When one thinks about renewable energy, the first thing that comes into one’s mind is solar power, in other words the energy the earth receives from the sun.
However, another form of renewable energy for generating electricity is wind power. Because the wind is fairly constant in most parts of the world, it can be harnessed and used to create electricity.
Can you imagine how much free energy we could get if we could only harness all the wind that is blowing around the earth at any given moment? Sadly that is not possible, but just getting a fraction of the energy in wind power is still a lot of free energy.
Windmill
Of course wind power is nothing new and has been used for centuries to do useful work. Since ancient times, man has harnessed wind power to propel ships through the oceans of the world.
And the widespread use of windmills for grinding grain between stones to produce flour is also ancient, and widespread. But now we are starting to use wind energy to create renewable electrical energy.
So how do you exploit wind power for generating electricity?
What many people don’t realise is that wind power is generated as a direct result of the heating effect of the sun, therefore solar power is still involved in the process.
What happens is this…
The heat from the sun causes materials on the earth’s surface to heat up warming the air around them. Then, because hot air is less dense than cooler air, it rises up and affects the atmospheric pressure beneath it. The differing atmospheric pressure causes cooler air to rush in to replace it, and the resulting air flow is what we call wind.
When air moves it possesses kinetic energy, which is the energy created because of the movement of the air molecules.
Because energy can be converted into other forms of energy, all we need to do is use some kind of energy conversion technology to capture all that wind energy and turn it into electricity.
Great efforts have been made to make wind power a viable and long-term energy strategy and it is becoming one of major power generation sources besides solar power. It is a clean and an environmentally friendly source of energy, in stark contrast to conventional power plants that burn fossil fuels and cause pollution.
Converting Wind Energy Into Electrical Energy.
Wind Turbines are used to transform the kinetic energy of the wind into mechanical or electrical energy that can then be put to practical use. Wind turbines come two basic types:
The vertical-axis or “egg-beater design” or the horizontal propeller design.
Wind Power Generation
The type most commonly used in wind farms is the horizontal propeller design, which consists of a propeller blade rotating on a shaft, which in turn generates electricity.
In essence, with a wind turbine, the wind energy is converted into rotational energy, which is then converted into electrical energy.
With improvements in technology, wind power generation is becoming a viable source of renewable energy.
On a smaller scale, thousands of people who want to save the environment (and save money at the same time) are looking into implementing wind power systems in their homes.
Because of the growing interest in renewable energy sources, many homemade wind power building guides have been created, but many of them give poor instructions, vague information and often leave you frustrated, confused and out of pocket.
If you are thinking of building your own wind power generation system check out the links below…
