Equipment
used in wind energy
may take various forms. When wind energy is used for
pumping water, a water pump is coupled to the wind
turbine and as the turbine rotates, water is pumped out
of a well or from any other water source available
nearby. If on the other hand, it is used for grinding
corn, a grinder or masher is attached to it. However,
when wind energy is utilized for generating electric
power, the equipment needed is a little more complex. To
be precise, the following equipment or components are
usually needed for generating electricity for average
home consumption.
v
Wind
turbine (complete with generator with/without a
gearbox)
v
Transformer
to convert the DC current generated by the turbine to
120V AC current for home
consumption
v
Battery
bank to store the generated current for consumption
later
v
Electronic
control system to switch the generated power to the
battery bank or to a dummy load and if so planned, to
the power grid.
v
Some
electrical wires and connectors
v
Tower
to hoist the turbine.
To
start with, let us examine a wind turbine to see what
secret it holds. However, I am afraid you would be
sorely disappointed since it holds very little or no
secret at all. In fact, it is just the opposite of an
electric fan. While a fan rotates at high speed when
electric current is applied to it, the turbine produces
electric current as it turns spinning by wind energy. Of
course, it may have Teflon coated bushes to lessen
friction, etc but otherwise it is a glorified electric
fan. Some turbines are provided with self adjusting
gearboxes that hike the rpm of the rotor to produce more
current. Turbines can be big or small – the small ones
are meant for home use while the big ones are employed
in an array to produce power in a mass scale like in a
wind farm. Special attachments are also provided with
turbines that make them face the wind automatically as
and when wind direction is
changed.
However,
the capacity of a wind turbine is determined mostly by
its rotor diameter which is specified
below…
Ø
Rotor
diameter: 04 to
45 ft, hub height: 60 to 120 ft =
Rated capacity: Less than 30
kW
Ø
Rotor
dia.
: 46 to 100 ft, hub height:130 to 164 ft = Rated
capacity:
30 to 500 kW
Ø
Rotor
dia.
: 100 ft/more, hub height:164 to 260 ft = Rated
capacity: 500 kW – 4.5 MW
Although
most contemporary wind turbines fall into two basic
categories – the Horizontal-axis type and the
Vertical-axis type, the larger ones are usually
Horizontal-axis types.
As
for the transformers, they merely convert the DC current
generated by the wind turbine to 120V AC for general
purpose consumption.
As
the turbine produces electricity all the while or as
long as there is sufficient wind power, the resultant
power needs to be stored in a battery bank for
consumption as and when needed and so it is connected to
the delivery end of the turbine. However, an electronic
device works as a go between the two which separates the
current flow to the batteries when they are fully
charged as otherwise the batteries are likely get
spoiled very quickly.
The
last bit of implement consists of a rigid pole on the
top of which the wind turbine is permanently
housed.
You can now build your own wind power system and produce your personal wind power. And the best news is, neither is it too complicated, nor is it too costly. In fact, once your system is up and running, you can sure save a lot of money on your power bills. Plus when you go solar, you can also contribute to clean up the air as well. All you need to know is the equipment used in wind energy, where to get them cheaply from, how to set it up and wire the system, where to set it up in the home and also learn about the safety precautions that has to be followed always.
