Wind Power Unlocks The Ultimate Energy Source
When a strong wind blows its effects can be devastating. Ask anyone who has been through a tornado. This awesome power can be used to provide electricity and limit our dependability on fossil fuels.
What is Wind Power
Essentially wind power is using the kinetic energy potential of the wind to produce electricity. Winds move at varying speeds but it still delivers an amount of energy in proportion to its speed. Our forefathers knew
that winds were useful for more than just blowing our hair and cooling us off on a balmy day. They constructed windmills on their farms to power their wells and other farm contraptions. Using a rotor on a movable horizontal axis, the wooden blades would turn in the direction for the wind as it changed so that power was still created.
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What is a Wind Turbine
A wind turbine is another name for a windmill. It is a more modern version but the design is basically the same. A wind turbine contains several basic parts:
• Tower
• Rotor with three blades
• Generator for wind turbine
There are other pieces that go into the construction but these are the major components. Wind turbines can rotate on a horizontal or vertical axis. The majority of wind turbines use the standard vertical access like wooden windmills. Some have experimented with a horizontal axis which makes the entire machine look like an egg beater.
When wind turbines are grouped together it us called a wind farm. We see them along the side of the road. They look like alien machines but are generating electricity with each spin. Wind farms are used to power large areas that are too far off the grid for conventional utility companies.
What is the Cost of Wind Power
The cost of wind power lies in the wind turbine. When windmills were used to generate wind power they would stand a few feet above the height of the house. That way, they could catch the wind in all direction
without being blocked by the house or the barn.
Nowadays, wind turbines stand two or three times as high as they once did. It is a fact that stronger winds can be found the higher up you go into the atmosphere. At those heights, nothing can interfere with natural wind currents. A wind turbine produces more power with stronger winds.
Many turbines are made of tubular steel and fiberglass. The tower needs to be sturdy to help with balance and house the wiring that runs from the generator to the control system. The blades can’t be too heavy to move freely when the wind current hits them. The majority of the energy needs to be converted to electricity within the turbine.
Once the construction of the wind turbines is complete, all that is left is maintenance and upkeep of the system. As long as the wind blows there will be energy for conversion. Standard residential wind systems are guaranteed for about five years of life. That is with regular maintenance and care.
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Commercial wind farms have dozens of turbines but the cost of maintaining them is negligible against the cost of construction. After construction, the energy reaped from the system will pay for itself in no time. Finding enough companies willing to fork out the initial outlay of cash for such a large scale project is the challenge.
Renewable energy sources like wind power will provide us with substantial energy sources long after fossil fuels finally tap out. But, we are not waiting for that eventuality before we approach the subject. Wind power is being utilized on a small scale in many places and some countries have bitten the large scale bullet. Hopefully others will follow suit.
