How Does Wind Power Work

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How Does Wind Power Work is explained in this easy to understand demonstration and in simple language how wind power actually works. Great and useful high-level information for the excited newcomer to wind power.

 

How Does Wind Power Work

Before being able to generate wind power electricity, you need of course a sufficient resource of wind, but how is wind actually created?

Typically, this begins with the sun’s radiation, which is absorbed differently on the earth’s surface. The earth’s surface is heated differently because of scenarios like cloud cover, mountains, valleys, water bodies, vegetation and desert lands.

As a result of this uneven heating, there are bound to be earth surfaces that vary a lot in temperature. Air on surfaces with higher temperatures

will then begin to rise because it is lighter (less dense). As the air rises, it creates low atmospheric pressure. Air on surfaces with cooler temperatures sink (do not rise). The sinking creates higher atmospheric pressure. This behaviour or warm gases or liquids moving upward and being replaced by cooler particles is called Convection. The energy moving during convection is called convectional current.

Important: Hot air rises and cool air sinks. This brings about spatial differences in atmospheric pressure, caused by uneven heating.

low pressure and high pressure How Does Wind Power Work

In the diagram above, notice how cool air falls, resulting in high pressure and moving towards regions of low pressure. Anywhere and each time there are differences in atmospheric (air) pressure, there will be winds because air will move from the high-pressure area to the low-pressure area. It also means that winds may be even stronger where the difference in the air pressure is greater. A good example is how a tropical depression forms, where warm air over hot tropical waters rise and high-pressure cold air quickly rushing to fill the space. Now we can move onto…

How Does Wind Power Work

1.) Modern wind turbines start generating electricity at a wind speed of approximately 9mph. As wind speed increases so do electrical output. At storm force over 55mph, they cut out to prevent damage to the turbine

2.) A Yaw Drive turns the turbine to face directly into the wind. The wind then turns the wind-turbine blades causing the rotor to turn.

3.) The rotor turns a shaft and this speed is increased by a gearbox. This turns a generator, which uses magnetic fields to convert the rotational energy into electricity.

4.) The electricity generated, passes down through the cables inside the tower to a transformer which converts the low voltage to high voltage.

5.) Clean electricity is distributed, via the grid, to homes, businesses and public buildings.

wind power news 4 How Does Wind Power Work