How Wind Turbines Work. I Can Still Remember That I’Ve

For many, the mention of wind energy conjures images of giant white turbines, their blades slowly rotating, stretching off into the distance with no end in sight. This is how it has been portrayed in pictures, but this is not how wind energy truly looks. Photographs in books and magazines imply that wind energy would require these never ending fields. On the contrary, smaller fields where a limited amount of turbines create all the power needed and more for a city that is nearby, or smaller individual turbines creating enough energy for a home or neighborhood without being obtrusive, is how wind energy truly looks. Wind energy harnesses the power of the wind and converts it to other forms of energy, one of the main known forms being electricity.

The first time using a large windmill to use electricity was in Cleveland, Ohio in 1888 invented by Charles F. Brush. The Brush machine was a post mill with a multiple blade picket fence rotor 17 meters in diameter, featuring a large tail hinged to turn the rotor out of the wind. It was the first windmill to incorporate a step up gearbox in order to turn a direct current generator at its required operational speed. In 1891, the Dane Poul La Cour developed the first electrical output wind machine to incorporate the aerodynamic design principles used in the best European tower mills. By

The way the wind turbine works is when the wind blows, the blades on the wind mill (or turbine) are spun to run the motor that is attached to the back of the turbine. The motor transfers its energy through wires to a substation where the energy is transferred into electricity that can be useful for residential and commercial areas. The energy is then delivered through wires across the country.

Everyday, this mysterious force known as the wind blows constantly around planet Earth. No one knows why the wind blows, but that did not stop individuals from harnessing its power. In past times, Persians and Daniel Halladay were able to invent their own versions of the windmill. Each design served a slightly different purpose than the other.

Imagine getting free electricity, or electrical company’s paying you instead of you paying them, today’s windmills just might make this possible. Windmills dating back as far as the 1400’s have been used to turn wind into useable energy for grinding and pumping. Today’s windmills turn turbines to make electricity. They are popping up all over the United States, but the United States is way behind other countries in the development of wind energy. Countries like Denmark, Germany and the United Kingdom are investing billions of dollars into wind energy, including off shore wind farms. Germany is holding the top spot in the production of wind-generated electricity. Denmark, being one of the smaller countries in Europe, produces twenty percent

Wind is air in motion, and is caused by the uneven heating of the Earth’s surface by the sun (“Wind”). Because of this, wind energy has less impact on the environment then other energy sources. Therefore, wind can produce electricity through a turbine or windmill. A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into electrical power. (“Wind Turbine”) In order for a wind turbine to work there are many properties that must be present such as: wind, wind speed, location with the right wind, as well as other characteristics that come to play such as short and long term fluctuations and the distribution of wind direction.

Wind powered machines are developed by the Babylonians. King Hammurabi of Babylon used wind powered scoops to irrigate Mesopotamia. Aside from irrigation and drainage, windmills were also used to ground grain, but maybe later on in history. This is just another advancement making work easier, yet more productive for mankind.

When the wind is blowing on wind turbines it produces electric power, Fans are old techniques used in the mills and then the water pump, but now it has developed the technology and has become used for electric power production.

One of the fastest growing forms of energy in the United States is wind energy. How does wind energy work? Bergey Windpower describes it like this, the wind turbine, which is installed on top of a tall tower, collects wind energy and converts it into electricity. The turbine output is then made electrically compatible with the utility and the output is fed into the household wiring at the breaker panel (Bergey). In 2013, the United States used more energy than any year before but we used it more efficiently than before as well (Danko). 12 states are responsible for most of the wind energy used in the US last year, with Texas topping that list using using a total 36 million megawatt hours, MWh (GENI). There are some bad things that go along with wind energy though, for instance in order to get the metal that we need to make these massive wind turbines we have some serious consequences. A few repercussions from that is that we destroy vegetation, produce a lot of CO2, and we also kill birds that fly into them. Wind energy is also very expensive to start up and may not be worth it in the long run of things.

Wind turbines operate on a simple principle. The energy in the wind turns two or three propeller-like blades around a rotor. The rotor is connected to the main shaft, which spins a generator to create electricity. Click on the image to see an animation of wind at work.

Jason M. Everett claims that “The kinetic energy in the wind can be used to turn a propeller-like wind turbine connected to an electric generator. The generator converts the kinetic energy into electrical energy, which can then be used to power a wide range of things.” Because of this, “Wind energy comes from the sun. As solar radiation heats the earth’s surface, hot air rises and cool air fills the voids. This air movement is defined as wind energy. Wind that is harnessed via mechanical means is also referred to as wind energy.” Jason M. Everett states

“A wind turbine is a machine for converting the kinetic energy in wind into mechanical energy”. (1) The inventor of the first electric wind turbine was Clevelander Charles Brush, who ran his entire Euclid Avenue mansion off of one for 20 years, which later made the cover of Scientific American in 1888. (2) Although the use of alternate energy didn't rise a great deal afterward, this event did open the eyes for many environmentalists. Wind power is only one of our several “energy source[s] whose ‘fuel’ is free and will never be exhausted” (3) with the pros and cons not completely weighed out as to whether it will be truly beneficial or not. The two main issues regarding wind turbines are the environmental effects that they have and the

In 1831, scientist Michael Farday discovered the first form of electricity. He found that when a magnet moved inside a copper coil it created what is known as an electric current. This invention is known as a turbine generator. Even today, in full sized power stations this simple invention is still used and works very effectively. These power stations create mass amounts of energy to turn the turbines. Most of the time the energy is made from the heat, for example when coal is burned. More environmentally friendly power stations use wind or flowing water to turn these turbines. This is known as renewable energy because it will not run out, unlike when oil and coal are used.(3)

Since 400-500A.D, people used windmill energy in farms for grain grinding and water pumping. In 1888, the first wind turbine that generated electricity was discovered by Charles F.Brush in Ohio, USA. However, there are limitations on speed.

Wind energy is essentially the conversion of the kinetic energy from air molecules in motion to mechanical energy which is generally then converted into electrical energy. People have used wind power since 700 AD in