How Residential Wind Turbines Work

Have you ever wondered just how residential wind turbines work? Well, it's actually quite simple. Home wind power systems have become very popular in recent years and the technology used to generate this free power from the wind has matured as well. The modern versions of these wind turbines provide an easy way for most homeowners to take advantage of wind power with a fairly small investment of money and time.

Current models of residential wind turbines used in home wind power systems are smaller, more efficient and less expensive than ever before. These wind power systems allow an average home to substantially lower their monthly utility bills by using the power of the wind to generate their own electricity.

Most modern wind power systems use a turbine that is based on a fairly straightforward horizontal design. This type of wind turbine will rotate on its housing to orient itself into the wind so it can spin its blades. This rotation is accomplished by a vertical tail fin that catches the wind and will help the residential wind turbine spin into position.

Once the turbine is correctly positioned; its blades will spin from the force of the wind that passes through them. Most residential wind turbine designs rely on the drag of the wind to spin the blades and do a fairly good job of converting the power of a passing breeze into a rotation of the turbines blades. Some of the newer designs also take advantage of the lift component to a breeze and achieve and even higher energy conversion as a result.

The spinning blades of these residential wind turbines are connected to a shaft that spins a generator. This generator converts that rotation into electricity that can be used by the home. Many of these wind power systems will generate a DC current that needs to be converted to AC current before it can be used by the home.

This is accomplished by a device called an inverter, which is normally connected to the home’s electrical distribution panel. This way, the inverter can supply the power the residential wind turbine is generating to the home when needed. Most of these home wind power systems also include a bank of batteries as well.

These batteries are charged by the power being generated and act as a storage medium for this power until needed. Also, because these wind power systems tend to be more intermittent in their operation than other alternative energy choices, these batteries also act as a buffer for the power and ensure a more consistent delivery of electricity to the home.

In addition to these improved designs, there have been a wide range of even newer and very innovative models introduced in recent years that offer other advantages. Quite a few models are now based on a vertical axis wind turbine frame that allows the turbine to catch a wind arriving from any direction without the need to orient the blades.

Because the blades are vertical, they can start spinning immediately and actually use more of the wind than many horizontal designs. This gives them an even higher output and makes them a perfect choice for many homes.

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