Using Wind Turbines as a Renewable Energy Source
Wind turbines are a great option for some people who want to invest in a renewable energy source. Before you buy a wind turbine for your house or business or decide to invest in a full blown wind farm, you need to know a little bit about wind turbines and how they work. Granted, how a wind turbine works is a fairly easy concept to understand. The wind blows causing the propeller or rotor blades to turn. This causes the shaft, in the middle, to turn as well, and it starts generating rotational energy. This energy powers a generator, which creates electricity. This electricity travels down the tower through electrical wires. It can either be stored in a battery or wired directly into a house or other building.
While wind turbines can be an efficient way to generate renewable energy, they are more location dependent than other forms of renewable energy like solar panels, for example. This means that if you do not live in a very windy area, you might not see a lot of benefit from using one of these turbines. In general, you will want your average wind speed to be about twenty-five kph. While you can still generate power for residential applications in areas with lower wind speeds, this is the speed that is recommended for wind farms. For example, many wind farms located in the United Kingdom are in the Cornwall area or in Wales where average wind speeds are relatively high.
When you are deciding which wind turbine to buy for your house or business (one or two turbines) you will want to look at the kilowatt rating. This is the maximum amount of electricity that the turbine will be able to produce. The important thing to keep in mind, however, is that it will not be running at the maximum at all times.
The Two Main Types of Wind Turbines
Most people are familiar with the horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWT) because these turbines are shaped like traditional wind mills. The most common form today is a tall tower with three rotor blades. These are often used in large scale wind farms. Vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT) are less common and smaller. They are often used by homeowners and business owners because they are smaller and can be installed on rooftops in some situations.
Whether you want a small residential wind turbine or you want to install a small to medium scale wind farm, you can receive money from the government. This is called the feed in tariff, and you receive money for the energy that your wind turbine produces as long as your system produces less than five megawatts. The generation tariff is the money that you receive for the power that you generate, and if your system is large enough you will also receive money from the export tariff when you “export” power to the grid. Best of all this income is tax free, and it is guaranteed for twenty years. The government has taken steps to make renewable energy more accessible, now it is your turn to make your world a better place.
