There is a growing demand for environmentally friendly forms of energy in the contemporary world. As such, there is a great emphasis on renewable and environmentally friendly energy. Wind energy is an example of such environmentally clean and renewable source of energy. This is a readily available source of energy that is derived from wind power. Wind energy is generated from wind. Given the availability of wind in several places, it is used in moving turbines that ultimately generate energy in a clean an environmentally friendly way.
The moving wind possesses kinetic energy that can be converted both to mechanical energy as well as kinetic energy. The conversion of wind energy into mechanical energy is used in equipment such as grinders and lifting equipment. In converting wind into mechanical energy particularly in grinders, the moving wing is used to move large blade like turbines. These turbines are connected to a central shaft within a grinder that that moves when the turbines are moved by wind (Reichenberg Johnsson & Odenberger, 2013). Consequently, the shaft moves the grinder and the grinding blades which in turn grinds. While the application of wind energy in the development of mechanical energy is employed, a substantive fraction of wind energy is normally converted into electric energy. In the process of converting the wind energy into electric energy, the blade-like turbines are strategically raised above the ground and located in the direction of the wind. They are always located in areas where strong winds can move the heavy turbines (Bussel, 2013). The structure of their turbines is such that they resemble large blades that extend to increase the surface area over which the wind excerpts force as it moves. They are further arranged in an overlapping way in order for the wind force to have a greater impact on them as it moves. The turbines are then connected to a central shaft made of an electric conducting material. This shaft is positioned perpendicular to the direction of a very strong magnetic field and connected to electrical cables that are equally perpendicular to the direction of both the magnetic field and the direction of motion of the central shaft.
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The movement of the turbines in effect moves the central shaft at a speed that corresponds to the speed of the turbines. The movement of the shaft that is perpendicular to the direction of the magnetic field results into the generation of electricity. The generation of electricity is based on the principle that when an electric conductor is placed within a magnetic field and moves in a direction perpendicular to the magnetic field, an electric current is generated. The current flows in a direction that is perpendicular to both the direction of the magnetic field as well as the direction of motion of the rotating electric conductor (Bussel, 2013). This system generates an alternating electric current that can then be converted into a direct current. The current is then fed into an electric grid and transported to different places of use.
Fig: Example of a wind farm. Source ( https://www.landmarkdividend.com/wind-turbine-lease-wind-farms/)
Wind turbines are always grouped to generate electricity as a single power plant within a given region. The turbines within that region generate electricity that is harnessed collectively in a given region and fed into the power grid as one source of power. This bulk power is then distributed to users just like the conventional hydrological power generation plants. The sizes of turbines vary from one to another. The larger turbines move faster and hence generate high amounts of electricity compared to the smaller turbines. The largest turbines known in the world extends to the size as large as a football field. This single turbine produces electricity that can be utilized in more than 1400 homes (Ragheb, 2017). Besides, the commercial turbines that are used in the production of electricity in power plants; there are smaller turbines that can be installed in homes to provide power to individual private homes. The advantage of energy generated from wind turbines is that such energy is environmentally friendly (Ragheb, 2017). Moreover, the production of such energy is cost-effective making it affordable to many people.
References
Bussel, G. J. (2013). Electricity Generation electricity generation with Small Wind Turbines wind turbine. Renewable Energy Systems, 14 (23): 696-713.
Ragheb, M. (2017). Economics of wind power generation. Wind Energy Engineering, 7 (12): 537-555.
Reichenberg, L., Johnsson, F., & Odenberger, M. (2013). Dampening variations in wind power generation-the effect of optimizing geographic location of generating sites. Wind Energy, 17 (11): 1631-1643.
