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Wind Power:
Wind Technology Today
Wind Power on the Community Scale
Community
Wind Power
Fact Sheet # 1
RERL—MTC
Community Wind W i n d Po we r Tech n o l o g y for
Fact Sheet Series
T h e Vo c a b u l a r y o f W i n d Po w e r
Turbine: a turbine is a device that converts the Up-wind turbines: Modern commercial tur-
kinetic energy of a moving fluid into rota- bines yaw themselves so the rotor is facing
tional energy (engineers call both liquids and into the wind, i.e. upwind of the tower.
gases “fluids” – i.e. things that flow). A Cut-in speed: the wind speed at which a wind
wind turbine’s blades use aerodynamic lift turbine begins to generate electricity. Typi-
and drag to capture some of the wind’s en- cally 4 m/s (9 mph) for commercial wind
ergy and turn the generator’s shaft. turbines.
The main parts of a typical wind turbine are: Cut-out wind speed: the
- Rotor: a wind tur- high wind speed at which
bine’s blades and the turbine must shut
the hub to which down and turn perpen-
they attach form dicular to the wind to
the rotor. protect itself from being
- Nacelle: the frame overpowered. Typically
and housing at the 25 m/s (56 mph)
top of the tower. It Variable-speed turbines:
protects the gear- Some turbines incorpo-
box and the gen- rate power electronics
erator from that allow them to opti-
weather, and helps mize their power output
control the me- by varying their speed,
chanical noise for instance, from 10 to
level. 20 rpm. Other types vary
-Tower: a steel struc- their speed little or not at
ture, typically all.
tubular, with a Variable blade pitch:
ladder up the in- many turbines can change
side for mainte- the angle of their blades
nance access. to optimize performance.
-Base or foundation: Horizontal axis: All com-
made of concrete mercial-scale turbines
T h e Po w e r & E n e rg y i n W i n d
The Power in Wind The Power from a Wind Turbine
The first law of thermodynamics tells us that The power a turbine actually gets from the
energy can neither be created nor destroyed, wind is: Energy
but it can change forms. Anything that is in P = Cp ½ U A 3
motion – such as moving air – contains a form is the ability to change one-
of energy we refer You can see that we have added two things to
self or one's surroundings
to as kinetic en- the original equation of the power in the wind:
ergy. Slowing air Cp = the turbine’s power coefficient
down reduces its = eta = the turbine’s mechanical & elec-
kinetic energy and trical efficiencies.
that energy has to
go somewhere. Cp must be less than the Betz limit. In practice, Power
Wind turbines it varies with wind speed, turbulence and oper-
slow wind down and convert some of the en- ating characteristics; for example it could be is a rate of using or produc-
ergy to mechanical and electrical energy. around 44% for a commercial-scale turbine, in ing energy.
winds of 10 m/s. A typical overall efficiency,
Kinetic energy is: , would be in the range of 90%. Power = energy / time
2
KE = ½ mU To estimate the power output of a given com-
where m stands for mass (in kg) and U stands mercial turbine, we do not have to use the
for velocity (in m/s). This allows us to calcu- power equation; rather we use power curves
late the amount of power in moving air. The supplied by the manufacturer.
Units of Measure
power of the wind passing perpendicularly Wind Turbine Power Curve
through a circular area is: 1,600
A kilowatt-hour (kWh) is a
1,400
3 unit of Energy
P=½ U A 1,200
Power (kW)
1,000
Where: 800 A kilowatt (kW) is a unit of
600
P = the power of the wind (in Watts). Power. So are watts, mega-
400
watts, and horsepower.
= rho = the density of the air (in kg/m3) 200
Re n e w a b l e S o u rc e s fo r Te a ch e rs & K i d s
E n e rg y
Re s e a rch Spirit Lake, Iowa, has 2 wind turbines on their Scholastic books offers wind energy activities for
L a b o rat o r y school grounds. The schools use the generators young children: place.scholastic.com/
in their curricula: www.spirit-lake.k12.ia.us/dist/ MAGICSCHOOLBUS/games/teacher/energy/
University of wind/index2.htm
Massachusetts at This website, www.zilkha.com/
Amherst The Danish Wind Industry Association includes a forteacherskidsconsumers.asp, includes introduc-
section for kids: www.windpower.org/en/kids/ tions to wind energy on various levels.
index.htm
See RERL’s website, www.ceere.org/rerl/
GE has curricula, as well as a kids’ link page: rerl_links.html, for a more complete list of
www.gepower.com/businesses/ge_wind_energy/en/ teacher resources.
kids_teachers/index.htm