How do wind turbines work?. Examine how wind is converted into electricity by wind turbines and the difficulties in using only wind energy to power the planet.
Wind produces enough kinetic energy in a day to produce roughly 35 times as much electricity as people use in a day. Additionally, this resource is completely replenished every day, unlike coal or oil. Rebecca Barthelmie and Sara Pryor explore the science behind wind turbine technology to find out how we can harness this incredible amount of energy and whether it is feasible to build a world that runs entirely on wind.
Wind turbines operate on a straightforward premise: rather than using electricity to create wind, like a fan, they create electricity using wind. An electric generator spins when the turbine’s blades, which resemble propellers, are turned by wind.
Solar energy takes the form of wind, which is brought on by three related simultaneous events.
The atmosphere is being heated unevenly by the sun.
Surface irregularities on the earth.
the Earth’s rotation.
The United States is home to a wide range of terrain types, vegetation types, and water bodies, all of which affect the wind flow patterns and speeds. Humans utilize this wind flow, or motion energy, for a variety of activities, including sailing, kite flying, and even electricity generation.
Both «wind energy» and «wind power» refer to the method of using the wind to produce mechanical or electrical energy. This mechanical energy can be applied to particular tasks (like grinding grain or pumping water) or transformed into electricity using a generator.
The rotor blades of a wind turbine, which operate similarly to an airplane wing or a helicopter rotor blade, convert wind energy into electricity using aerodynamic force. The air pressure on one side of the blade decreases as wind passes over it. Lift and drag are both produced by the difference in air pressure between the blade’s two sides.
The rotor spins because the lift force is greater than the drag force. The connection between the rotor and the generator can be made directly (in the case of a direct drive turbine) or through a gearbox, which speeds up rotation and enables a physically smaller generator. Electricity is produced as a result of the conversion of aerodynamic force into generator rotation.