Kinetic energy of the wind can be harvested and converted into electricity. How? Wind turbines! These are superb machines which rotate and change the force of the wind into reusable and sustainable energy. The wind will always be around, in many places, the wind will blow with a great force. What better way to use a readily available energy to give electrical power to cities all over?

The method works by converting the wind into ‘mechanical energy’. When this occurs, the machines are known as wind generators, wind turbines, wind energy converters or wind power units.

Smaller wind turbines are powered by a single wind ‘vane’ while larger turbine units typically utilize wind sensors and ‘servo’ motors. Horizontal axis turbines have gearboxes. The gearboxes turn the blades’ rotation more quickly, facilitating better energy for the ‘electrical’ generator.

Customarily a tower will have ‘turbulence’ as the force at its back. Then the turbines are generally pointed ‘upwind’ of any tower. To prevent the wind turbine blades from being pushed to the tower by forceful winds, the blades are manufactured rigidly. The blades are also positioned a larger distance at the front of the tower. They are also often tilted into the wind and forward to a degree.

Sometimes ‘down’ wind machines have been constructed despite any turbulence. These machines don’t need more part to be sure that they are aligned with the source of the winds. In spite of the turbulence problem, ‘downwind’ machinery has been built. This machinery doesn’t require more mechanisms for ensuring that they remain in line with the wind. Often blades will bend in high winds; this will reduce their ability to catch the power of the wind. A turbine can break with too much resistance.

If a turbine has a vertical axis, the blades are arranged in a vertical manner to the rotor shafts. Good energy is still produced by the vertical turbines even if the blades are pointed into the winds’ direction. When the direction of the wind is altered, this machine still will produce electricity and other energy. So there are a lot of advantages to the vertical axis turbines.

Often, with vertical turbines, the components are supported closer to the ground. The gearbox and the generator seem to work best in this configuration. It isn’t imperative that the turbine is propped up by the tower for the turbine. Fixing and maintaining this machinery is easy. Some negative points are that pulsing movements can come about with these components.

To put these types of wind turbines on towers is difficult. It is best that vertical axis machinery is put closer to the ground and mounted nearer the base. The best locations would be a structure’s roof top or on a ground level. If you maintain these turbines well as guard against turbulence, your wind turbine will reward you with years of energy savings! Not to mention the benefit of supply environmentally friendly energy.

Visit our blog for more information on this and other interesting topics. Get cheap energy by using wind turbines to help out.

Today I want to talk about how a wind turbine works. The topic has come up a few times in conversations I’ve had with other do-it-yourselfers, and the answer to that question is surprisingly simple. Of course the short answer to the question is that a wind turbine works by capturing wind energy and turning it into electricity. From there that electricity is sent by wire to your home, your garage, or your energy storage system (usually batteries).

In reality though we can go much deeper than that without getting too complicated; it’s all about the physics of capturing the wind. To cover the topic well we need to talk about two elements. First we need to cover how wind energy is captured. From there we need to talk about how that kinetic energy is turned into usable electricity.

How a Wind Turbine Works – Capturing the Wind

To start out we need to cover one simple idea. A wind turbine captures the forward force of the wind and then uses that force to turn the blades. What’s really happening here is that we’re taking the forward momentum of the wind, and turning it into a sideways push to turn the blades. The blade design of your wind turbine is actually what’s responsible from this transfer of energy. By using a tilted or a curved blade (usually both tilted and curved), the wind is deflected in such a way that the wind pushes it sideways and in turn turns the blade.

Of course we also need to talk about the tailpiece of your turbine. Without one the sideways force exerted by the curve of your blades would turn the entire turbine assemble rather than just the blades. While the wind pushes sideways on your blades to turn then, it’s also flowing directly allow the tailpiece which keeps the assembly facing the wind and allows your blades to turn freely.

How Wind Turbines Works – Turning Wind Energy into Electricity

Once we understand the basics of how the wind exerts force to turn the blades, we also need to talk about how the electricity is produced. Behind the blade assembly is a rotor, which is attached to a shaft, which in turn is attached to your wind generator. In most residential applications the wind generator is something as simple as a DC motor.

If you understand the basics of electricity, then you would know that by rotating magnets around a conductor you produce electricity. Essentially this is what a DC motor is. It consists of magnets which are able to rotate around a conductive center. As your turbine blades rotate in the wind the shaft rotates your magnets in your DC motor which produces usable electricity. In a nutshell this is wind turbines work, and although we’ve only taken a basic look at the physics behind it all, you now have a better understanding of how to capture the wind to power you home.

John O’ryan works as a builder/installer of Green Energy solutions. He also runs a site that helps others choose the right solutions to go green and save. You can read more about wind turbines, and specifically how you can build your own turbine on his wind turbine page.