This wind energy can be utilized for specific tasks, or a generator can transform this power into electricity.
Fremont, CA: Wind turbines work on a basic principle: wind turbines use the wind to produce electricity instead of leveraging electricity to make wind—like a fan. The wind rotates the propeller blades of a turbine around a rotor, which spins a generator, producing power.
Wind flow patterns and accelerates differ considerably across the United States and are changed by water bodies, vegetation, and variance in terrain. Humans use this wind flow, or motion energy, flying a kite, sailing, and even creating electricity.
A wind turbine transforms wind power into electricity, leveraging the rotor blades' aerodynamic force, such as an airplane wing or helicopter rotor blade. When wind flows over the turbine blade, the air pressure on the side of the edge lowers. The variance in air pressure over the blade's two sides generates both lift and drag.
The force of the lift is higher than the drag, and this reasons the rotor to spin. Wind turbines fall into two classes. Horizontal-axis wind turbines are what generally several people picture when looking at wind turbines. Typically, they have three blades and function upwind, with the turbine pivoting at the top of the tower, then the blades face the wind.
Vertical-axis wind turbines come in wide varieties, comprising the eggbeater-style Darrieus model, named after its French inventor. These turbines are omnidirectional, meaning they don't need to be adjusted to point into the wind to operate. Land-powered wind turbines vary in size from 100 kilowatts to as many megawatts. Greater wind turbines are cost-effective and are sorted into wind plants, which offer bulk power to the electrical grid.
Offshore wind turbines are huge and taller than the Statue of Liberty. They do not have similar transportation hurdles as land-based wind installations, as the huge components can be transported on ships instead of roads. These turbines can capture strong ocean winds and create vast amounts of energy.
