Generating Energy From The Wind
When a gust of wind blows past the blades of a turbine, the blades capture the wind due to the aerofoil design of the blade which in turn lifts the blades making them move and rotate. This rotation of the blades causes an internal shaft to spin, which is connected to a gearbox with increases the speed of rotation coming from the blades, and due to the gearbox speeding up the shaft the amount of kinetic energy is largely increased, which is connect to a generator that ultimately produces electricity.
Types Of Wind Turbines
Utility-scale wind turbines range from the size of 100 kilowatts to as large as several megawatts. Larger wind turbines are way more cost effective as they are normally grouped together on wind farms where they have the ability to create more energy as a group. A single utility wind turbine has the ability to generate upwards of 6 million kWh and beyond depending on the wind, that is enough to supply 1,500 average EU households with electricity.
You can generate electricity at home by using a small scale domestic wind turbine that can generate up to 6kw. The wind turbine harnesses the power of the wind and uses it to generate electricity, and about 40% of all wind energy in Europe blows over the UK, making it an ideal country for domestic turbines (known as micro wind or small turbines). A typical turbine system is more than enough to easily generate more than enough power for your lights or electrical appliances.
Advantages Of Wind Turbines
• Wind is free and with the use of modern technology the power created by the wind can be harnessed and used and generated into usable electricity.
• The energy produced by a wind turbine does not generate any pollutants or greenhouse gases
• Although wind turbines are very large (657ft or 200m), each turbine only takes up a small plot of land, which means the land below the turbine can still be used.
• People who live in rural areas who might not be connected to the grid can use wind turbines to create their own energy.
• Wind turbines are available in a range of sizes and power outputs, this means a vast range of people and businesses can use them. Single households to small towns and villages can make good use of them as wind turbines are available in a huge range of sizes.