Wind energy is an exceptional resource, as it is the form of energy that people can use without any effort to restock its supply. At the current level of scientific and technological advancement energy supply can be covered only with the use of fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) and nuclear power, which are considered non-renewable energy sources.
Nevertheless, according to the outcomes of various studies, fossil fuels by 2020 will fulfill the requirements of the global energy only partly. The rest of the energy requirements can be supplied by unconventional energy sources – solar, wind, geothermal, the energy of sea waves, ocean tides, biomass, wood, charcoal, peat, oil shale, tar sands, hydro energy of large and small streams, all of which are associated with non-traditional and alternative energy.
One of the most utilized non-traditional energy sources is wind energy. Let’s take a look at some of the important wind energy facts. Alternative energy of this type has the capability which is an equivalent to 1% of the annual solar energy. For the surface of 500 meters in width, wind power is about 82 trillion kilowatt-hours per year. Even if we utilize at least 10% (which is reasonably realistic and economically feasible) of this unconventional energy, it is approximately equivalent to the quantity of electricity produced throughout the globe.
Wind Farms
A wind farm is several wind turbines set up in one location. Some installations contain 100 or more wind turbines. This type of energy plants transforms the unused energy of wind into electrical energy by employing wind turbines. Wind farms use a variety of methods, which convert wind energy into mechanical application – most often utilized for this purpose are the machines with wings on a horizontal beam, set up to the flow of the wind. Vertical beam installations are used less often, even though they do not require being set up in the direction of the wind, they have a low efficiency and require external power to operate. Modern wind systems with a horizontal axis and the high rate of velocity have the efficiency of 46-48%, being close in this figure to the conventional thermal energy plants.
Presently, several variants of the mechanism are used to convert wind into electricity. Their principal component is wind wheel. Based on the principle of the design and the structure of the wheels utilized on wind generators, they are divided into three types: propeller, rotary, or rotary and drum.
Rotary and drum wind generators have a vertically erected beam that revolves as a result of the wind surge to the blade which is attached to one side of the axis, while others are converging or turning the edge against the wind. Wind energy system, equipped with such mechanisms, is rather bulky and less efficient than propeller based. That is why present day wind energy uses generally more complicated and less expensive propeller-type wind turbines, which also boast a better efficiency of operation.
In spite of the obvious benefits, even the most efficient wind power system has several shortcomings. First of all, the wind doesn’t blow evenly most of the time, which results in unstable energy supply and sometimes a complete stoppage. As a result, any wind farm functions at complete capacity only part of the time. To compensate for this, wind turbines are equipped with batteries which store the harvested electricity for future usage.
Thus, wind power is not able to by itself provide a sound basis for energy needs. They operate in addition to, or complement the main power source by adding to electricity production, or are a source of energy in distant or isolated locations where it is difficult or impossible to provide electricity supply in the usual way.
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