March 2013 ~ Wind Energy

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Wind energy jobs

The Wind Energy Jobs category is the second fastest growing in the green energy generation segment, and include many sub-categories, and a multitude of job types. Examples of wind energy sub-categories include: Research and development jobs in wind turbine blade and rotor technology; these jobs often require a higher-education degree (bachelor's or master's). Great examples of employers in this category include Vestas and Boulder Windpower Wind turbine manufacturing jobs. Employers in this...

Small wind turbines and basic components

3:53 PM No Comments

Wind turbines used to generate electricity come in a wide variety of sizes. Large wind turbines, which are usually installed in clusters called wind farms, can generate large amounts of electricity. Large wind turbines may even produce hundreds of megawatts (MW) of electricity - enough to power hundreds of homes. Small wind turbines which are generally defined as producing no more than 100 kW of electricity, are designed to be installed at homes, farms and small businesses either as a source...

Vestas Wind Turbine Crash

3:17 PM 1 Comment

A small wind farm in County Donegal, Ireland, has been closed down after one its Vestas V52 turbines collapsed in high winds.Vestas has stopped production of the V52. Vestas V52 In a statement, Vestas confirmed the incident occurred on Friday afternoon. It said the wind speeds at the time were around 90 kilometres per hour and an investigation is under way into the causes of the incident. The project is owned by Irish utility Energia. A spokesman said: "Vestas takes safety extremely seriously....

Wind Generator

6:17 PM 1 Comment

The wind turbine generator converts mechanical energy to electrical energy.Wind turbine generators are a bit unusual, compared to other generating units you ordinarily find attached to the electrical grid. One reason is that the generator has to work with a power source (the wind turbine rotor) which supplies very fluctuating mechanical power (torque).These pages assumes that you are familiar with the basics of electricity, electromagnetism, and in particular alternating current. If any of the...

Wind Turbines and Power Quality Issues

11:55 AM 1 Comment

The buyer of a wind turbine does not need to concern himself with local technical regulations for wind turbines and other equipment connected to the electrical grid. This responsibility is generally left to the turbine manufacturer and the local power company. For the people who are technically minded, we go into some of the electro-technical issues involved in connecting a turbine to the grid on this page. Power quality The term "power quality" refers to the voltage stability, frequency stability,...

Interesting Wind Energy Facts

8:05 PM 1 Comment

1. At the current growth rate, U.S. wind energy developers install two new wind farms per week.2. Wind mills have been in use since 2000 B.C. and were first developed in China and Persia.3. Wind power is currently the fastest-growing source of electricity production in the world.4. Google has invested $5 billion in a new underwater transmission line to connect offshore wind farms in the Atlantic Ocean with 1.9 million households on the East Coast. Offshore wind farm 5. A single wind turbine...

Size of Wind Turbine

7:39 PM No Comments

Following figure shows trends by year of the typical largest turbine sizes targeted for mainstream commercial production. Megawatt turbines existed in the 1980s but almost all were research prototypes. An exception was the Howden 1 MW design (erected at Richborough in the UK), a production prototype, which was not replicated due to Howden withdrawing from the wind business in 1988. Although there is much more active consideration of larger designs than indicated in figure, no larger turbines have...

Wind Turbine Costs

7:21 PM No Comments

Wind turbines, including the costs associated with blades, towers, transportation and installation, constitute the largest cost component of a wind farm, typically accounting for around 75% of the capital cost. Wind turbines tend to be type-certified for clearly defined external conditions. This certification is Source: Wind Directions, January/February 2007 requested by investors and insurance companies, and states that wind turbines will be secure and fit for their purpose for their intended...

Wind Energy

7:38 PM 1 Comment

A wind turbine is a machine made up of two or three propeller-like blades called the rotor. The rotor is attached to the top of a tall tower. As the wind blows it spins the rotor. As the rotor spins the energy of the movement of the propellers gives power to a generator. There are some magnets and a lot of copper wire inside the generator that make electricity. Wind farm Because winds are stronger higher up off the ground, wind turbine towers are about 30 meters tall to allow the...

Wind Turbine Grid Connection

4:03 PM 1 Comment

The wind turbines generate power by rotating a permanent magnet generator which generates three phase AC at the frequency of the turbine's rotation. The AC power from the generator is not only the wrong voltage to be connected to the local power grid, but also, as the wind speed changes so does the rotational speed of the turbine, and therefore the frequency of the power generated. The power from the generator therefore needs to be converted to DC and then fed into a special electronic device...

Lightning Protection of Wind Turbines

4:01 PM 1 Comment

With the movement toward green energy, we all have to be thinking about new ways to do things, and wind turbine lighting protection is becoming a big concern. After all, any time you have a tall object sticking up high in the air and standing all by itself, lightning is going to strike it at some point. It is simply a matter of when. But there are some steps you can take to protect your wind turbine from lightning. Surge protection is essential when it comes to wind turbine lightning...

Sizing Up Wind Energy and Transportation

6:24 PM No Comments

One of the most popular trends in sustainable living is to go small: Live in a small house. Drive a small car. Have a small carbon footprint. So it seems contradictory that by going big—really big—energy equipment can become better for the environment. But that's the case with wind turbines, according to a new study by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. Over the past 30 years, wind turbines have more than quadrupled in size. The blade diameter of today's models...

Germany's Wind Energy Potential

6:54 PM No Comments

Most of Germany’s pro-Energiewende voices think that Germany will far exceed its 2020 target of 35% clean energy. The Heinrich Böll Foundation, a Green think tank, is definitely among them. It argues that Germany could — with the right policies — go 100% renewable by 2050. But for Germany to do it, argues the report "A European Union for Renewable Energy," there has to be greatly improved cooperation. The EU targets, road maps, and action plans are steps in the right direction, but...