The Power of Wind
Driving to my nephew's wedding last year, with my brother Stephen, I was struck by all the wind turbines I saw along the way.
They were endless; I couldn't keep from staring at them.
The blades were so thin and seemed to move so slowly.
I thought, "how could they possibly make electricity?" I asked my brother, who always seemed to have the answer to my questions, whatever the subject, and he explained it to me as I stared out of the window at the amazing machines.
It's pretty simple, actually.
A Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbine, or HAWT, has three main parts.
The blades are attached to a shaft, which is connected to a generator.
When the wind turns the blades, the shaft spins, which generates electricity.
Oh sure, he went into some lengthy explanation of wind turbines; going into great detail about the pitch of the blades, (they're turned out of the wind to maintain control of the Rotor), winds that are too high or too low, and so on.
And I learned a great deal.
I found out, oddly enough, that the speed limit for a wind turbine is 55 mile per hour.
Anything more and they could be damaged by the high winds.
The nacelle (covered housing) sits on top of the tower and holds the gearbox, low and high speed shafts, generator, controller and break.
Would you believe some wind turbines are big enough that a helicopter could land on them? You might not think something like this could be used at home, but wind turbines can be scaled down to fit almost anywhere.
If you'd like to see one being built using everyday items, log on to http://www.
youtube.
com/watch?v=R0oFnk17zbE&feature=player_embedded.
It was made by an astronomer living in Arizona named Michael Davis.
During a brief online search, I found that I could buy a complete kit for only $11,000.
00.
Yes, I found cheaper kits, but they all had one thing in common, they were not complete! I think we'll try building one like Michael did.
Just like you might put solar panels on your house, people are starting to build wind turbines in their yards.
My husband and I have been looking for a nice place to retire.
When we find it we intend to put up solar panels, and yes, build a wind turbine too.
So that when I grow old, I'll sit outside and stare at my own huge fan with tiny blades.
They were endless; I couldn't keep from staring at them.
The blades were so thin and seemed to move so slowly.
I thought, "how could they possibly make electricity?" I asked my brother, who always seemed to have the answer to my questions, whatever the subject, and he explained it to me as I stared out of the window at the amazing machines.
It's pretty simple, actually.
A Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbine, or HAWT, has three main parts.
The blades are attached to a shaft, which is connected to a generator.
When the wind turns the blades, the shaft spins, which generates electricity.
Oh sure, he went into some lengthy explanation of wind turbines; going into great detail about the pitch of the blades, (they're turned out of the wind to maintain control of the Rotor), winds that are too high or too low, and so on.
And I learned a great deal.
I found out, oddly enough, that the speed limit for a wind turbine is 55 mile per hour.
Anything more and they could be damaged by the high winds.
The nacelle (covered housing) sits on top of the tower and holds the gearbox, low and high speed shafts, generator, controller and break.
Would you believe some wind turbines are big enough that a helicopter could land on them? You might not think something like this could be used at home, but wind turbines can be scaled down to fit almost anywhere.
If you'd like to see one being built using everyday items, log on to http://www.
youtube.
com/watch?v=R0oFnk17zbE&feature=player_embedded.
It was made by an astronomer living in Arizona named Michael Davis.
During a brief online search, I found that I could buy a complete kit for only $11,000.
00.
Yes, I found cheaper kits, but they all had one thing in common, they were not complete! I think we'll try building one like Michael did.
Just like you might put solar panels on your house, people are starting to build wind turbines in their yards.
My husband and I have been looking for a nice place to retire.
When we find it we intend to put up solar panels, and yes, build a wind turbine too.
So that when I grow old, I'll sit outside and stare at my own huge fan with tiny blades.
Source...