Solar & Wind Power Solutions

Wind energy is simply an air in motion, the suns rays fall on an object and the object heats up.  The object in this discussion can be land or water, with the land heating up faster than water.  As the sun heats the surface of the earth or water in our oceans and lakes, the air above these surfaces also heats up and becomes lighter and begins to rise.  Adjoining areas where the temperature is cooler on the land and water surface correspondingly also have cooler air masses.  As the hot air rises this cool air rushes in to take the place of the hot air create in what we call or breeze.

In a very simple fashion it’s reasonable to say that objects can represent two kinds of energy.  One being potential energy which is energy attained it relative to its position.  The other is kinetic energy which is energy relative to its speed of movement.  Mass can possess one or both types of energy.  A moving object for example represents kinetic energy that is stored, in a similar manner, an object perched in a lofty position would represent potential stored energy.  Wind even though we cannot see it with our natural eyes represents a form of mass that is moving and because there is stored energy present this represents kinetic energy.  When sailing a boat is kinetic energy that we look to provide the necessary thrust to overcome the drag on the boat from the surface of the water.

How Does Wind Energy Work

Take for example a windmill, the stream of moving air that we call wind pushes on the blades of the windmill causing them to rotate.  The shape, size and angle of mounting of the blades along with the speed from the wind all working together determine the speed or rpm as well as the rotating direction of the windmill.  In this manner distributes a portion of its kinetic energy to the blades of the windmill therefore slowing down due to its loss of energy having been consumed by the windmill.  The windmill however has now harnessed some of the kinetic energy from the wind to be used in a different form like pumping water or grinding grain.

There has been significant advancements in the design modern windmills compared to windmills of our forefathers in that day are able to extract energy from the wind in a much more efficient manner.  It is not uncommon in this day and age for windmills to boast of blades of one to 200 feet across that can produce large amounts of power or electricity.

Common Locations of Windmills

Windmills in the age that we live in mostly are of the horizontal axis type looking much like huge airplane propellers and are generally mounted on a tall tower.  For windmills that produce large amounts of power, tall towers are also required with blades approximately 200 feet across mounted on a tower 250 feet in stature.  Smaller capacity wind generators often mount directly on the turbine shaft compared to higher capacity wind generators that utilized gearboxes thereby increasing the rpm of the generator in proportion to the rpm of the windmill producing more electrical energy.  High-voltage cables run from the generator down the length of the tower connecting to the power grid thereby making wind energy available for consumer use.

Smaller windmills, most often used with single homes or small business generally run about 100 kW or less in power with large commercial turbines running with larger capacities of 5 MW or more.  Commercial wind farms often will group to gather several high power installations providing efficient wind energy connecting to utility or network grids.

Windmills should be located in areas where the average wind speed is not less than 10 mph in order to have a decent level of efficiency.  Because of the size of the larger types of windmills with their long blades it is generally recommended for a minimum of one acre to be allocated for the windmill.

Power plants for converting wind energy to electrical energy most often are located at a considerable distance away from cities.  Choice of locations would include places where obstructions to the wind would be minimal, seasonal variations moderate with preferences given to higher altitudes which are most often present with high open areas.  Smooth rounded hills, wide open plains and shorelines also can be good locations for windmills as the absence of vertical objects do not slow down the velocity of the wind against the blades of the windmill.  The funneling effect of gaps in mountains also provide likely locations for efficient windmill operation.

Technorati Tags: wind generator, wind power, windmill, windmill power

Related Posts:

• Be Environmentally Conscious With Wind Plans
• Various Positive Aspects Of Employing Green Power Solutions
• Lots Of People Are Using Wind turbines These Days But Is It Worth The Cost
• Learn How To Make Solar Panels
• Solar and Wind Electricity-A Tax Saving Perspective