Even at a young age, Jonathan Schreiber found that harnessing the power of wind was something of a breeze. Encouraged by his DIY-loving grandfather, the Austrian teenager was always playing around with scrap metal, trying to build tools. At 14, he began studying a book on how to build a wind turbine from old car parts.

“I was fascinated by how you could build things yourself and actually create your own energy,” says Schreiber.

So, Schreiber took a flight. Then he took a boat. And when he finally arrived, he met Hugh Piggott, who had been working on plans for DIY wind turbines since the 1970s. Despite Piggott being 30 years older, the unlikely duo hit it off over their shared passion for invention, and Schreiber extended his stay from five days to a month.

“Everyone in Scoraig was confident in their own ability to do things themselves,” explains Schreiber. “Being so remote, they had to.”

On his return home, Schreiber wanted to spread the word. The next year he held his first wind turbine-building workshop, founding PureSelfMade, a nonprofit to teach people how to make their own wind turbines from scratch.

In the context of volatile energy prices, the pressing need to shift to renewable power, the limits of centralized electricity systems and the risks of relying on foreign supply chains, there’s growing demand for communities to become energy self-sufficient. Until now, so-called “small wind” has been a relatively overlooked local provider.

But for Schreiber, the “DIY approach” brings with it a level of reassurance and freedom.

“Instead of big industry, I prefer the more grassroots way,” he says. “I like the idea of decentralization. With a lot of chaos in the world, it’s better to be self-sufficient, to have a reliable energy system at home.”

According to the International Energy Agency, an intergovernmental organization, community-based energy projects show “clear benefits across the globe” by deploying renewable technologies, improving efficiency, supporting reliable power supply, reducing bills and generating local jobs, as well as establishing “more inclusive, equitable and resilient” energy systems.

“Distributed energy is the way to go, whether that is on a community level or that of individuals,” says engineering professor Ken Visser, an aerodynamics and small wind turbine specialist at the University of Calvin, Michigan.

But while solar energy is soaring, not all communities can benefit from it. During winter in northern Europe, for example, some areas only receive a few hours of sunlight a day, if at all.

And although many may think of wind turbines as something only for big industry, with the classic image of huge turbines dotting hillsides, PureSelfMade is showing that wind power can work on a household scale too.

Last summer, Michel, a 65-year-old who lives in Sweden, attended one of the courses in northern Germany, driving there by motorbike. A former electronics technician, he was keen to explore the possibility of building a turbine at his home, where his solar panels are often hindered by a lack of sun or, indeed, snow covering them.

“The experience was absolutely amazing,” says Michel, who was one of about 20 attendees from several European countries at the four-day course.

“It’s very interesting. The costs are low. It’s hand made. You don’t need to buy from a foreign company. I hope to build one in the future.”

To reach an even wider public, PureSelfMade is developing a how-to book that will feature designs for turbines from 600W to about 3kW.

It has also begun selling some pre-manufactured parts for an easy build, with the eventual goal of providing everything needed. While the energy transition has been plagued with issues over sourcing components, with the EV industry causing social and environmental issues across the world, the supply chain for these turbines is as transparent as it gets. Most parts can be bought at a hardware store. And the turbine rotor blades are made from wood, which can be grown locally.

“It’s admirable what they are doing, quite frankly,” says Visser. “Especially using local parts, to avoid all the overheads. Wood, it’s a renewable resource, it decomposes naturally. I think it’s wonderful on a whole bunch of levels.”

Wind can also work in conjunction with solar, he adds. The sun doesn’t shine at night, but the wind does blow. And in winter the sun is lower in the sky, reducing yields. The two can work together in the right circumstances.

Yet Visser, who ran his own small turbine company between 2015 and 2025 until it went bust, warns that reducing cost is the major challenge. His design had a unique concept using ducted blades — wrapping a duct around the rotor to increase the performance. But there weren’t enough sales to keep the company afloat.

“The capital investment is huge for an individual,” he says. “How can we make small wind turbines affordable?”

At the time Visser was developing his product, a turbine for an average home in the U.S. cost around $80,000, he says. His team managed to reduce that to around $15,000-$17,000 for a 3.5KW turbine.

But PureSelfMade’s models are significantly cheaper. A 2.2 meter-diameter turbine with an output of 700-1,000W, for example, costs around €1,500 ($1,740), including all materials required. 

Over the years, Schreiber has improved the generator, magnets, turbine sizes and geometries. And he says there’s still “room for improvement” to make it easier and quicker. In time, grid converters for small wind turbines will develop just like solar.

For Visser, despite some tricky turbulence, small wind could take off in the future. Innovations such as 3D printed turbine towers might be one way to significantly shave off costs further, encouraging more citizens to install their own.

In doing so, the U.S. could build on its rich history of DIY wind power. In the 1880s, Charles Brush constructed North America’s first power-generating wind turbine in Cleveland, Ohio. It was a four-ton monster with a 17.1 meter diameter rotor and 144 blades.

“If we can do that, we can make the world a better place,” says Visser.

Scrolling images courtesy of PuresSelfMade.