Sunforce 45444 600W Wind Turbine

Wind turbines are large machines that are used for generating electricity from the wind. The amount of electricity generated from wind turbines has rapidly grown in recent years. In 2008, The United States has generated about 52 kilowatt-hours, which is only a fraction of the nation’s total electricity production but it was well over enough to serve 4.6 million households. To install a wind turbine, it is very important to choose a location in which the turbine can function properly. It cannot be located in any windy terrain. One important consideration is wind speed; it must be calculated before planting the wind turbines. Wind speed increases with altitude which implies that hills and open plains are the best locations for wind turbines.

Wind turbines are classified based on the direction of the rotating shaft axis; horizontal axis wind machines and vertical axis wind machines. Wind turbines are manufactured in different shapes to suit any needs. Small turbines are used for generating electricity for a house or for business purposes, and usually have a capacity of less than 100 kilowatts. Large turbines may have a capacity of five million watts or five megawatts. Large turbines are grouped together in a farm to power an electrical grid.

Most of the wind turbines that have been used in recent times are the horizontal axis turbines. They have blades like an airplane propeller. A horizontal wind turbine can be the same height as a 20 story building. It has three blades of about 200 feet. The blades of the largest wind turbine are longer than a football field. Vertical axis wind turbines are designed like an egg beater. It has blades that run from top to bottom. The most common type of wind turbine is the Darrieus wind turbine, which looks like a big two-bladed egg beater. The vertical axis wind turbines are about 100 feet tall and 50 feet wide.

Wind turbines do not pollute the environment in any way because they do not use fuel to produce the electricity. One of the drawbacks of a turbine is that it has a negative effect on the bird population and for some people, the glistening blades of the turbines is an eyesore.