How to Use Wind Power For My House?

By Mark Peterson

Many people are frustrated by the increasing electricity bill in their homes. The fact is that the price of gas and electricity is high and it is not possible to lower the prices. As a normal person, you would like to save your electricity bill and use that money on something that is really useful for you.

The good news for everyone is that you can use the non-polluting, solar energy to supply power for your home. Solar power for my house - if this is what you are thinking about, read on.

There are various advantages if you use solar power for providing power for your house. Solar power for my house becomes simple if you have a guide telling you how to install and utilize the power. Since sun is a renewable source that can deplete only after millions of years, it is an excellent alternate source of energy. The present world is using depleting resources that are decreasing because of extensive usage. When the supply decreases with respect to demand, then the price will automatically increase.

If you are looking for solar power for my house, be happy that installation can be done by yourself and it requires little time and money. If you have some space in the terrace, then you easily install solar power plant.

When compared to the savings on electricity and gas, this initial investment is negligible. With a few hundred dollars, you can save thousands of dollars in the future. To protect the environment, everyone should seriously consider the motto 'solar power for my house'.

Many people save money on electricity by using solar power. Power your house with solar energy and build your own solar power kit with less than 200$. Best guide reviewed.

Best guide to start using solar energy and make your own solar power generator.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_Peterson

Inside the Wind Turbine

Anemometer:

Measures the wind speed and transmits wind speed data to the controller.

Blades:

Most turbines have either two or three blades. Wind blowing over the blades causes the blades to "lift" and rotate.

Brake:

A disc brake, which can be applied mechanically, electrically, or hydraulically to stop the rotor in emergencies.

Controller:

The controller starts up the machine at wind speeds of about 8 to 16 miles per hour (mph) and shuts off the machine at about 55 mph. Turbines do not operate at wind speeds above about 55 mph because they might be damaged by the high winds.

Gear box:

Gears connect the low-speed shaft to the high-speed shaft and increase the rotational speeds from about 30 to 60 rotations per minute (rpm) to about 1000 to 1800 rpm, the rotational speed required by most generators to produce electricity. The gear box is a costly (and heavy) part of the wind turbine and engineers are exploring "direct-drive" generators that operate at lower rotational speeds and don't need gear boxes.

Generator:

Usually an off-the-shelf induction generator that produces 60-cycle AC electricity.

High-speed shaft:

Drives the generator.

Low-speed shaft:

The rotor turns the low-speed shaft at about 30 to 60 rotations per minute.

Nacelle:

The nacelle sits atop the tower and contains the gear box, low- and high-speed shafts, generator, controller, and brake. Some nacelles are large enough for a helicopter to land on.

Pitch:

Blades are turned, or pitched, out of the wind to control the rotor speed and keep the rotor from turning in winds that are too high or too low to produce electricity.

Rotor:

The blades and the hub together are called the rotor.

Tower:

Towers are made from tubular steel (shown here), concrete, or steel lattice. Because wind speed increases with height, taller towers enable turbines to capture more energy and generate more electricity.

Wind direction:

This is an "upwind" turbine, so-called because it operates facing into the wind. Other turbines are designed to run "downwind," facing away from the wind.

Wind vane:

Measures wind direction and communicates with the yaw drive to orient the turbine properly with respect to the wind.

Yaw drive:

Upwind turbines face into the wind; the yaw drive is used to keep the rotor facing into the wind as the wind direction changes. Downwind turbines don't require a yaw drive, the wind blows the rotor downwind.

Yaw motor:

Powers the yaw drive.

How Wind Turbines Work

Wind is a form of solar energy. Winds are caused by the uneven heating of the atmosphere by the sun, the irregularities of the earth's surface, and rotation of the earth. Wind flow patterns are modified by the earth's terrain, bodies of water, and vegetation. Humans use this wind flow, or motion energy, for many purposes: sailing, flying a kite, and even generating electricity.

The terms wind energy or wind power describe the process by which the wind is used to generate mechanical power or electricity. Wind turbines convert the kinetic energy in the wind into mechanical power. This mechanical power can be used for specific tasks (such as grinding grain or pumping water) or a generator can convert this mechanical power into electricity.

So how do wind turbines make electricity? Simply stated, a wind turbine works the opposite of a fan. Instead of using electricity to make wind, like a fan, wind turbines use wind to make electricity. The wind turns the blades, which spin a shaft, which connects to a generator and makes electricity. This aerial view of a wind power plant shows how a group of wind turbines can make electricity for the utility grid. The electricity is sent through transmission and distribution lines to homes, businesses, schools, and so on.

Types of Wind Turbines

Modern wind turbines fall into two basic groups: the horizontal-axis variety, as shown in the photo, and the vertical-axis design, like the eggbeater-style Darrieus model, named after its French inventor.

Horizontal-axis wind turbines typically either have two or three blades. These three-bladed wind turbines are operated "upwind," with the blades facing into the wind.

Sizes of Wind Turbines

Utility-scale turbines range in size from 100 kilowatts to as large as several megawatts. Larger turbines are grouped together into wind farms, which provide bulk power to the electrical grid.

Single small turbines, below 100 kilowatts, are used for homes, telecommunications dishes, or water pumping. Small turbines are sometimes used in connection with diesel generators, batteries, and photovoltaic systems. These systems are called hybrid wind systems and are typically used in remote, off-grid locations, where a connection to the utility grid is not available.

Batteries

National Electrical Code (NEC) articles 480 and 690.71 address battery installation and containment, and should be referenced prior to specifying or building your battery enclosure. In most instances, residential battery systems are limited to 50 VDC nominal. (Requirements for battery packs operating at over 50 VDC nominal are not addressed here.)
Regardless of battery type (sealed or flooded), adequate ventilation is required to “prevent the accumulation of an explosive mixture.” While ventilation specifics are not clearly outlined in the NEC, some important considerations are identified. Article 480.9 (A) states that, “hydrogen disperses rapidly and requires little air movement to prevent accumulation. Unrestricted natural air movement in the vicinity of the battery, together with normal air changes for occupied spaces or for heat removal, will normally be sufficient. If the space is confined, mechanical ventilation may be required in the vicinity of the battery.”
Because hydrogen is “lighter than air and will tend to concentrate at ceiling level,” the NEC states that “some form of ventilation should be provided at the upper portion of the structure. Ventilation can be a fan, roof ridge vent, or louvered area.” A common approach used to meet these requirements, especially when flooded batteries are used, is the inclusion of one or more air intake vents installed low on the battery enclosure, used in conjunction with a pipe-connected exhaust vent that routes gases to the outdoors.
All live parts of battery systems, including terminals and cable lugs, are required to be guarded, or covered, to protect against the possibility of an electrical short if a tool or other metal object is inadvertently dropped across the batteries. In addition, access to the battery bank should be limited, either by locking the battery room or enclosure, or restricting access with some other permanent means (Article 110.27).
The battery enclosure cover or doors should allow adequate and convenient access to the battery bank for qualified people, and adequate working clearances should be provided (Article 110.26).
Finally, the NEC Handbook includes the following reference to flooded versus sealed battery types: “Although valve-regulated batteries are often referred to as ‘sealed,’ they actually emit very small quantities of hydrogen gas under normal operation, and are capable of liberating large quantities of explosive gases if overcharged. These batteries therefore require the same amount of ventilation as their vented counterparts.” (Article 480.9)

Evaluation of global wind power

The goal of this study is to quantify the world's wind power potential for the first time. Wind speeds are calculated at 80 m, the hub height of modern, 77-m diameter, 1500 kW turbines. Since relatively few observations are available at 80 m, the Least Square extrapolation technique is utilized and revised here to obtain estimates of wind speeds at 80 m given observed wind speeds at 10 m (widely available) and a network of sounding stations. Tower data from the Kennedy Space Center (Florida) were used to validate the results. Globally, ~13% of all reporting stations experience annual mean wind speeds ≥ 6.9 m/s at 80 m (i.e., wind power class 3 or greater) and can therefore be considered suitable for low-cost wind power generation. This estimate is believed to be conservative. Of all continents, North America has the largest number of stations in class ≥ 3 (453) and Antarctica has the largest percent (60%). Areas with great potential are found in Northern Europe along the North Sea, the southern tip of the South American continent, the island of Tasmania in Australia, the Great Lakes region, and the northeastern and northwestern coasts of North America. The global average 10-m wind speed over the ocean from measurements is 6.64 m/s (class 6); that over land was 3.28 m/s (class 1). The calculated 80-m values are 8.60 m/s (class 6) and 4.54 m/s (class 1) over ocean and land, respectively. Over land, daytime wind speed averages obtained from soundings (4.96 m/s) are slightly larger than nighttime ones (4.85 m/s); nighttime wind speeds increase, on average, above daytime speeds above 120 m. Assuming that statistics generated from all stations analyzed here are representative of the global distribution of winds, global wind power generated at locations with mean annual wind speeds ≥ 6.9 m/s at 80 m is found to be ~72 TW (~54,000 Mtoe) for the year 2000. Even if only ~20% of this power could be captured, it could satisfy 100% of the world?s energy demand for all purposes (6995-10177 Mtoe) and over seven times the world?s electricity needs (1.6-1.8 TW). Several practical barriers need to be overcome to fully realize this potential.