The future of electricity is in wind power. No one would ever have thought that soft breezes on a warm summers day would produce essential wind energy. Energy that can be used to light up the world.
The benefits of wind power have been known to man for centuries. Sail boating would be impossible without the strength of the wind in her sails to propel here forward in the water. Farmers of old would make use of a single windmill to bring forth water from beneath the ground to aid in his crop growth. Wheat was once ground into flour as the wind alone would propel a large grindstone.
The power of wind once harvested, can easily produce plentiful supplies of electricity. Think of a wind turbine along the lines of a child’s pinwheel. As the air propels the toy, so the air propels the large blades of a turbine. These blades sit on a hub and rotate. The hub is then connected to a shaft that goes into a transmission box. This transmission will cause a generator to turn and electricity is produced. Winds that are too strong could actually harm the blades of these turbines, so an automatic braking system has been introduced,
One single turbine can generate enough power to completely power a home or small school. These models are adjusted in size to meet the needs required, but as mans search for new power sources increases, wind turbines located in groupings of hundreds or more are referred to as wind farms. Met with much controversy due to their looks and mans concern over possible side effects, wind turbines are beginning to take their place in U. S. Society.
Areas with known windy conditions are the ultimate placement of these turbines. How efficient the turbines are depends directly on the amount of wind there is to operate them. If a single turbine can produce a kilo, or 100 watts, of electricity, it can light ten 100 watt bulbs. It follows then that the production of 300 kilowatts would light three thousand 100 watt bulbs. To continue to multiply this number by the thousands of turbines producing electricity is just short of phenomenal.
In the state of California alone, there were 11,368 wind turbines in 1999. Located in the windiest areas, the sate is home to three wind farms. You can find the locations in Altamont Pass, San Gorgonio Pass, and Palm Springs. These three wind farms are capable of lighting up the entire city of San Francisco. Now located in areas all over the United States, California still holds the distinction of the highest amount of electricity produced. Joining us in the search of producing electricity through the use of wind is Germany and Denmark.
The distribution of this amassed power is carried out with the use of transformers. Electricity can be sent to far away sites through power lines. The arguments in regard to turbine use of wind energy continues today. Regardless of this controversy, more and more of these turbines can be seen as we travel though the countryside. An immense amount of progress has been made with the provision of electric power.
The power of the wind has worked for mankind for many centuries. The more wind there is, the more electricity can be made. In excess of 11,000 turbines are presently being used, so one can imagine the number at each site. Residential Wind Turbines