Wind Energy
Basics
The Kidwind Project www.kidwind.org

What is Electricity?
Electricity is energy transported by the motion of electrons
**We do not make electricity, we CONVERT other energy sources into electrical energy**
Conversion is the name of the game
KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org

Faraday Effect
•
Faraday Effect
• Basic Concepts
• Voltage – V – Potential to Move Charge (volts)
• Current – I – Charge Movement (amperes or amps)
• Resistance – R – V = IxR (R in =ohms)
• Power – P = IxV = I 2 xR (watts)
KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org

How Does a Generator Work?
KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org

Electricity!
More efficient light bulbs are great, but what is the BEST way to conserve electricity and reduce our consumption of fossil fuels???
• How much would it cost to run this
100 Watt bulb for a full day (24 hrs)?
• 100 Watts x 24 hours = 2400 Watt Hours
(2400 Watt Hours = 2.4 Kilowatt Hours)
• What about this 25 Watt CFL light bulb, which produces the same amount of light?
• 25 Watts x 24 hours = 600 Watt Hours
(600 Watt Hours = 0.6 Kilowatt Hours)
• 2.4 kWh x $0.08/kWh =
$0.19
Be conscious of your energy choices!
$0.05

Where do we get our electricity?
KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org

What is a Fossil Fuel???

What is “Renewable Energy?”

KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org

Types of Electricity Generating Windmills
Small (  10 kW)
• Homes
• Farms
• Remote Applications
(e.g. water pumping, telecom sites, icemaking)
Intermediate
(10-250 kW)
• Village Power
• Hybrid Systems
• Distributed Power
Large (250 kW - 2+MW)
• Central Station Wind Farms
• Distributed Power
KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org

Parts of a Wind Turbine

KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org

Wind Turbine Perspective
Workers
Blade
112’ long
Nacelle
56 tons
Tower
3 sections
KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org

Large Wind Turbines
• 450’ base to blade
• Each blade 112’
• Span greater than 747
• 163+ tons total
• Foundation 20+ feet deep
• Rated at 1.5 – 5 megawatt
• Supply at least 350 homes

Yawing – Facing the Wind
• Active Yaw (all medium & large turbines produced today, & some small turbines from Europe)
–
Anemometer on nacelle tells controller which way to point rotor into the wind
–
Yaw drive turns gears to point rotor into wind
• Passive Yaw (Most small turbines)
–
Wind forces alone direct rotor
• Tail vanes
• Downwind turbines
KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org

KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org

Importance of Wind Speed
• No other factor is more important to the amount of power available in the wind than the speed of the wind
• Power is a cubic function of wind speed
– V X V X V
• 20% increase in wind speed means 73% more power
• Doubling wind speed means
8 times more power
KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org

Calculation of Wind Power
• Power in the wind
Effect of air density, 
– Effect of swept area, A
3
– Effect of wind speed, V
R
Swept Area: A = πR 2
Area of the circle swept by the rotor (m 2 ).

Carnage!

Jobs in the Wind Industry

Construction

Public Relations/Organizing Support
KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org

Operations/
Maintenance

Maintenance
KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org

Engineering/
Design

Environmental Impact Assessment

Wind Power is Fun!
KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org

Questions???

The KidWind Project www.kidwind.org