Wind Energy

Over the centuries, windmills pumped water and ground grain into flour. But how can the energy of the wind produce electricity? Find out as you continue reading.

Windmills use the wind to produce electricity. When wind hits the blades of a windmill the blades start to move due to their angle. The hub has a shaft connected to it. It goes to a gear transmission box where the speed is increased. A (high-speed) shaft protruding from the transmission box goes to the generator, where the motion of the shaft becomes electricity.

Wind just doesn't come when you want it to, it is not steady. Even if there is wind, there needs to be enough to turn the blades of a windmill. Except that wind is needed (it can be made), windmills are a great way to produce electricity right, wrong. They don't produce enough electricity, which means they can't power to many homes. In 1995 there were13,437 windmills that were grouped in farms. All of them together could only produce enough power for San Francisco.

So most power plants make their own strong, steady wind. It's called steam. All you have to do to make steam is boil water. Power plants do this in their huge boilers. But boiling water in a power plant is not like boiling water in a pot at home. Instead of letting the steam escape, boilers keep it trapped for a while. The pressure of the steam pushing against the boiler walls grows as more and more steam is made. When the pressure is high enough, a valve opens. High-pressure steam rushes through a pipe into the steam turbine. The strong, hot wind pushes the blades of the turbine. The shaft turns. The generator turns. Electricity is produced.

Updated: 3/29/01