Wind Turbines

Wind energy has been harnessed for thousands of years to perform useful work for humans. Humans have used wind power for transportation, water pumping, and grinding since the time of the ancient Egyptians. In the late 19th century, the Danes began harnessing wind to generate electricity using wind turbines.

Wind Turbine in Yorkshire

People often use the terms windmill and wind turbine interchangeably. However, windmills harness the wind for mechanical power to grind wheat or pump water, while wind turbines use the wind to generate electricity.

Today, modern wind turbines efficiently convert the force of moving air into electricity using modern design principles and high-tech materials. Wind turbines come in many different sizes from small-scale home systems of 5 kilowatts to 15 kilowatts, to utility scale systems ranging in size from 300 kilowatts to 1,000 kilowatts. To take advantage of higher wind speeds and to allow the blades to rotate without interference, wind turbines are mounted on the top of a tower typically 160 feet high. Although there has been some experimentation with vertical-axis wind turbines, most wind turbines have airfoil-type blades that rotate around a horizontal-axis. The blades are designed like the wing of an airplane creating lift when exposed to the force of the wind, which propels the blades around in a circular motion. The wind turbine rotor typically consists of two or three blades attached to a hub. A rotating shaft from the rotor feeds into a gearbox assembly and then into the generator, which converts the mechanical motion of the shaft into electricity. As the wind changes direction, the yaw system allows the wind turbine to pivot so that the rotor spins in a plane perpendicular to the wind.

Also See:

• Ringmer College Wind Turbines
• Solar Panels, reducing your energy bill!
• Marine Current Turbines
• Renewable Energy - Fuel Cells
• Shipping Container Home (Eco Houses)

External Links:

• http://www.winddata.com/ - Database of Wind Characteristics
• http://www.futurenergy.co.uk - check out their 1KW Permanent Magnet Generators, low cost at only £150