Welcome to Wind Power

interesting facts  -  wind power applications

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Wind Energy and it's benefits

If you are ever confronted with a choice or vote in regards to Wind Power, you will be making an educated decision.  Wind Power has to be one of the greatest undervalued resources of our time.

The concept of wind power is perhaps the easiest to understand. After all, humans have been using the power of the wind for thousands of years. Sailboats, kites, and windmills are all examples of how the power of the wind is harnessed.

Currently the cost of wind power systems is less than solar panel systems for creating energy. The catch is it will only work where wind goes, but it will do it any time of day, 24 hours a day. As well it does not take very much wind at all to start generating electricity, as low as 7 miles per hour (which is when you see leaves rustling) and the faster it goes the more energy is being produced.

Wind power can be used in a variety of environments to supply electricity for any purpose. There are many different sizes of blade spans that can be used and the larger they are the higher and bigger the towers need to be. Smaller units however, can easily be installed to the top of a house, building, or even on a high pole in a back yard.

How does Wind Power work? 

Wind turbines work like a reverse version of a fan. Instead of using electricity to make wind, like a fan, wind turbines use wind to make electricity.

The blades of the turbine act like the wing of a plane. When the wind blows, it creates an air pocket of lower pressure on the side of the downwind side of the blade. This force, called lift, combines with the weaker drag (the force on the front side) to turn the blades and make the rotor spin, like a propeller. The rotor spins a shaft that is connected to a generator through a series of gears. Utility-scale turbines range in size from 50 to 750 kilowatts.

Single small turbines, starting as small as 400 watts, are used for homes, telecommunications dishes, or water pumping. Areas are assessed and surveyed for potential power, environmental and community concerns before a wind energy system is implemented.

Wind turbines are designed to 'cut in' at a wind speed as low as 12 km/hr and 'cut out' at extremely high wind speeds in order to prevent damage. Wind speed is affected by the local terrain, and increases above ground.

LINKS ON WIND POWER

National Wind Technology Centre

Official site for the US Dept of Energy's Wind Energy Program
url: www.nrel.gov/wind

Canadian Wind Energy Association

This is a non-profit trade association that promotes the appropriate development and application of all aspects of wind energy in Canada, including the creation of a suitable policy environment.
url: www.canwea.ca

American Wind Energy Association

AWEA is a national trade association that represents wind power plant developers, wind turbine manufacturers, utilities, consultants, insurers, financiers, researchers, and others involved in the wind industry
url: www.awea.org

COMMONLY USED TERMS PERTAINING TO WIND POWER:

Turbine - rotary engine in which the kinetic energy of a wind is converted into mechanical energy by causing a bladed rotor to rotate.

Rotor - rotating part of a generator which contains electromagnets. Turning the rotor in the stator assembly causes electricity to be produced.

Nacell - the protective covering over a generator or motor.

Lift - the force exerted by moving air on asymmetrically-shaped wind generator blades at right angles to the direction of relative movement. Ideally, wind generator blades should produce high Lift and low Drag.

Tower - A structure that supports a wind generator, usually high in the air.

Blade - the part of a wind generator rotor that catches the wind.

Drag - in a wind generator, the force exerted on an object by moving air. Also refers to a type of wind generator or anemometer design that uses cups instead of a blades with airfoils.