Wind Energy

Wind Energy!!!

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Wind Energy Winds are caused by uneven heating of the Earth (landmass and water body together) by solar radiations generating air movement. These air movements are know to many of us as land breeze and sea breeze. This movement of air can be used to do work. This energy is harnessed with the help of a windmill and electricity is generated from it. 2

Energy in the Wind

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How does a wind turbine work?

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Wind Energy Technology At it’s simplest, the wind turns the turbine blades, which spin a shaft connected to a generator that generates electricity. Large turbines can be grouped together to form a wind power plant, which feeds power to the electrical transmission system.

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Inside a Wind Turbine

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Conversion of Wind Energy to Electricity

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Wind Turbine Perspective Workers

Blade 112’ long

Nacelle 56 tons

Tower 3 sections

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Modern Windmills

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Orientation Turbines can be categorized into two classes based on the orientation of the rotor. Vertical Axis Horizontal Axis

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Types of Electricity Generating Windmills Small (10 kW) • Homes • Farms • Remote Applications (e.g. water pumping, telecom sites, ice making)

Intermediate (10-250 kW) • Village Power • Hybrid Systems • Distributed Power

Large (250 kW - 2+MW) • Central Station Wind Farms • Distributed Power 11

Modern Small Wind Turbines: High Tech, High Reliability, Low maintenance

• Technically Advanced • Only 2-3 Moving Parts • Very Low Maintenance Requirements • American Companies are the Market and Technology Leaders.

10 kW

400 W

50 kW

900 W 12

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U.S.’s largest Windmill Manufacturers • General Electric

• Clipper

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Impacts of Wind Power: Noise • Modern turbines are relatively quiet • Rule of thumb – stay about 3x hubheight away from houses 15

Wind Farms

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Off-Shore Wind farms

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Middelgrunden 18

Ancient Wind Farms 19

Early “WINDMILL” in Afghanistan (900AD)

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1980’s California Wind Farm Older Technology

+ Lower Elevations + Poorly Sited = Bad News!

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Jacob’s Turbine – 1920 - 1960

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Smith-Putnam Turbine Vermont, 1940's

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