-off between cost and efficiency.
That’s not to say that you shouldn’t use these blades. They’re great for your first wind generator because you can get up and running very cheaply and upgrade later.
Some people use wooden blades, but I don’t recommend that you try this. Wooden blades are easy to build and can be quite efficient, but there can be some problems. The biggest problem is that wood isn’t watertight Even if you paint the blades with some water resistant paint they will get small nicks or cracks in them. Over time water will collect in one blade and throw the balance off. This can have catastrophic effects such as a blade flying off the wind generator and possibly hitting somebody.
If you’ve got some extra money I highly recommend that you go with pre-fabricated blades. They aren’t as inexpensive as a PVC solution, but they are more efficient, will last longer, and can be used to build wind generators up to 16’ in diameter. There are two types of pre-fabricated blades: fiberglass and stainless steel/aluminum.
Fiberglass blades are cheaper than metal blades, but won’t last nearly as long. Both can achieve similar efficiencies. These types of blades are great after you have a wind generator up and have already saved money on your electric bill and wish to upgrade.



I built my own solar panels and a wind generator and saved well over $30,000. I get a cheque from the power company because I produce more energy than I use. If you'd like to learn how you can do the same check out Homemade Wind Generator.
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