Table of Contents
What devices are used for wind turbines?
These turbines have the main rotor shaft and electrical generator at the top of a tower, and must be pointed into the wind. Small turbines are pointed by a simple wind vane, while large turbines generally use a wind sensor coupled with a yaw system.
What is a wind turbine connected to?
Wind turbines capture the kinetic energy in wind and convert it into electrical power. Large blades on the turbine rotor are connected to an electrical generator via a shaft and a series of gears. Wind blowing past the blades causes the shaft to rotate.
How does a generator in a wind turbine work?
In a turbine generator, a moving fluid—water, steam, combustion gases, or air—pushes a series of blades mounted on a rotor shaft. The force of the fluid on the blades spins/rotates the rotor shaft of a generator. The generator, in turn, converts the mechanical (kinetic) energy of the rotor to electrical energy.
How do wind turbine generators work?
Wind turbines work on a simple principle: instead of using electricity to make wind—like a fan—wind turbines use wind to make electricity. Wind turns the propeller-like blades of a turbine around a rotor, which spins a generator, which creates electricity.
Can I install my own wind turbine?
It is, in theory, possible to assemble and install your own domestic wind turbine system. It is even possible to buy a ‘microwind’ (less than 1kW output) turbine over the counter from hardware stores. For larger pole-mounted systems it is not advisable to attempt to install the turbines yourself.
Do wind turbines need inverters?
For most small-scale do-it-yourself power generation (like what folks are doing with WindyNation’s products), the power coming out of your wind turbine or solar array is DC power. In order to use this power with normal household appliances and lights, you need an inverter to invert the current to produce AC power.
Are wind generators AC or DC?
For low maintenance and long life, wind turbines use AC machines; specifically, the synchronous, synchronous permanent magnet, or induction generators. For what it’s worth, the generator’s variable frequency AC signal is typically rectified to DC before being converted back to fixed frequency AC.
What are turbine generators?