How Do Wind Turbine Work

October 22, 2020

Wind turbines work on a simple principle instead of using electricity to make wind like a fan wind turbines use wind to make electricity. wind turns the propeller like blades of a turbine around a rotor, which spins a generator, which creates electricity.

To see how a wind turbine works,: click on the image for a demonstration.

Wind is a form of solar energy caused by a combination of three concurrent events:

The sun unevenly heating the atmosphere
Irregularities of the earth's surface
The rotation of the earth

Wind flow patterns and speeds very greatly across the united states and are modified by bodies of water, vegetation, and difference in terrain. humans use this wind flow or motion energy for many purposes, sailing flying a kite and even generating electricity.

The terms wind energy and wind power both describe the process by which the wind is used to generate mechanical power or electricity. this mechanical power can be used for specific tasks ( such as grinding grain or pumping water) or a generator can converted this mechanical power into electricity.

A wind turbines turns wind energy into electricity using the aerodynamic force from the rotor blades. which work like an airplane wing or helicopter rotor blades. when wind flow across the blades, the air pressure across the two sides of the blades decreases. The difference in air pressure on one side s of blades creating both lift and drag. The force of the lift is stronger than the drag and this causes the rotor to spin. the rotor connects to the generator, either directly ( if it's a direct drive turbine) or through a shaft and a series of gears a gearbox that speed up the rotation and allow for a physically smaller generators creates electricity.

Types Of Wind Turbines

The majority of wind turbines fall into two basic type:

Horizontal Axis Turbines
Vertical Axis Turbines

Wind turbines can be built on land or offshore in large bodies of water like oceans and lakes. the U S department of energy is currently funding projects to facilitate offshore wind deployment in U>S waters.

Applications Of Wind Turbines

Modern wind turbines can be categorized by where they are installed and how they are connected to the grid:

Land Based Winds
Offshore winds
Distributed winds

Land Based Winds:

Land based wind turbines range in size from 100 kilowatts to as large as several megawatts.

Larger wind turbines are more cost effective and are grouped together into wind plants, which provide bulk power to the electrical grid.

Offshore Wind Turbines

Offshore wind turbines tend to be massive and taller than the statue of liberty.

They do not have the same transportation challenges of land based wind installations, as the large components can be transported on ships instead of on roads.

These turbines are able to capture powerful ocean winds and generate vast amounts of energy.

Distribution Wind Turbines

When wind turbines of any size are installed on the customer side of the electricity meter, or installed at or near the place where the energy they produce will be used. they're called distributed wind.

Many turbines used in distributed applications are small wind turbines. single small wind turbines below 100 kilowatts are typically used for residential agriculture and small commercial and industrial applications.