How does the wind make electricity?

wind power

Modern wind turbines combine ancient knowledge with todays high tech know-how. From ancient Greek sailboats to Dutch windmills, people have used the energy in the wind for thousands of years. American farmers used millions of windmills to pump water and to power radios and lights in the early part of the 20th century. With modern aerospace designs and computer-controlled operations, windmills are once again cropping up in the American landscape. New utility-scale wind turbines are much larger than these familiar farm wind mills. These turbines are 20 stories tall, with blades 90 feet long, and produce enough power for 200 homes or more. They are typically built in clusters, called "wind farms," though can also be built by themselves to supply a factory or small town. Wind turbines can also be very small, weighing as little as nine pounds, and producing enough power for a sailboat. HOW DO THEY WORK? There are four main parts to a wind turbine: the base, tower, nacelle, and blades. The blades capture the winds energy, spinning a generator in the nacelle. The tower contains the electrical conduits, supports the nacelle, and provides access to the nacelle for maintenance. The base, made of concrete and steel, supports the whole structure. The Blades Designed like airplane

much more efficiently than old farm windmills, which use drag, the force of the wind pushing against the blades. The blades spin at a slow rate of about 20 revolutions per minute (RPM), although the speed at the blade tip can be over 150 miles per hour. The Nacelle The nacelle houses a generator and gearbox. The spinning blades are attached to the generator through a series of gears. The gears increase the rotational speed of the blades to the generator speed of over 1,500 RPM. As the generator spins, electricity is produced. Generators can be either variable or fixed speed. Variable speed generators produce electricity at a varying frequency, which must be corrected to 60 cycles per second before it is fed onto the grid. Fixed speed generators dont need to be corrected, but arent as able to take advantage of fluctuations in wind speed. The Tower- The most common tower design is a white steel cylinder, about 150 to 200 feet tall and 10 feet in diameter. Some turbines use a lattice tower, like the Eiffel Tower. Towers have a ladder running up the inside and a hoist for tools and equipment. The Base Bases are made of concrete reinforced with steel bars. There are two basic designs. One is a shallow flat disk, about 40 feet in

diameter and three feet thick. The other is a deeper cylinder, about 15 feet in diameter and 16 feet deep.

Blades

Nacelle

. Gear Box

. .

Generator Tower

ENERGY CENTER
OF WISCONSIN

wings, modern wind turbine blades use lift to capture the winds energy. Because of the blades special shape,

Base

595 Science Drive Madison, WI 53711 Phone: 608.238.4601 Fax: 608.238.8733 www.ecw.org

the wind creates a pocket of pressure as it passes behind the blade. This pressure pulls the blade, causing the turbine to rotate. This modern blade design captures the winds energy

WIND TURBINES IN THE MIX As the speed of the wind changes, so too does the electrical output from a wind turbine. For off-grid turbines, supplying power to a home or cabin, batteries are needed to store power and smooth out fluctuations. But if a wind turbine or wind farm is part of the power grid, with dozens of power plants and millions of power-consuming appliances, these fluctuations are typically not noticeable. Wisconsins use of wind power would have to increase over 100 times for these fluctuations to become a problem in the electrical supply. The productivity of a wind turbine, or any kind of power plant, is referred to as the capacity factor. The capacity factor is the amount of power produced in a given time period compared to what the generator could produce if it ran at full capacity for that time period. If a generator ran full out all the time, it would have a capacity factor of 100 percent, but no power plant runs all the time. In a good location, a wind turbine may produce on average a third of the maximum power of the generator, or have a 33 percent capacity factor. This doesnt mean it sits idle twothirds of the time; instead it produces lower levels of power most of the time. Wind turbines can produce power in winds as slow as 7 mph and as high as 45 mph.
Worker readies blade assembly for hoisting at Madison Gas and Electtrics wind farm in Kewaunee County, Wisconsin.

WIND RESOURCES IN WISCONSIN A good wind resource is one where wind speeds average 16 mph or more over the course of a year. Wind speeds are categorized by class, from a low of class 1 to a high of class 7. Wind speeds of class 4 or greater are used for wind power production. The power of the wind is measured in watts per square meter, and this increases by the cube of the wind speed. For example, winds at 15 mph are almost twice as powerful as winds at 12 mph, doubling the output of a wind turbine. The density of the air also affects turbine output. Cold air at lower altitudes helps generate more electricity than warm air at high altitudes. Height also affects wind speed, since objects on the ground, like trees and buildings, can reduce wind speed. Therefore, taller turbines can capture higher wind speeds and more energy than shorter turbines. FOR MORE INFORMATION Brower, Michael, Brower & Co. Wind Energy Resources. National Wind Coordinating Committee. 1997. Online at www.nationalwind.org.

Average Annual Wind Speeds Extrapolated to a height of 110 feet

Gipe, Paul. Wind Power for Home and Business. Chelsea Green Press. 1993.

ENERGY CENTER
OF WISCONSIN

Visit the Energy Center of Wisconsins wind power web site at

www.wind.ecw.org
or call 608.238.4601 ABOUT US The Energy Center of Wisconsin is a private nonprofit organization dedicated to improving energy efficiency and renewable energy in Wisconsin. Funded in part by Wisconsin utilities, the Center invests $5 million annually in energy efficiency research, education and demonstrations aimed at residents, business and government.
Wisconsin wind resources. Courtesy of Wisconsin Energy Bureau
Copyright 2000 Energy Center of Wisconsin 0600/7510 433-1

Best - 13 to 14 mph Good - 12 to 13 mph Fair - 11 to 12 mph Poor - Less than 11 mph