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.
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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
Blade
Workers 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 Intermediate
• Farms (10-250 kW)
• Remote Applications • Village Power
(e.g. water pumping, • Hybrid Systems
telecom sites, ice
making) • Distributed Power

Large (250 kW - 2+MW)

• Central Station Wind Farms
• Distributed Power
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 Modern Small Wind Turbines:
High Tech, High Reliability, Low
maintenance

• Technically Advanced
• Only 2-3 Moving Parts
• Very Low 50
Maintenance 10 kW kW

Requirements
• American Companies
are the Market and
Technology Leaders.
400 W 900 W
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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 hub-
height away from
houses
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Wind Farms

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Off-Shore Wind farms

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Middelgrunden
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Ancient Wind Farms

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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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