WIND POWER.ppt

WIND POWER What is it? How does it work? Efficiency U.S. Stats and Examples WIND POWER - What is it? All renewable energy (except tidal and geothermal power), ultimately comes from the sun The earth receives 1.74 x 1017 watts of power (per hour) from the sun About one or 2 percent of this energy is converted to wind energy (which is about 50-100 times more than the energy converted to biomass by all plants on earth Differential heating of the earth’s surface and atmosphere induces vertical and horizontal air currents that are affected by the earth’s rotation and contours of the land ? WIND. ~ e.g.: Land Sea Breeze Cycle WINDMILL DESIGN A Windmill captures wind energy and then uses a generator to convert it to electrical energy. The design of a windmill is an integral part of how efficient it will be. When designing a windmill, one must decide on the size of the turbine, and the size of the generator. LARGE TURBINES: Able to deliver electricity at lower cost than smaller turbines, because foundation costs, planning costs, etc. are independent of size. Well-suited for offshore wind plants. In areas where it is difficult to find sites, one large turbine on a tall tower uses the wind extremely efficiently. * * By: Roger Rivera Winds are influenced by the ground surface at altitudes up to 100 meters. Wind is slowed by the surface roughness and obstacles. When dealing with wind energy, we are concerned with surface winds. A wind turbine obtains its power input by converting the force of the wind into a torque (turning force) acting on the rotor blades. The amount of energy which the wind transfers to the rotor depends on the density of the air, the rotor area, and the wind speed. The kinetic energy of a moving body is proportional to its mass (or weight). The kinetic energy in the wind thus depends on the density of the air, i.e. its mass per unit of volume. In other words, the heavier the air, the mor