Wind is a form of solar energy caused by a combination of three concurrent events:
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The sun unevenly heating the atmosphere
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Irregularities of the earth's surface
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The rotation of the earth.
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Wind flow patterns and speeds vary greatly across the United States and are modified by bodies of water, vegetation, and differences in terrain. Humans use this wind flow, or motion energy, for many purposes: sailing, flying a kite, and even generating electricity.
The terms "wind energy" and "wind power" both describe the process by which the wind is used to generate mechanical power or electricity. This mechanical power can be used for specific tasks (such as grinding grain or pumping water) or a generator can convert this mechanical power into electricity.
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A wind turbine turns wind energy into electricity using the aerodynamic force from the rotor blades, which work like an airplane wing or helicopter rotor blade. When wind flows across the blade, the air pressure on one side of the blade decreases. The difference in air pressure across the two sides of the blade creates both lift and drag. The force of the lift is stronger than the drag and this causes the rotor to spin. The rotor connects to the generator, either directly (if it’s a direct drive turbine) or through a shaft and a series of gears (a gearbox) that speed up the rotation and allow for a physically smaller generator. This translation of aerodynamic force to rotation of a generator creates electricity.
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Types of Wind Turbines
The majority of wind turbines fall into two basic types:
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Horizontal-Axis Turbines
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Vertical-Axis Turbines
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Applications of Wind Turbines
Modern wind turbines can be categorized by where they are installed and how they are connected to the grid:
Land-Base Wind
Land-based wind turbines range in size from 100 kilowatts to as large as several megawatts.
Larger wind turbines are more cost effective and are grouped together into wind plants, which provide bulk power to the electrical grid.
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OFFSHORE WIND
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Offshore wind turbines tend to be massive, and taller than the Statue of Liberty.
They do not have the same transportation challenges of land-based wind installations, as the large components can be transported on ships instead of on roads.
These turbines are able to capture powerful ocean winds and generate vast amounts of energy.
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DISTRIBUTED WIND
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When wind turbines of any size are installed on the "customer" side of the electric meter, or are installed at or near the place where the energy they produce will be used, they're called "distributed wind.
Many turbines used in distributed applications are small wind turbines. Single small wind turbines—below 100 kilowatts—are typically used for residential, agricultural, and small commercial and industrial applications.
Small turbines can be used in hybrid energy systems with other distributed energy resources, such as microgrids powered by diesel generators, batteries, and photovoltaics.
These systems are called hybrid wind systems and are typically used in remote, off-grid locations( where a connection to the utility grid is not available) and are becoming more common in grid-connected applications for resiliency.
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