Wind Turbine
A wind turbine is a rotating device that uses the kinetic energy of wind to generate usable electricity for home appliances.
Wind energy is a very resourceful means of power as it's constantly available in many locations and it is a good example of renewable energy as it can be replenished quickly and easily. As the global energy crisis gets worse, the demand for renewable energy sources increases.
Generally, a wind turbine uses the concept of 3 rotating blades placed on a supporting tower. They should be placed in locations where there is consistent flow of wind. This is why most of the time you will see wind turbines being placed near coastal areas. Wind Resource Assessment makes it possible to predict the value of energy the particular turbine will produce.
The Wind Power Density (WPD) is often used as a yardstick of measuring good locations to place wind turbines. It calculates the effective force of wind at that location and expresses it in terms of the elevation above ground level, over a period of time.
There are two main types of wind turbines based on the axis the turbine rotates. Horizontal-axis wind turbines are more commonly used than the vertical-axis wind turbines. Horizontal axis turbines have their electrical generator and rotor shaft at the top of the tower and should be pointed to the wind. Most of these have a gear box that can accelerate the slow rotation of the blades so that more power can be generated.
Vertical axis turbines have the rotor shaft fixed vertically. The main advantage of these turbines is that they need not be pointed into the wind for it to work effectively. This is why vertical axis turbines are used in areas where the wind direction could highly vary. And in these turbines the gearbox and generator is placed closer to the ground, therefore the tower need not support it. Further, these have better access as far as maintenance is concerned.
There are actually some great installation guides available for making your own wind turbines for home use. You may want to explore these guides available at http://www.greenearth4energy.com. There, you can also find some highly rated guides on how to build a solar panel, a home wind turbine and a solar water heater altogether.
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