18CHO101T

SUSTAINABLE ENERGY ENGINEERING

Unit 2. Wind Energy - Syllabus
• Availability of wind
• Special features of wind energy
• Types of wind mills
• The power from the wind
• Performance of wind mills
• Modern wind energy generators
• Horizontal wind mills
• Vertical wind mills
• Wind turbines
• Design parameters
• Design principles of wind turbine
• Horizontal and vertical axis types
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• Problems in wind mills
Introduction
Wind results from air in motion.
Air in motion arises from a pressure gradient.
Globally, one primary forcing function causing surface
winds from the poles toward the equator is convective
circulation.
• Solar radiation heats the air near the equator, and this
low density heated air is buoyed up.
• At the surface, it is displaced by cooler more dense
higher pressure air flowing from the poles.
• In the upper atmosphere near the equator, the air thus
tends to flow back toward the poles and away from the
equator. The net result is the global convective
circulation.
Hence, wind is basically caused by solar energy
irradiating the earth.
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Availability of wind
Local winds are caused by two mechanisms.
Differential heating of land and water
Winds caused by hills and mountain sides

Differential heating of land and water

Solar insolation during the day is converted to
sensible energy of the land surface but is partly
absorbed in layers below the water surface and partly
consumed in evaporating some of the water. The
land mass becomes hotter than the water, which
causes the air above the land to heat up and become
warmer than the air above the water. The warmer
lighter air above the land rises, and the cooler heavier
air above the water moves in to replace it. This is the
mechanism of shore breezes.
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Availability of wind
Winds caused by hills and mountain sides
The air above the slopes heats up during the day and cools down at night, more
rapidly than the air above the low lands. This causes heated air during the day to
rise along the slopes and cool heavy air to flow down at night.

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Availability of wind
What is Wind Energy?
Wind energy is the converting of wind power to electrical power through the use of
windmills or turbines. Electricity produced is sent to transformers where voltage is
increased and sent to the power grid via transmission lines.
Special features of wind energy
• 2 percent of all solar radiation falling on the face of the earth is converted to kinetic energy in the
atmosphere and 30 % of this kinetic energy occurs in the lowest 1 km of elevation. If the total kinetic
energy of the wind in this lowest kilometer is harnessed, it can satisfy several times the energy
demand of a country.
• Wind power is pollution free and the source of energy is free.
• Kinetic energy in the wind is about 0.7 x 1021 J.
• The fuel is wind when the power is generated by wind.
• Solar energy is cyclic and predictable, and even dependable in some parts of the globe, wind energy is
however erratic, unsteady and often unreliable, except in very few areas.

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Why Wind Energy?
• Clean, zero emissions
• NOx, SO2, CO, CO2
• Air quality, water quality
• Climate change
• Reduce fossil fuel dependence
• Energy independence
• Domestic energy—national security
• Renewable
• No fuel-price volatility

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Wind mill vs Wind turbine
.

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Wind energy conversion system (WECS)

A – Transmission
B – Electrical

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Advantages and disadvantages of WECS
Advantages
• Renewable source of energy
• Non-pollution
• Avoids fuel provision and transport
• On a small scale (upto a few kilowatt) – less expensive; on a large scale – expensive

Disadvantages
• Dilute and fluctuating in nature
• Storage capacity is needed because of its irregularity
• Noisy in operation; A large unit can be heard kilometers away
• High overall weight due to the weight of tower, gearbox, generator, hub, etc
• Large areas are needed
• High maintenance costs
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Wind turbines
• Conversion of the kinetic energy (i.e., energy of motion) of
the wind into mechanical energy is utilized to perform
useful work, or to generate electricity.
• Most machines for converting wind energy into mechanical Sail
energy consist basically of a number of sails, vanes, or
blades radiating from a hub or central axis.
• The axes may be mostly horizontal or sometimes vertical.
• When the wind blows against the vanes or sails, they rotate
about the axis and the rotational motion can be made to
perform useful work.
• Wind energy conversion devices are commonly known as
wind turbines; They convert the energy of the winds tream
into energy of rotation; The component which rotates is
called the rotor. 11
 Working of a wind turbine
Principle
Conversion of
kinetic energy of
the wind into
mechanical
energy or
electrical energy
Components
1. Tower
2. Rotor
3. Nacelle
4. Generator
5. Foundation
or base Choose your favourite image! All 3 are the same.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSWm_nprfqE 12
Working of a wind turbine
1. Tower
• The tower in most modern turbines is round tubular steel of a diameter of 3–4 m
(10–13 ft), with a height of 75–110 m (250–370 ft), depending on the size of the
turbine and its location.
• The rule of thumb for a turbine tower is that it has the same height as the
Towe
diameter of the circle its blades make when rotating.
r
• Normally, the taller a turbine is, it is subject to more of the wind with higher
speed.
2. Rotor
• The rotor is the rotating part of a turbine; it consists of (mostly) three blades and
the central part that the blades are attached to, the hub.
• Blades are not solid; they are hollow and are made of composite material to be
light and strong.
• The trend is to make them larger (for more power), lighter, and stronger.
• The blades have the form of an airfoil (same as the wings of an airplane) to be
aerodynamic. As well, they are not flat and have a twist between their root and
their tip.
• The function of the hub is to hold the blades and make it possible for them to
rotate with respect to the rest of the turbine body. 13
Working of a wind turbine
3. Nacelle
• The nacelle is housing on top of the tower that accommodates all the
components that need to be on a turbine top. There are quite a number
of components for the proper and healthy operation of a complicated
electromechanical system that a turbine is. A major turbine part among
these components is the generator and the turbine shaft that transfers
the harvested power from wind to the generator through a gearbox.
• The gearbox is a vital component of wind turbines; it resides in the
nacelle. A gearbox increases the main shaft speed from around 12–25
rpm (for most of today’s turbines) to a speed suitable for its generator.
For this reason, the shaft on the generator side is called “high-speed
shaft.”
• Because a turbine must follow the wind and adjust its orientation to the
wind direction, its rotor needs to rotate with respect to the tower. This
rotation is called yaw motion/mechanism in which the nacelle and the
rotor revolve about the tower axis.

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Working of a wind turbine
4. Generator
• The generator is the component that converts the mechanical
energy of the rotor, harnessed from wind to electrical energy.
A generator has the same structure as an electric motor.
• Experience has shown that the gearbox in a turbine is a
problematic component. This is due to the fact that the
energy in the wind does not remain constant for a relatively
acceptable length of time. It continuously fluctuates, because
of the nature of wind. This causes the gear teeth to undergo
overload and hammering stress that leads to fatigue and
failure. In addition, the gearbox is a heavy item in the nacelle
on the top of a turbine.

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 Working of a wind turbine
5. Foundation or base
• The foundation is under the
ground for the onshore turbines;
it cannot be seen because it is
covered by soil. It is a large and
heavy structured block of
concrete that must hold the
whole turbine and the forces
that affect it.
• For offshore turbines, the base is
under the water and cannot be
seen. In offshore turbines that
are well into the sea the base is
floating, but it is of sufficient
mass to support the turbine
weight and all the forces exerted
on it and to hold it upright.

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Types of wind mills
1. According to orientation of axis of rotor
a) Horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) (axis of rotation is parallel to the air stream)
b) Vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) (axis of rotation is perpendicular to the air
stream)

2. According to useful electrical power output

a) Small output (upto 2 kW) – used on farms and remote applications to produce
low power
b) Medium output (2 to 100 kW) – to residences or local use
c) Large output (more than 100 kW) – to generate power for distribution in central
power grids. There are 2 sub classes:
• single generator at a single site;
• multiple generators at several places over an area

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Types of wind mills
3. According to the type of rotor
•Wind turbines
•Horizontal axis wind turbines
•Horizontal axis using two aerodynamic blades
•Horizontal axis propeller type using single blade

•Horizontal axis multibladed type

•Horizontal axis wind mill – Dutch type

•Sail type

•Vertical axis wind turbines

•Savonius turbines

•Darrieus turbines

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 Types of wind mills
1. According to orientation of axis of rotor
a) Horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) (axis of rotation is parallel to the air stream)
b) Vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) (axis of rotation is perpendicular to the air
stream)

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HAWT and VAWT

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Types of wind mills
2. According to useful electrical power output
a) Small output (upto 2 kW)
b) Medium output (2 to 100 kW)
c) Large output (more than 100 kW)

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Horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT)
• Horizontal axis wind turbines are the most commonly used turbines
due to their strength and efficiency.
• The base of the towers have to be extremely strong, allowing the
rotor shaft to be installed at the top of the tower which allows the
turbine to be exposed to stronger winds.
• With the blades of the turbine being perpendicular to the wind, the
rotation of the blades can generate more power compared to the
vertical axis wind turbine.
• However, the construction of this type of turbine requires a heavy
support for the tower to support the weight of the blades, gearbox
and generator as well as utilizing a sizable crane to lift the
components to the top of the tower.
• Additional yaw control is needed for the horizontal axis wind
turbines in order to track the direction of the wind, to prevent
damaging the turbine.

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Up-wind and down-wind turbines
• According to the direction in which wind turbine accept
the wind, there are upwind and down wind types.
• Upwind type has its wind turbine in front of the wind
tower, while downwind wind tower has its wind turbine
at the back of it, and accepts wind with the back of the
blades.
• Usually, upwind turbines adopt direction adjustment
devices to keep the blades in the face of wind, while
downwind turbines exempt the direction device because
it can follow the wind automatically.
• But wind flow can blow back to the turbines in downwind
types, thus cause disturbance and retard the efficiency.
Given this reason, upwind type wind turbines are more
widely used.

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1. Horizontal axis using two aerodynamic
blades
• The rotor drives a generator through a step up gearbox.
• The blade rotor is usually designed to be oriented
downwind of the tower.
• The rotor blades are continuously flexed by unsteady
aerodynamic, gravitational and inertia loads, when the
machine is in operation.
• If the blades are made of metal, flexing reduces their
fatigue life which may cause serious damage to the wind
turbine.
• Because of the high cost of the blade rotors, more than
two blades are not recommended. Rotors with more
than two, say 3 or 4 blades would have slightly higher
power coefficient.

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2. Horizontal axis propeller type using single
blade
• A long blade is mounted on a rigid hub.
• Induction generator and gearbox are also shown.
• If extremely long blades (above say 60 m) are mounted
on rigid hub, large blade root bending moments may
occur due to tower shadow, gravity, and sudden shifts in
wind directions
• To reduce rotor cost, use low cost counter weight to
balance long blade centrifugally

Advantages
• Simple blade control
• Counter weight costs less than a second blade
Disadvantages:
• Vibrations due to aerodynamic torque
• Unconventional appearance

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3. Horizontal axis multi-bladed type
• The multi-blades are made from sheet metal or
aluminium.
• The rotors have high strength to weight ratios
• Good power coefficient
• High starting torque
• Simple, low cost

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4. Horizontal axis wind mill – Dutch type
• One of the oldest designs
• Blade surfaces are made from an array of wooden slats
which ‘feather’ at high wind speeds

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5. Sail type
• Recent origin
• The blade surfaces are made of cloth, nylon, or plastics
arranged as sailwings.
• Variation in number of sails used

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29
Lift-based vs Drag-based turbine
Lift propelled wind turbines have blades that
resemble wings you see on airplanes.
These blades move at right angles to the wind
direction, at a higher speed than the actual wind
speed.
They work with the wind, like a sail, instead of
against the wind. This is why these kind of turbines
are fundamentally more suitable for harvesting wind
energy.
Moreover, the blades cover only a fraction of the
rotor surface. This means much less material is
needed for the rotor.
Aside from the these advantages, the most
important feature of the lift propelled turbine is its
high efficiency. The maximum efficiency is 59%, also
called the Betz limit – this is the maximum power
that can be extracted from the wind in open flow.
Drag-based or air resistance wind turbines are propelled
directly by the wind, and the (vertical) rotor moves along
with it.
This means that it’s impossible for the turbine to rotate
faster than the wind. In a way, it works against the wind.
This results in a very low efficiency.
Additionally, the volume of material needed to build an
air resistance wind turbine is much higher than for a lift
turbine. More material has negative consequences for
performance, price and installation.
Both theoretical analyses and field tests have
consistently proven air resistance wind turbines have a
maximum efficiency of only 15%.
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Vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT)
• Vertical axis wind turbines are less affected by frequent wind
direction changes as compared to the horizontal axis wind
turbines due to the blades being rotated on the rotor shaft
perpendicular to the ground.
• With the blades and shaft installed in this way, the turbine does
not need to rotate to track wind direction.
• The shaft is mounted near ground level due to the difficulties of
mounting the shaft and its components on the tower.
• An advantage of being mounted at ground level is that
maintenance of the turbine is easier and can be installed at
locations such as rooftops.
• Disadvantages to this turbine installation is that the efficiency is
lower due to air drag and the lower wind speeds compared to
the higher wind speeds encountered at higher elevations.

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Vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) - Advantages

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1. Savonius turbine
• Savonius wind turbines are a type of vertical-axis wind turbine
(VAWT), used for converting the force of the wind into torque on a
rotating shaft.
• The Savonius turbine is one of the simplest turbines.
Aerodynamically, it is a drag-type device, consisting of two or three
scoops.
• Looking down on the rotor from above, a two-scoop machine might
resemble the letter "S" in cross section. Because of the curvature,
the scoops experience less drag when moving against the wind than
when moving with the wind.
• The differential drag causes the Savonius turbine to spin.
• Because they are drag-type devices, Savonius turbines extract much
less of the wind's power than other similarly-sized lift-type
turbines.
• In practice, much of the swept area of a Savonius rotor may be near
the ground if it has a short mount without an extended post,
making the overall energy extraction less effective due to the lower
wind speeds found at lower heights.
• They have several advantages over horizontal axis wind turbines,
notably,
✔ low noise levels,
✔ the ability to operate with low wind speeds and
✔ relative independence on the wind direction. A two scoop Savonius turbine

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1. Savonius turbine
Working:
• The Savonius wind turbine is a simple vertical axis device having a shape of half-cylindrical parts
attached to the opposite sides of a vertical shaft (for two-bladed arrangement) and operate on the
drag force, so it can’t rotate faster than the wind speed.
• As the wind blows into the structure and comes into contact with the opposite faced surfaces (one
convex and other concave), two differential drag forces are exerted on those two surfaces.
• The basic principle is based on the difference of the drag force between the convex and the concave
parts of the rotor blades when they rotate around a vertical shaft. Thus, drag force is the main
driving force of the Savonius rotor.

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1. Savonius turbine
Advantages
(1) Having a vertical axis, the Savonius turbine continues to work effectively even if the
wind changes direction.
(2) Because the Savonius design works well even at low wind speeds, there’s no need for
a tower or other expensive structure to hold it in place, greatly reducing the initial setup
cost.
(3) The device is quiet, easy to build, and relatively small.
(4) Because the turbine is close to the ground, maintenance is easy.

Disadvantages
The scoop system used to capture the wind’s energy is half as efficient as a conventional
turbine, resulting in less power generation.

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1. Savonius turbine

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2. Darrieus turbine
• The Darrieus wind turbine is a type of vertical axis wind
turbine (VAWT) used to generate electricity from wind
energy.
• The turbine consists of a number of curved aerofoil
blades mounted on a rotating shaft or framework.
• This design of the turbine was patented by Georges Jean
Marie Darrieus, a French aeronautical engineer; filing for
the patent on October 1, 1926.
• There are major difficulties in protecting the Darrieus
turbine from extreme wind conditions and in making it
self-starting.
• A Darrieus machine is a low torque and high-speed
device used to generate AC (alternating current).
Generally, Darrieus requires physical push so some
exterior power source is used to start rotating because
the initial torque is extremely low. This machine consists
of two blades that are vertically oriented and rotating
around a perpendicular shaft.
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2. Darrieus turbine
• Unlike the Savonius type, the Darrieus type is a lift-type VAWT. Instead of gathering the airstream
within cups, the turbines will drag around. Darrieus utilizes lift forces which are produced through
the airstream hitting aerofoils to make revolution.
• A Darrieus wind turbine spins many times than the wind hitting speed. Therefore, a Darrieus wind
turbine produces low torque as compared to a Savonius turbine however it turns very fast. So, this
turbine rotates very fast to generate electricity. This turbine generates centrifugal forces which are
extremely large & performs on the turbine blades.
• These turbines are not self-starting but it requires a motor which is small powered to begin the
revolution. Once it has sufficient speed, then the wind flows across the aerofoils starts to produce
torque & the rotor can be driven in the region of the wind. In the Darrieus turbine, two mini
Savonius rotors are placed on the shaft to start a revolution.
• The efficiency of a Savonius vertical axis wind turbine ranges from 10 % to 17 %, whereas the
Darrieus vertical axis wind turbine achieves 30 % to 40 %

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2. Darrieus turbine

Combined Savonius-Darrieus
turbine in Taiwan

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The power from the wind
• Wind possesses energy by virtue of its motion.
• Any device capable of slowing down the mass of moving air, like a sail or
propeller can extract part of the energy and convert it into useful work.
• The factors that determine the out put from a wind energy converter are:
✔ The wind speed
✔ The cross-section of wind swept by the rotor, and
✔ The overall conversion efficiency of the rotor, transmission system, generator or
pump
• Only around 60 % of the available energy in wind can be converted into
mechanical energy, but losses incurred in the gearbox, transmission system
and generator or pump could decrease overall turbine efficiency to 35 % or
less.

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The power from the wind - Derivation
Power from the wind = Energy per unit time
Kinetic energy of wind = ½ m v2
(m- mass of wind swept by rotor; v – velocity of wind)
Power = Kinetic energy of wind per unit time = ½ m’ v2
Amount of air passing in unit time , through an area A, with velocity v and
mass m, m’ = ρ A v
Now, Power = ½ ρ A v3 watts
Area of a turbine of rotor diameter D = π/4 D2
Available wind power, Pa = ½ ρ π/4 D2 v3 watts
Pa = 1/8 ρ π D2 v3 watts

Wind machines intended for generating substantial amounts of power should

have large rotors and be located in areas of high wind speeds.
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Performance of wind mills
The fraction of the free-flow wind power that can be extracted by a rotor is called the
power coefficient.

Maximum theoretical power coefficient = 0.593 = Betz coefficient

(It is the maximum fraction of the power in a wind stream that can be extracted).

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Modern wind energy generators
• The modern horizontal-axis wind turbine (HAWT) is designed
to provide energy on a commercial or utility level.
• HAWT generators constitute the overwhelming majority of
wind power generation throughout the world as they are
efficient, reliable and usually provide the best return on
investment.
• During the oil crisis of the 1970s, Denmark, a country then
exceedingly reliant on energy imports, motivated scientists
and engineers into developing new wind turbines. As
demand for this form of energy generation grew through the
1980s, the Danish began building ever-larger models,
resulting in the modern HAWT which often reaches a height
of 65 meters (212 feet) or more. The Danish were also
among the first to explore the concept of building coastal or
off-shore wind turbines.

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Modern wind energy generators
• Floating wind turbines consist of a HAWT mounted on a
floating platform that can be moved at will, allowing wind
energy to be harnessed from areas with a deep sea floor that
would be unsuitable for construction.
• They can be moved to improve wind yield, accommodate
fishing vessels or shipping routes, or even transported back
to the coast for upgrades or more complex maintenance tasks.
• Hywind, the first commercial floating wind farm was built in Hywind, Scotland
2017 on the coast of Scotland. Its 5 turbines provide a total of
30MW of green energy. Today, off-shore and floating HAWTs cost between
• Challlenge: transmission of energy back to the mainland. 3 to 5 times as much as a land-based tower. This is
exacerbated by the higher cost of maintenance
• In cases in which normal transmission of energy would be caused by their worse accessibility compared to
uneconomical, the energy they produce could be used in on-shore HWAT. On the other hand, these
different applications, such as power-to-gas applications, disadvantages are compensated by higher energy
producing hydrogen gas, reverse osmosis water desalination, output as the off-shore winds tend to be stronger
natural gas, LPG, alkylate / gasoline and so on. They can also and more consistent.
be used to provide energy for the artificial upwelling of
nutrient-rich deep ocean water to the surface, increasing the
yields of oceanic fisheries.
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Design parameters
• Wind turbine design is the process of defining the form and configuration of a wind turbine to
extract enerergy from the wind.
• An installation consists of
✔ the systems needed to capture the wind's energy,
✔ point the turbine into the wind,
✔ convert mechanical rotation into electrical power, and
✔ other systems to start, stop, and control the turbine.
• In 1919, German physicist Albert Betz showed that for a hypothetical ideal wind-energy extraction
machine, the fundamental laws of conservation of mass and energy allowed no more than 16/27
(59.3%) of the wind's kinetic energy to be captured. This Betz' law limit can be approached by
modern turbine designs which reach 70 to 80% of this theoretical limit.
• In addition to the blades, design of a complete wind power system must also address
✔ the hub,
✔ controls,
✔ generator,
✔ supporting structure and
✔ foundation.
✔ Turbines must also be integrated into power grids.
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Design parameters
The three main factors that influence power output are:

• wind speed,
• air density, and
• blade radius.

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Design parameters Pa = 1/8 ρ π D2 v3 watts
Wind speed
Higher wind speeds generate more power because stronger winds allow the
blades to rotate faster.
The relationship between wind speed and power for a typical wind turbine is
shown in the figure.
Turbines are designed to operate within a specific range of wind speeds. The
limits of the range are known as the cut-in speed and cut-out speed.
The cut-in speed is the point at which the wind turbine is able to generate power.
Between the cut-in speed and the rated speed, where the maximum output is
reached, the power output will increase cubically with wind speed. For example,
if wind speed doubles, the power output will increase 8 times. This cubic
relationship is what makes wind speed such an important factor for wind power.
This cubic dependence does cut out at the rated wind speed. This leads to the
relatively flat part of the curve, so the cubic dependence is during the speeds
below 15 m/s (54 km/h).
The cut-out speed is the point at which the turbine must be shut down to avoid
damage to the equipment.
The cut-in and cut-out speeds are related to the turbine design and size and are
decided on prior to construction

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Design parameters Pa = 1/8 ρ π D2 v3 watts
Air Density

Power output is related to the local air density, which is a function of

altitude, pressure, and temperature.
Dense air exerts more pressure on the rotors, which results in higher
power output.

Blade Design

Wind turbines are designed to maximize the rotor blade radius to

maximize power output.
Larger blades allow the turbine to capture more of the kinetic energy
of the wind by moving more air through the rotors.
However, larger blades require more space and higher wind speeds
to operate.
As a general rule, turbines are spaced out at four times the rotor
diameter. This distance is necessary to avoid interference between
turbines, which decreases the power output. The relative spacing
between wind turbines is visible in the figure.

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 Problems in wind mills
• Wind Reliability
Wind doesn’t generally blow reliably, and turbines usually function at about 30% capacity or so. In the event that the
weather is not going to support you, you may wind up without power (or at any rate you’ll need to depend on the electric
company to take care of you during those times). Serious storms or high winds may cause harm to your wind turbine,
particularly when they are struck by lightning.
• Wind Turbines Could Be Threat to Wildlife
The edges of wind turbines can actually be unsafe for wildlife, especially birds and other flying creatures that may be in the
area. There isn’t really a way to prevent this, but it’s definitely something that you want to make sure that you are aware of
being possible consequences that may come up as a result of it.
• Wind Turbines Could Lead to Noise and Visual Pollution
Wind turbines can be a total and complete pain to install and deal with on a regular basis. Wind turbines make a sound that
can be between 50 and 60 decibels, and if you have to put it next to your home. Some individuals believe that wind
turbines are ugly, so your neighbors may also complain about them.
While most people like how wind turbines look, few people like them but with NIMBY(“not in my backyard”) attitude, but
for the rest, wind turbines remain unattractive as they have a concern that it may tarnish the beauty of landscapes.

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 Problems in wind mills
• Are Expensive to Set Up
The manufacturing, installation, and maintenance of wind turbines require heavy upfront investments both in commercial
and residential applications. Wind systems can involve the transportation of large and heavy equipment, causing a large
temporarily disturbed area near the turbines. Erosion is another potential environmental problem that can stem from
construction projects.
• Cost Trade-off
The cost-competitiveness of wind power is highly debatable. Both utility-scale wind farms and small residential wind
turbines typically rely heavily on financial incentives. To give wind power a fair chance in the fierce competition against
already well-established energy sources such as fossil fuels and coal, financial incentives are crucial.
Wind turbines make an excellent alternative in some situations for a homeowner who wants to become an energy producer,
but it would require wind turbines about 10 kilowatts and $40,000 to $70,000 to become a net electricity producer.
• Safety of People at Risk
Severe storms and high winds can cause damage to the blades of the wind turbines. The malfunctioned blade can be a
safety hazard to the people working nearby. It may fall on them, causing life term physical disability or even death.

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 Problems in wind mills
• Wind Power Can Be Harnessed at Certain Locations Only
Wind energy can only be harnessed at certain locations where the speed of the wind is high. Since they are mostly set up in
remote areas, transmission lines have to be built to bring the power to the residential homes in the city, which requires
extra investment.
• Shadow Flicker (https://youtu.be/oW_3EmZdYss)
Shadow flicker occurs when the blades of the rotor cast a shadow as they turn. Research has shown the worst-case
conditions would affect, by way of light alteration, neighboring residents a total of 100 minutes per year, and only 20
minutes per year under normal circumstances. Designers of wind farms avoid placing turbines in locations where shadow
flicker would be a problem for any significant amount of time.
• Effect on the Environment
It obliges a ton of open area to set up wind turbines and chopping down trees kind of eliminates the whole green thing that
you’re trying to do with them. Places that may be good for it may be difficult to get to and use. Consistency with city codes
and mandates may be irksome when you are attempting to install a wind turbine. Sometimes, height confinements may
keep you from installing one on your property as well.

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 Applications of wind energy
• Wind energy can be used to power vehicles
In the course of your research, you must have run across wind-powered vehicles. If you haven’t, then know that
there are vehicles powered chiefly by the wind. A typical example is the widely documented wind-powered car
that completed a 3100-mile journey through Australia.
Although it wasn’t totally powered by wind, it’s a perfect example of how vehicles can be moved by alternative
sources of energy. Precisely, the car used a combination of batteries, wind, and kite. For the entire journey, the
car used an estimated $10 to $15 of energy, which underlines the cost-effective nature of wind energy.
• Excellent source of power
Electricity is the main source of energy worldwide. Due to the abundance of electricity, almost every device
produced is powered by electricity. The traditional way of electricity generation is the use of fossil fuels such as
oil, natural gas, and coal. These fossil fuels emit greenhouse gasses and other harmful substances that pollute
the environment.
Wind energy provides a reprieve from the dangerous gasses emitted to the atmosphere. The wind energy is
captured using strategically located wind turbines. This can be carried out on a massive scale, for example, wind
turbines installed on wind farms. It can be a small scale, for instance, wind turbines installed by individuals to
produce energy for home use.
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 Applications of wind energy
• Sailing Cargo ships
A typical example of the use of wind energy is the cargo ships developed by Cargill, Inc., an American corporation that is
committed to making the world grow by innovating cutting-edge technologies. Cargill has scaled up and fully embraced the
idea of installing a huge kite on one of its cargo ships to harness wind power.
The project is geared towards cutting back on the consumption of fuel and carbon dioxide emissions. We all know that wind
power has been used over the centuries to power sailing and smaller vessels, but innovators have taken it up a notch to
assist drive cargo ships.
• Wind energy can be used in sports
For countless years, wind power has been utilized to power some breathtaking sports such as windsurfing, sailing, kite flying,
hang-gliding, kitesurfing, wind skiing, Para-sailing, and much more.
• Wind power can be used to pump water
Utilizing wind power to pump water from underground is not a new technology. It has been used since ancient times. It’s a
cheap alternative for some countries and communities. Essentially, there are no extraordinary costs involved compared to
using huge pumping tracks powered by fossil fuel sources of energy.
With many people shifting to green lifestyles and the need to live in areas with fresh air devoid of greenhouse gases, wind
energy is set to dominate the energy sector in the years to come. It’s clean, renewable, and cheap once wind harnessing
technologies are in place.
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Wind power farms
• Wind farms are clusters of wind turbines that produce large amounts of electricity.
• A wind farm usually has many turbines scattered over a large area.
• One of the United States' largest wind farms is the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center in Texas,
which at the end of 2020, had 422 wind turbines spread over about 47,000 acres. The project has a
combined electricity generating capacity of about 735 megawatts (or 735,000 kilowatts).

Horizontal-axis wind turbines on a wind farm

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 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_farm#Onshore
Modern wind farms
Onshore wind farms: Offshore wind farms:
Onshore turbine installations in hilly or mountainous regions tend
to be on ridges generally three kilometres or more inland from the Offshore wind turbines turbines are less obtrusive than turbines
nearest shoreline. on land, as their apparent size and noise is mitigated by distance.
This is done to exploit the topographic acceleration as the wind
accelerates over a ridge. Because water has less surface roughness than land (especially
deeper water), the average wind speed is usually considerably
The additional wind speeds gained in this way can increase energy higher over open water.
produced because more wind goes through the turbines.
The exact position of each turbine matters, because a difference of Capacity factors (utilisation rates) are considerably higher than
30 metre could potentially double output. This careful placement is for onshore locations.
referred to as 'micro-siting'.

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Wind power in India
• As of 1 July 2022, the total installed wind
power capacity was 40.788 GW, the fourth
largest installed wind power capacity in the
world.
• Wind power accounts nearly 8.5% of India's
total installed power generation capacity,
and it generates 1.6% of the country's
power.

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Wind power in Tamil Nadu
• Tamil Nadu is a leader in Wind Power in India.
• Tamil Nadu's wind production capacity was around 24% of India's total in 2021.
• The Government of Tamil Nadu realized the importance and need for renewable energy, and set
up a separate Agency, as registered society, called the Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency
(TEDA) as early as 1985.
• In Muppandal windfarm the total capacity is 1500 MW, the largest wind power plant in India.

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Further reading
• https://www.energy.gov/articles/how-wind-turbine-works
• Blade design:
https://www.alternative-energy-tutorials.com/wind-energy/wind-turbine-blade-design.html
• https://www.iberdrola.com/sustainability/wind-turbines-blades

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On hills, one may also experience that wind speeds are higher
than in the surrounding area. Once again, this is due to the fact
that the wind becomes compressed on the windy side of the
hill, and once the air reaches the ridge it can expand again as its
soars down into the low pressure area on the lee side of the
hill.

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