Just getting into wind power.

[earthquake]

New guy here,
I am just getting into wind and solar power to try to help with the power bills, I live in Las Vegas, NV. so in the summer our power bill is sky high. I want to build a wind turbine and I have a 24v generator from a old military vehicle that my brother had rebuilt at the motor pool when he was in the army in the 70's and it has been setting ever since, can this be used for a WT build? I dont have a regulator for it but it should not be to hard to find. I have heard you can convert a DC motor into a generator, is this true? I would like to build a round vertical style unit like the fan in a squirrel cage fan [I dont know what they call them] I am a great metal fabrcator and have a little electronics background so I wont be jumping in totaly blind, Thank for any help.

Casey

[tomw]

Casey;

Well, in that climate I would address domestic hot water first. Mostly low tech and DIY and everyone uses hot water. Excellent return on investment even if it is less flashy and low tech.

Then I would look at solar PV (electricity). Which you will need to buy the stuff to do. Panels, batteries, inverter and controls.

And, of course, this should be the first step,reduce, reduce and then reduce again your consumption. The fun part and requires little investment beyond time.

Just how I would approach it.

Tom