This Friday is the opening day of the 3rd Solar Decathlon Exhibition. The exhibition takes place on the National Mall in Washington DC from October 12th to 20th. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the competition invites 20 teams from colleges and universities across the United States, Germany, Spain, and Canada to participate. The objective is to “design, build, and operate the most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient solar-powered house.” Students have been working on these projects for up to two years; they build them, then deconstruct their projects to transport them across the country and even across oceans only to put them back together again. Teams arrived in Washington last Wednesday, October 3, and have been assembling their homes to prep for Fridays opening.

Powered entirely by the sun, these high-tech homes that exhibit superior efficiency are “likely to help shape America’s clean energy future,” states a press release from the Department of Energy. The first Solar Decathlon was in 2002. I am partially inspired by this event as my old alma mater, the University of Michigan, competed in the 2005 competition. Although Michigan is not competing this year, many of the students from participating schools and prospective schools took notes on the flaws present in 2005, and went home to improve, reinvent, and discover new technologies for this year’s event.

As a result of seeing the 2005 University of Michigan MISO (Michigan Solar) home, I can tell you that these teams are consciously composed. With students from disciplines ranging from Engineering, Architecture, and Design to Urban Planning andEnvironmental Studies, these projects are guaranteed to be well-conceived. “These solar homes are powerful, comfortable, and stylish. They are relaxed, elegant, wasting neither space nor energy.” Since these projects come from an academic setting, a place where exploring concepts and visions for the future is fostered and encouraged, these homes are creative, innovative, and surprising.

Not only is this an opportunity for students to learn, explore, and experience solar home construction; it is also an occasion for the public to come view the solutions and learn about the best in energy efficiency and home design. If you are in the DC area and have a chance to stop by, the exhibition hosts an entrée of tours, seminars, workshops, and talks by students and professionals. Starting this Friday October 12, the exhibition is open to the public. Next Thursday, October 18 is a day devoted to building industry professionals, and the official awards ceremony is next Friday October 19. Enjoy!

For all you suburban dwellers, alternative energy is finally finding its place in or on your home! Most commonly when we think of wind power, we think of industrial wind farms in the country. Well, wind power is again retreating in size, making it available for the most modest home.

Mariah Power of Reno, Nevada has developed a new efficient and attractive wind harvesting station called the Windspire that has a quite attractive profile for suburban dwellers. The Windspire, at 30 feet tall and 2 feet wide, takes advantage of the access of vertical space you have out on your suburban lot. With only a ½ acre of land or more, the Windspire will work effectively. The 1 kW inverter will produce about 1900 kW hours each year in 12 mile per hour average winds. The Windspire even includes an internal wireless modem that will continuously communicate with your computer about the amount of power is generated in your backyard while at work, sleeping, eating, and generally going about your day. This allows you to track and check the generation progress at any time.

The propeller construction is different from more common wind turbine. The vertical construction allows propellers to turn at the same speed as the wind. This allows it to be virtually silent and safe for both birds and people. In addition to the safety and tranquility, at only 30 feet in height, it is below most residential and urban zoning restrictions. And at a tall height in the sky, it is responsibly easy on the eye. The design is sleek, light, and simple. Available in customizable colors and designs, you can even appropriate the construction for your own aesthetic tastes.

With simple and complete installation, the kit is an easy addition to the home. Priced at only $3,995, the lowest cost of anything of its kind, wind power immediately becomes an affordable commodity. In addition to providing the product, Windspire’s site has a useful tool for clients and potential clients. The tool helps you evaluate your site and appropriate the installation to be the most effective.

So, if you have been looking for a way to incorporate alternative energy in your home but always thought your site wasn’t appropriate, think again. With sleekness and silence, your neighbors will only be intrigued.

As alternative energy is coming of age, new designs and more inventions are making it easy for you to install alternative energy generations stations at your home. A West Australian designer is working on a turbine system invention small enough to be installed on your roof. At a meter in length and a half meter in height, this invention is even easier to apply to your household energy consumption (and production). Keep your eyes open, pretty soon we will be able to put a turbine on our car, belt, and bike to generate usable amounts of energy.

William McDonough and Partners is teaming up this year with a list of other local and international architecture, engineering, and design firms to form Greenbridge Developments LLC, a new company focused on implementing and designing sustainable mixed-use development. The group was actually founded in 2006 by six local families with strong connections in the area whom were all influenced by sustainable development. This years first project will be in the defined “opportunity zone” of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The two-tower construction will achieve LEED Gold Certification, and serve as a national model of sustainable design and green building.

The initial plans for this retail/office/housing complex include two nine-story buildings that will be connected by a pedestrian bridge, rooftop gardens, solar panels, wheatgrass countertops, a Zipcar fleet, and a sustainable educational learning center. The developers will encourage fair-trade businesses to open shop on the ground floor’s designated retail space.

Based on the declared premise that “all sustainability is local”, the new development seeks to meet the goals of environmental sensitivity, social equity, and economic vitality. The possibility of influencing local economys and social environments through large-scale projects such as housing developments is, and always has been, present. Yet when sustainability can be the underlining theme and motivation, the project will undoubtedly have a positive “smart growth” influence. Instead of consuming new land, “green development” Greenbridge Developments LLC seeks to revitalize urban and civic centers though considering the impact of each decision made in the design process.

The most interesting aspect of this project is that, in addition to expecting LEED Gold certification, the project is largely influenced by the “Cradle-to-Cradle” design paradigm articulated in the 2002 book by William McDonough (whose architecture firm headlines the project) and Michael Braungart.

“Contrary to the cradle-to-grave patterns that make, take, and waste- cradle-to-cradle harnesses the earth’s interdependent systems to nourish one process with the ‘waste’ from another, and rely on an eternally renewing flow of resources.”

The duo now runs a practice (MBDC: McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry) in Charlottesville, Virginia that awards cradle-to-cradle certification to materials and products, and consults with businesses on strategies. Simultaneously, McDonough runs his own architecture practice focused on superior sustainable quality. With his experience alone, I would trust that any building he works on would be of the greatest, smartest eco-effective quality.

By utilizing available technology in the most complex and collaborative way, Greenbridge Developments could potentially be a nationwide and worldwide model of sustainable development, economic and urban revitalization, and progressive green design.

Kiss & Cathcart, 2020 towerIsn’t it the best thing in the world when you find out that making a decision about your lifestyle is not only the environmentally-friendly decision, but the economical one too?!!! It makes me want to run through the streets with my arms flailing, telling the world that we are going to be ok. Blue collar, green collar, white collar, red collar… we can all save a bit of money by taking a healthy and responsible action for future generations.

Increasingly, homeowners and businesses are getting bank loans and even grants to install solar and wind power systems on the site of their property. The Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency is a great place for homeowners to start. It is common to now receive an incentive to reduce the cost of these systems from 25 to 40%, depending on location, of course. The state of Oregon now has 50% Business Energy Tax Credit for all renewable project costs. Not only does this incentive make alternative, local power generation an affordable option, but in provides individuals, families, and groups with the possibility of claiming energy independence from the electric grid.

Following is a supreme example of how the business management of renewable energy systems is gaining strength and incentives. The largest investment bank in the U.S., Morgan Stanley, will finance and own the PV systems that are to be installed atop 7 Wal-Mart stores in California. The way this works is that Morgan Stanley signs on as a financing partner of SunPower, the supplier, designer, installer, and maintenance supplier of the systems. Morgan Stanley pays for the system up front and the customer pays for it over a long period of time, as opposed to 100% up front. This means low investment risk and instant availability. Big business is seeing green in dollars returned by investing in alternative energy that makes good business sense to them. Not only is it just good business because it looks good and tops their environmental checklist, but it’s economical. Tiffany’s, for example is expecting a $500,000 annual savings on the 1.3 megawatt solar installation divided between 2 distribution centers in New Jersey.

I am not writing to debate the politics of appreciating solar value, market value due to commercial demand, and increasing utility prices; I’d just simply like you to appreciate that there is a greater demand. According to Solar Buzz, “Over the last 20 years the cost of solar energy systems has come down seven fold…” According to The Economist, “Global investment in renewable power-generation, biofuels and low-carbon technologies rose from $28 billion in 2004 to $72 billion in 2006.” If you think about it fundamentally, it makes sense that there be more value at a cheaper cost to us in something that is renewable. These businesses are not signing the Declaration of Energy Independence (yet), but they are partially acting on the economical incentive present. Even though designing these stores and warehouses to maximize on natural light might be the most energy efficient option, investing in solar to power the devices within this space has to be applauded.

Build it beautiful

In honor of the holiday and the American Dream of freedom and exploration, I am going to help you declare an “energy independence” today (at home anyway). Today, we are going to decrease our dependency on finite natural resources such as coal and natural gas used to generate much of the energy we consume in this country. The interesting lesson is that these finite resources are burned to generate steam that drives a shaft through magnets, resulting in an electromagnetic inductive reaction that generates electricity; the same principles on which wind power is generated.

Today’s topic to shout from the mountaintops is how to make your own affordable wind turbine. Did you know that the energy in the wind more or less follows the human 24-hour power consumption cycle? So I’m here to say, lets utilize that wind while we simultaneously use up the electricity.

I have personally not built this mechanism, but being a declared experimental designer, I like to rig things up and love to figure out how things work. Thus, I have reviewed many instructions and debriefed for you an informative and simple process from a Do-It-Yourselfer in Arizona who built his for under $150. If you crave more specific instructions, visit his site or one of the many options at the bottom of the page. There are hundreds of ways to build each sub-construction, so get creative and think about efficiency in weight, size, and aerodynamics.

Without further ado, following is a simple and cheap process of instructions on how to build your own wind turbine at home!

The bare necessities that every wind turbine has in common:
1. A Generator
2. Blades
3. A mount and wind vane to keep it turned to the wind
4. A tower to put it up in the sky
5. Rechargeable batteries and an electronic control system

With that said we will follow these 5 recommended steps to simplify your way to a great affordable turbine.

1. The Generator
First, the heart of the whole mechanism: the generator. An electric generator is quite simple when you refer back to your knowledge of physics. To put it simply, the generator will convert the mechanical energy in the wind intercepted by the blades and into electrical energy. If you want to learn how a common generator works inside, refer to this site. To get the basic principles of electromagnetism, refer here.
Electric generator: image courtesy of wvic.com

Generator Shopping:
Many electric motors work as generators, as they function the same fundamentally only in reverse. Instead of outputting a voltage from the crank of a shaft, a motor would crank the shaft from an applied voltage. The only problem is that many motors have to be driven much faster as a generator to reach their rated voltage.

I am told that Ametek motors are the best for home built turbines. The Ametek 99 voltDC, although large, is the best one they make. But word on the street says it’s a hard one to find, so if you can't find the top dog, don’t worry, they make many alternatives as do other companies.
The best advice for motor/generator shopping I can give you is look for a motor that is rated for:
1. High DC voltage
2. Low rpm’s
3. High current

If you’d like to leverage the properties of the different Ametek generators visit this site!

Another great motor I’ve heard a lot about is the MiniGen Motor. Although it doesn’t have a huge power output, it is small and can serve as your hub to attach your rotor blades to directly. It outputs AC power so when you get to the electronic controller stage you will need a rectifier instead of a blocking diode.

MiniGen Motor

Once you’ve acquired and decided on your generator we are ready to move on to the blades.

2. The Rotor Blades and Hub

Many people use ABS, or PVC piping. You can carve your own out of wood, which I have done, but be sure to use as light a wood as possible. If you want to get real slick and sexy, you could use styrofoam and carbon fiber, but those materials are neither sustainable nor healthy. A great site to refer to while constructing aerodynamic efficiency is the Danish Wind Industry Association.

With a plastic pipe 6” in diameter and 24-36” long depending on the intended scale of your project. This is what you want to do (scale is set for 24” blades).
1. Cut the pipe into 4 equal parts around the circumference (you only need 3)
2. Cut the blade at the angle you prefer (usually about 20 degrees)
3. Sand the edges to maximize the aerodynamics
4. Next you need a hub to bolt your blades onto (4-6” diameter hub will be perfect) with a hole in the center that will fit the motor shaft.
5. Mount the ends of the blades onto the hub with screws and bolts each 120 degrees from the other.
6. If you can find a plastic half sphere to cover the front of this construction, it will improve the airflow therefore the efficiency of the unit by directing air into the rotor blades.
Hub and Blades: Image courtesy of Mike Davis

3. The Mount

The mount and wind vane are important because they hold all the parts and direct the blades into the wind. The wind vane or tail is the balancing tool of the mechanical energy operation. It keeps the turbine from capsizing, therefore sacrificing harvestable wind.

1. It is easiest to use a 2×4” piece of wood about 35” long. This measurement can be imprecise as long as it fits the motor and is long enough to allow the vane to work with ease, so feel free to use any scrap lying around. Again, it is important to keep this whole construction light. This will facilitate movement of the mount in the direction of the wind.
2. Mount the motor to one end of the 2×4 so that the motor shaft is fully extended beyond the end of the wooden mount. (It is a good idea to cover the motor with something to insulate it form weather conditions-metal electrical boxes work as well as a piece of PVC pipe.)
3. Mount the rotor blades and hub construction onto the motor shaft.
4. Next, Wind Vane: All you need is a rigid piece of material to stand up about 8 inches and extend down the mount about 14 or longer. This is the mechanism that really controls the direction of the turbine. It is very important. Although the rotor blades can catch the wind and aid turning the construction in the right direction, the vane does this with much more ease. (Common materials are sheet aluminum, plastic, or even a thin wood. If you want to go green and creative- find a piece of flashing that’s laying around, cut up an old plastic binder, or cut up the lid to an old Tupperware container. [Note: all these materials are very light].)
5. Cut a groove in the wooden mount just wide enough for the thickness of your chosen vane material.
6. Slide it in. If it’s not tight enough, glue it into place to secure stability and function.
7. Add a weight of any sort to the bottom of the wind vane end on the 2×4. This will be your counterweight to the generator. You can use a lead weight (although not a magnet), a sand filled balloon…

An alternative to this construction is to find a 2 ¼” pipe or something large enough to fit the generator into. Insert the generator. Attach the hub to one end. Cut a slit in the other end in which to insert your wind vane. You can also place your counterweight inside the pipe. This construction is a bit sleeker in appearance.

4. The Tower

The height of your tower will be highly dependent upon your location in this world. If you live amongst many a canopy of tall trees, you will have a lot of interference to compete with. If you live on the plains, the wind will “go whipping o’r the plain” freely and quite low in the sky.

What you need for the tower is a long pole with something that functions as a bearing at the top to allow the mount to turn freely towards the wind. These are the step-by-step instructions from Michael Davis of Arizona who scratched his head at the local home center store over this for a couple hours. I think his solution is quite functional yet the resistance/friction on the bearing could be lower and more efficient.

1. Attach a 1” pipe fitting to the bottom of the generator end of the mount about 7-8” in.
2. Screw a 1” diameter, 6-12” long pipe nipple into the pipe fitting
3. Slip the pipe nipple into a 1 ¼”, 10-20’ conduit (depending on your locational interference).

With this construction you can drill a hole in the 2×4” mount and feed the wires from the generator right down through the pipe fitting, through the nipple, down the conduit, and out to the control system.

4. Find a scrap piece of wood that is about 2×2’. This will serve as your base.
5. Make a U shaped assembly out of 1” pipe fittings and pipes.

The Tee construction will function as a hinge that will allow you to raise and lower the tower.

6. In the center of the assembly put a 1 4” Tee. Insert in it a 1 ¼” close nipple, a 1 ¼” to 1” reducing fitting, and a screw into that a 1” diameter, 12” pipe nipple.
7. Drill a hole in pipe nipple, large enough for the wire to come out from the conduit.
8. Next drill holes 1” in diameter in the base platform that line up with the pipe fittings. This will allow you to drive shafts into the ground to stabilize your platform. The shafts will extend from the earth into the parallel components of the U construction, thus grounding the tower!
9. Attach 4 guy-lines to the conduit about 10’ up. Tie a rope to each line. Anchor each rope 90 degrees from the other in the earth with some stakes. Make sure these are secure, as you don’t want your turbine to come tumbling down. If you see this unnecessary then skip the whole u construction and anchor the conduit directly into the ground.
Mike's Base Construction

5. The Controller System

Here comes the interesting part that takes a bit of research, but once you do it step by step it all begins to make sense. The controller stores the power created by the spinning turbine and sent down by the generator.

Here are the items you need, what they do, and how they work:
1. First the power sent down from the generator is stored in one or more small batteries.
2. The surplus power is sent out to a larger storage/load when the primary batteries get fully charged, because they will.
3. A 40 amp blocking diode. These are one-way valves that allow the charge to be pumped in but not back out. This prevents the batteries from powering the generator as a motor and spinning the turbine voluntarily. If you use an AC motor you will want to use a rectifier instead. Rectifiers capture the peak and trough of an alternating current. I referred to this earlier in the generator section.
4. A charge controller. The controller monitors the voltage in the batteries and decides where the power from the turbine is needed and should be stored. If you are savvy with wiring up your own electronics this site will show you detailed diagrams of circuit construction and a couple links to help you out. If you don’t want to go there, then search eBay or some of the sites below for a wind power controller. Our friend Mike in Arizona built a fully functional controller, check it out.
5. The cord. If you have an old extension cord, dysfunctional on one end, perfect! If not find some insulated electrical wire with a decent size gauge (¼ – ½”). Attach a couple spade lugs to each end. Attach one to each output on the generator. Then thread the chord through the conduit and connect the spade lugs on the other end to the controller unit.
6. A 120-volt inverter. This is very important because it allows you to use the DC power generated. You will connect this to the battery load unit. It converts the 12V DC power stored in the batteries and into 120V AC power. From this you can plug in any household device you would plug into the wall: your computer, a toaster, a lamp…
Going Further Bonus: you can get a digital or analog computer-interface multimeter (can be found at Radio Shack or your local Electronics supply shop) that will connect to you computer for data logging!
Ahhh, I think I pretty much covered it all. Now that you have all the parts put together, you have yourself a beautiful turbine that initiates or enhances your independence from the communal electric power grid!

I challenge you to get as creative as possible in your project. In my research, I saw project constructed of 100% reused materials. It isn’t difficult, you just have to dig a little bit deeper. Maybe the shape or material you need is in that object you just put in the recycling bin, or even better in the trash. I also saw collapsible and portable turbines to take camping and on road trips. Here are a couple sites that I hope will inform and inspire your project:

Science Fair Wind Generators
Minigen
Otherpower.com Discussion Board: My First Wind Turbine
Otherpower.com Discussion Board: Wind
How I Home-Built an Electricity-Producing Wind Turbine

Also, get creative on how you hook up the power supply. You could connect it to your water heater or your electric oven. You could rig it up so you have multiple removable secondary loads. Use the secondary battery packs to take inside and power your computer throughout the day or your telephone (but don’t forget to take the inverter too). If you think you are harvesting enough power, look into connecting it to the power supply in your home. If you are not quite there yet don’t worry, the experiments have just begun. Have fun, and please let me know if I can direct you to additional information.