Wind Turbine Plans and Cost

Wind turbine plans are essential if you are interested in building your own turbine and generating your own "free" electricity from the never-ending power of the wind. Constructing your own turbine without a plan will lead to inevitable disaster. Besides, why reinvent the wheel?

Aeronautical Engineering Resources
One place that might seem an obvious place to start is a library. Even a basic undergraduate-level aeronautical engineering textbook will have detailed information on blade design.
However, while you may learn a lot about blade aerodynamics, such information is not likely to be of much practical use to you if all that you want to do is make your own turbine to power a few appliances in your house and maybe sell the excess to the grid.

Amateur Enthusiasts
Many amateur wind turbine enthusiasts have created their own wind turbines. Some of them have even hit the textbooks described above in order to better their designs and squeeze even more power out of the wind.

The major difference is that these enthusiasts have experience of taking a theoretical design and making it a reality. They have learned through trial and error that a good design is not just an efficient one but is also one that is easy to fabricate and can be achieved at low cost.
If you are thinking of making your own wind turbine then I strongly advise you to follow one of these plans because they will enable you to get up and running a working turbine in the minimum time possible with the least amount of pain. Although some basic plans can be found online for free, it is wiser to invest a nominal amount (typically around $50) on a good set of plans that are fully supported should you have any further questions.

Typical Wind Turbine Plans
A typical set of plans will advise you on all the steps necessary to construct a fully operational home wind turbine.

These include sourcing cheap deep cycle batteries, finding a cheap DC motor (to run in reverse as a generator), how to: procure a tower to mount your turbine on, construct your blades, assemble the hub, build the tail piece, balance the rotor and wire together the few necessary electronic components.

A good set of plans will often also include details on making a basic solar array, which would prove useful if you take an interest in further green projects after building your wind turbine.