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| Production & Cost Small wind turbines are designed for a single customer or in some cases, for community wind power which serve several homes & businesses. These turbines range in rated power, production and cost as noted below.
*Approx. estimates per square meter (m2) of turbine swept area The average family home consumes approximately 10,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year. In areas of good wind, a 5 kilowatt (kW) turbine could provide 90% to 200% of this energy depending on the wind resource. AweSun will size the turbine and tower to suit you individual circumstances Return to top of page
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| How Wind Energy Works
Wind turbines operate on a simple principle:
A wind turbine is mounted on a tower to capture the most wind. Typically they are 90 to 140 feet above ground to take advantage of faster and less turbulent wind. |
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| Inside a Wind Turbine
Wind direction – Some turbines are “upwind”, 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. Blades – Most turbines have either two or three blades. Wind blowing over the blades causes the blades to “lift” and rotate. Rotor – The blades and the hub together are called the rotor. Pitch – Some manufacturers use blades that turn or pitch out of the wind to control the rotor speed and keep the rotor from turning in winds that are too high. Endurance wind turbines are induction generators that turn at a constant speed and thus don’t require blades to pitch. When the Endurance turbine recognizes wind speeds over 54 mph – the turbine brakes and protects itself from extreme high wind damage. Low-speed shaft – The rotor turns the low-speed shaft at 30 to 60 rotations per minute. High-speed shaft – Drives the generator. Gear box – Gears connect the low-speed shaft to the high-speed shaft and increase the rotational speeds to produce electricity. Controller – Starts up the machine at wind speeds approximately 8 miles per hour (mph) and shuts the machine off at approximately 54 mph. Generator – Induction generator that produces 60-cycle AC electricity. Brake – Is applied mechanically, electrically, or hydraulically to stop the rotor in emergencies. Nacelle – Sits atop the tower and contains the gear box, low and high-speed shafts, generator, controller and brake. Tower – Made from tubular steel (shown here), concrete or steel lattice. When wind speed increases with height – taller towers enable turbines to capture more energy and generate more electricity. 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 since wind blows the rotor downwind. Yaw motor – Powers the yaw drive. Anemometer – Measures wind speed and transmits wind speed data to the controller. |
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