Harnessing wind power?

Question

I had a fan in my window, that was plugged in, but not turned on. The wind was making the blades spin. I thought for a second, "Is that generating power, going back into my wall?" Then I realized that, no, because it was turned off, the circuit wasn't complete inside the fan. Then I started wondering, wouldn't it be very simple to turn a fan into a power generating wind turbine? All the parts are there. What exactly would I have to do to switch it?

Answer 1

A nice thought. However most fan motors these days are induction motors and you will not be able to use them as a generator.