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How to Make Windmills More Efficient

You can make some pretty basic modifications to improve the efficiency of your wind turbines, but big increases in efficiency usually require a fairly drastic overhaul. Start out by checking for faults and wear. Damage to the mechanism can rob the turbine of its efficiency. If this doesn't produce a satisfactory efficiency gain, you might need a major refit.

Things You'll Need

Lubricant
Spanners
Concrete mix

Instructions

- 1
  Check for wobbles in the structure. If the structure is loose and wobbling, it will lose some of the energy through the stand's wobble movement. Tighten all bolts, fill in gaps in a concrete base and reinforce the stand with thicker materials.
- 2
  Check for rubbing in the windmill. Open up the case where the ball bearings encase the windmill. Clean and lubricate the bearings, then check for any cracks in the bearings.
- 3
  Raise the height of the windmill by using a taller stand, or positioning it on the roof. This will move it into the stronger, unobstructed winds higher up.
- 4
  Fit a battery charger to the windmill. This will harness excess energy at times of high wind and low demand and will release it when conditions reverse.
- 5
  Install a generator appropriate to the number of revolutions per minute that the windmill produces. If you built this windmill from scratch, using an electric motor scavenged from an existing machine, chances are you have used a motor set for high-speed rotation. The best scavengeable motors are from running treadmills.

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