Posts Tagged Mechanical Energy

Designing a Home Wind Turbine

Posted by outside_voices on Wednesday, 14 April, 2010

A home wind turbine is device that converts wind energy into mechanical energy which is later converted into usable electricity.

It typically consists of the following parts:

• The blades – A wind turbine can consist of any number of blades from 4 to 20. Some special wind turbines have higher number of blades.

• The tower – The tower holds the rotating blades high up in the air so that the winds rotate them.

• The shaft – The shaft is responsible for joining the blades with the tower and for the smooth rotation of the blades.

• The generator – These home wind generators are what that generate electricity from the mechanical energy. It also stores power for future usage.

• The base: The base of the home wind turbine keeps it grounded to the earth.

There are many factors that affect the design of a home wind turbine and they are:

• Wind speed: The wind speed can be accurately measured with the help of an anemometer. It is not possible to determine the right kind of wind turbine without knowing the accurate wind speed.

• Wind direction: For designing a wind turbine, it is also important to know the direction from which the wind flows most of the time.

• Change in wind speed: Apart from the constant speed of mind, it is important that you know how the wind changes its speed.

• Change of wind direction: The direction of wind turbine not be constant, so it important to note the way it changes its direction.

• Obstructions on the site: It is best to install a wind turbine at a place without many obstructions. Look out for existing and potential structures that may affect the performance of your wind turbine.

• Wind turbulence: The movement of the wind is not always predictable. However, it is a great idea to understand the patter of wind turbulence in your site.

• Distance of wind activity from the ground: The height of the tower is dependent on the height of which the wind is active.

The designs of home wind turbines vary in the following measures:

• The number of blades
• Shape of the blades
• The height of the tower
• Types of generators
• The distance of the installation spot from the ground
• Distance between the tower and the generator

Install a Wind Turbine To Save On Electricity

Posted by outside_voices on Thursday, 18 March, 2010

Many of the changes that have been brought in the last century to our planet are irreversible, but what we can and must do is to ensure that these changes won't cause any more ecological disasters to Earth.

We can start by switching to alternative energies, and one of the most popular ones is using the wind to generate electricity. Let’s take a look at why you should learn how to build your own wind turbine and use it as a source of energy. All of us know that wind turbines have the ability to turn wind energy into mechanical energy and electricity.

Since the 9th century, farmers have begun using wind turbines for grain grinding, threshing, land drainage as well as water supply. Unfortunately but inevitably, starting with the industrial revolution, wind power generators were replaced by the use of steam and internal combustion engines.

Not long after, people realized that this whole evolution thing is going in the wrong way, and they decided to go back to the old trend of using wind energy as a type of ecological energy.

However, not everyone knows how to build wind turbine. The reason is because it isn’t really practical to build a wind turbine in heavily populated areas. Alternatively, for a rural community, this would be very much suitable.

Local authorities should make bigger efforts in gaining founds to develop and implement home wind generators, to supply most of the energy the community uses. There are states like California, for whom going green is one of the priorities, and they should be a model for the rest of the world. For instance, they have workshops to teach farmers how to build wind turbine. They are also loans provided to help them build a wind turbine.

For an individual to learn how to build wind turbine isn't really a difficult task as well. There are actually some instructional guides online that provides you with accurate information on the materials you need plus step-by-step instructions to get you started.