Producing electricity from wind (or water) is all about converting energy from one type to another. Perhaps you've always wondered - how does wind power work. This article discusses the process of transforming wind energy and it into electricity.
Did you know that wind power comes from the sun? That's right, the process of making electricity from wind starts with the sun. The sun warms land masses. Some of the radiant heat changes air temperatures around the land. Hotter air is lighter than cooler air. As the warmer air begins to rise suddenly, cooler air rushes in to fill the space the hot air left behind. All this motion creates what we know as wind.
Air Power Tool
If you find it difficult to imagine these rapidly drifting gas particles as having enough power to move the windmill blades, think about tornadoes and hurricanes. The force of the wind in a tornado will easily move houses and livestock, so of course it will move windmill blades.
That is right, wind is nothing but drifting gas particles. Think of the wind as fluid. As with water, the resulting energy from the motion of the air (or gas particles) can be captured to generate electricity.
Now that we understand "what wind is" let's look at the question, "How does wind power work?"
First, you need to understand the anatomy of a windmill. The basic parts include the blades, the shaft, and most importantly, the generator.
A windmill uses the same principle as the turbines in a hydroelectric dam. The kinetic energy of the fast moving air is captured in the wind turbine blades.
The blades catch the motion of the wind. Much like a sailboat; when air pushes on the sail of the boat, it transfers its energy to the sailboat. The same happens when air meets resistance in the blades of the wind turbine. That motion rotates the shaft, transferring the energy to the next part of the windmill, the generator. The generator turns the kinetic energy into electricity.
The generator uses electromagnetic induction to create electrical voltage. Basically, voltage is electrical pressure. It drives electricity from one point to another, generally using magnets and a conductor. The magnets surround the conductor and rotate around it. When the magnets rotate, they create voltage in the conductor.
So when the blades turn the shaft, the shaft turns the group of magnets, which creates voltage in the conductor. Then that voltage forces the electrical current out into the grid for delivery to your home, and that my friends in a fairly low tech way answer the question, "How does wind power work?"