Exploring Wind Energy

What Makes Wind

Global Wind Patterns
 History of Wind Energy

5000 BC 500-900 AD 1300 AD 1850s Late 1880s

Sailboats used on First windmills First horizontal- Daniel Halladay and Thomas O. Perry
the Nile indicate developed in axis John Burnham build conducted 5,000
the power of wind Persia windmills in Halladay Windmill; wind experiments;
Europe start US Wind starts Aermotor
Engine Company Company

1888 Early 1900s 1941 1979

Charles F. Brush Windmills in CA In VT, Grandpa’s First wind turbine
used windmill to pumped saltwater Knob turbine rated over 1 MW
generate electricity to evaporate ponds supplies power to began operating
in Cleveland, OH town during WWII

1985 1993 2004 2011

CA wind capacity US WindPower developed Electricity from Wind power provided
exceeded 1,000 MW first commercial variable-speed wind generation over 12% of renewable
wind turbine costs 3 to 4.5 cents per energy used in US
kWh
 Why Wind Energy?

o Clean, zero emissions

- NOx, SO2, CO, CO2
- Air quality, water quality
- Climate change
o Reduce fossil fuel dependence
- Energy independence
- Domestic energy—national security
o Renewable
- No fuel-price volatility
 Why Such Growth?
…costs are low!

• Increased Turbine Size

• R&D Advances
• Manufacturing Improvements

1979 2000 2004 2011

40 cents/kWh 4-6 cents/kWh 3-4.5 cents/kWh Less than 5
cents/kWh
Modern Wind Turbines
Turbines can be categorized into two classes
based on the orientation of the rotor.
The NEED Project 2014
 Vertical-Axis Turbines

Advantages Disadvantages
o Omni-directional o Rotors generally near ground
- accepts wind from any where wind is poorer
direction o Centrifugal force stresses
o Components can be blades
o Poor self-starting capabilities
mounted at ground level
o Requires support at top of
- ease of service turbine rotor
- lighter weight towers o Requires entire rotor to be
o Can theoretically use less removed to replace bearings
materials to capture the o Overall poor performance and
same amount of wind reliability
Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbines

Small (<10 kW) Intermediate(10-250 kW)

oVillage Power
oHomes
oHybrid Systems
oFarms
oDistributed Power
oRemote Applications
(e.g., water pumping,
Telecom sites, ice making)

Large (250 kW-2+ MW)

oCentral Station Wind Farms
oDistributed Power
oSchools
 Large Wind Turbines

 Common Utility-Scale
Turbines

o 328’ base to blade

o Each blade is 112’
o 200 tons total
o Foundation 20’ deep
o Rated at 1.5-2 megawatts
o Supply about 500 homes
Wind Turbine Components
How a Wind Turbine Operates

The NEED Project 2014

Installation of Wind Turbines

The NEED Project 2014

Wind Turbine Perspective

Workers Blade
112’ long

Nacelle
56 tons

Tower
3 sections

The NEED Project 2014

Wind Farms
Offshore Wind Farms
 Potential Impacts and Issues

 Property Values
 Noise
 Visual Impact
 Land Use
 Wildlife Impact

Properly siting a wind turbine can mitigate many of these issues.

Impacts of Wind Power: Noise

The NEED Project 2014

Wildlife Impacts