The Wind is Free

The wind is free, so don’t you think power from the wind should be free? I do.

The Problem
The conventional wisdom says wind power generation is expensive, at least in the short term start up costs. You’ll be told that there’s the cost of the wind turbine and installation, and that they’re frightfully expensive. Frequently you’ll hear that there’s lots of wind power available in remote areas that lack a power transportation infrastructure to transmit that power to where you and I live and would actually use it. After all of that you may be told that there’s hope in that, in time, the equipment may become common and therefore less expensive and within reach of regular folk like us.

I don’t like conventional wisdom.

• If the technology is too rare and therefore too expensive, then create a solution using existing commonly-found technologies to achieve the goal.
• If the infrastructure is too expensive to transport wind power to the consumer, then install wind power where the consumer lives and can use it.
• Why do we have to create large wind power generation farms that cost millions of dollars and require large corporations to establish and run? Instead create personal wind power generators to meet the needs of the individual or family unit.

The Solution
I propose a solution. Design a wind power generation unit that meets the following criteria:

1. It is built from off-the-shelf, inexpensive and commonly-available components easily accessible by anyone wanting to build one
2. It can easily be installed with little help and maintained by an individual
3. It is sized to meet the modest needs of an average family unit
4. It is a plug-and-play system that easily connects to a dwelling
5. Several can be connected together to scale capacity if needed
6. It is completely reliable and repairable with inexpensive and
easily-available , locally-sourced parts