What Is the Difference Between Horizontal and Vertical Wind Generators?

Wind generator designs are often determined by the axis upon which the shaft of the wind generator is mounted, horizontally or vertically. The mounting of the shaft also determines the direction and shape of the propeller blades, which means that horizontal and vertical wind turbines can often vary in appearance.

A basic definition of a wind generator is to describe it as a mechanical construction that uses the wind to create kinetic energy, which is converted into electricity. The power of the wind is used to turn the propeller blades, which is how the kinetic energy is created. This kinetic energy is then distributed in a rotating motion through the shaft of the generator and fed into a generator connected to end of the shaft. The generator then converts the kinetic energy an electrical current.

The differences in the design of the horizontal and vertical wind generators accounts for differing efficiency, size and suitability issues, thus offering more options to those who chose to utilize wind power to generate electricity. It can be quite confusing when comparing horizontal and vertical generators as the terms refer to the mounting of the shaft rather than the appearance of the wind generator.

The horizontal axis wind turbine is the most common design used for generating wind power. This is where the main shaft and generator are mounted at the top of a tower. The propeller blades are mounted perpendicular to the ground so the main rotor shaft can run horizontally to the generator. All of the mechanical components are mounted at the top of the tower, which essentially acts as a stand to hold these materials in optimal position to capture the wind.

The vertical axis wind generator design is less common and often more difficult to construct and utilize efficiently. In a vertical axis wind turbine the shaft vertically runs the length of the structure with the mechanical components mounted at the base of the shaft, often at ground level. The rotor blades take on more of an eggbeater like appearance (like the Darrieus wind turbine design) and differ significantly the propeller blades of a horizontal wind generator design. The shape of the generators blades is evidence of differing vertical axis wind turbine designs.

Both designs have their advantages and disadvantages. Historically, horizontal axis wind turbines have been more popular and widely used which means its design and technologies are more widely understood and developed. Vertical axis wind turbines are still a large unknown to many wind power users and technicians. Its technologies and designs are still in the process of being more widely understood.

As a basic overview here are some of the main advantages and disadvantages of each design.

Advantages
Horizontal Axis Wind Generator

• An easier design to construct and install
• Efficient in capturing and converting wind energy (generates electricity from smaller amounts of wind)

Vertical Axis Wind Generator

• Doesn't need to be repositioned to capture wind energy
• Easy to maintain and repair as the mechanical components are mounted on or close to ground level

Disadvantages
Horizontal Axis Wind Generator 

• Needs to be adjusted realign towards the wind direction
• Difficult to maintain and repair as the mechanical components are mounted at height

Vertical Axis Wind Generator

• A more difficult design to construct and install
• Inefficient in capturing and converting wind energy (requires large amounts of wind power to generate electricity

This is a simple overview of a wind generator design and the comparison of vertical and horizontal generator designs. This article was intended to serve as a basic introductory overview of the design and utilization of wind generators. The technological aspects as well as the advantages and disadvantages of horizontal and vertical wind turbine designs are much more intricate than how they have been outlined in this article.

To find out more about how to construct and utilize wind generators for personal use a great online resource can be found at http://howtobuildawindgeneratorstepbystep.com

Finding the Right Windmill Plans to Generate Your Own Power Source - Off the Grid

Let’s face it, there are a lot of windmill plans out there, but how do you find the right windmill plans to achieve a supplement to your current power usage? We’re being realistic here, there is very little chance that you will find windmill plans for a windmill generator that will supply all power usage to your household - unless you live alone and consume very little amounts of power!

With raw material supplies diminishing that power our current main electricity sources (think of those heavy polluting coal power stations), the cost of running electricity to our homes is soaring. And just when you think you’ll do the right thing and switch to the ‘green’ electricity option your provider offers, you’re charged at an even higher rate! This all seems absolutely ludicrous, especially when you can create for yourself a clean green source of energy that will continue to produce energy for you, all for under $100 USD in easily accessible materials and two weekends work!

Which brings us back to our initial issue of finding the right windmill plans to create an affordable windmill generator that is also durable enough to continue to supply power to your household for an average of 10-15 years. Now of course the simple idea is the bigger the windmill generator the more complicated and harder to build the windmill plans will be. However, the bigger more complicated windmill plans will also yield a higher capacity of energy. There is actually one more thing I forgot to mention - the success of your windmill generator also relies on the amount and intensity of the winds that grace your property. So while it may be all well and good to build a large and powerful windmill generator, the windmill may not necessarily yield the energy levels you were expecting if there isn’t enough wind to drive it. So regardless of the effectiveness and durability of the windmill plans you may have in hand, its success lies with the amount of wind your property receives. Make sure you check these stats out first!

Now that you’ve established the wind capacity your property receives on average, you are able to start searching for and reviewing windmill plans more effectively. If you receive a good amount of wind, you can search for larger windmill plans. If you receive a small amount of wind, your safer bet is to seek out the smaller windmill plans. As mentioned before, the energy capacity your windmill plans will generate is influenced by the size of the final windmill. So as you established earlier, if you’re seeking a larger windmill generator you can expect to generate a good amount of power to supplement your current energy usage. If you’re seeking the smaller windmill generator, you will only generate a small amount of extra energy to supplement your current usage - in this case, you may want to explore the possibility of constructing additional windmill generators in order to supply more energy to your home.

Build your own windmill power generator with an easy and easy-to-implement guidebook of windmill plans and other advice on renewable energy sources http://howtobuildawindgeneratorstepbystep.com