Wind energy

What is Wind energy?

Is the generation of electricity by use of the wind. Wind turbines or wind harvest-shaped generator (windmill) are placed in local open areas where there is a fair amount of wind.

How a wind turbine works

Wind power involves converting wind energy into electricity by using wind turbines. A wind turbine is composed of 3 propellers-like blades called a rotor. The rotor is attached to a tall tower. The tower looks like a very tall pole. On average wind towers are about 20m high. The reason why the tower is so tall is because winds are stronger higher from the ground.

Wind comes from atmospheric changes; changes in temperature and pressure makes the air move around the surface of the earth; all of which is triggered by the sun. So in a way, wind energy is another form of solar power. A wind turbine captures the wind to produce energy. The wind makes the rotor spin; as the rotor spins, the movement of the blades spinning gives power to a generator which makes energy. The motion of the wind turbine turning is called kinetic energy, this power is converted into electricity.

The conversion of wind into electricity

A wind turbine generator uses a simple principle to generate energy. The force of the wind turns the turbine blades (propellers), which in turn rotates a gearbox shaft in the turbine. The gear shaft then spins a generator which contains magnets moving past stationary coils of wire known as the stator. As the magnets pass the stator, a flow of current is generated, producing AC electricity. This electricity can then be converted into DC electricity which can be used to charge batteries which store the electrical energy or can also be fed directly into a grid interactive inverter for feeding power into the electricity grid.

Vertical and horizontal axis  turbines used for residential or business electricity generation

The benefits of wind power

Wind power is a clean energy source that can be relied on for the long-term future. A wind turbine generator creates reliable, cost-effective, pollution free energy. It is affordable, clean and sustainable. One wind turbine can be sufficient to generate energy for a household. Because wind is a source of energy which is non-polluting and renewable, wind turbines create power without using fossil fuels, without producing greenhouse gases or radioactive or toxic waste. Wind power reduces global warming.

 For more information view our Blog article “Electricity in the Wind“