Energy & Green Tech

Reversible fuel cells can support grid economically, study finds

A major challenge for producers of electricity from solar panels and wind turbines is akin to capturing lightning in a bottle. Both solar and wind increasingly generate electricity amid little demand, when market prices are ...

Energy & Green Tech

A new approach to improve the power control of wind farms

To slow down climate change and prevent its adverse consequences, humans will need to transition to more sustainable energy sources. Engineers worldwide have thus been working on a wide range of technologies that can convert ...

Energy & Green Tech

Are wind farms slowing each other down?

The expansion of wind energy in the German Bight and the Baltic Sea has accelerated enormously in recent years. The first systems went into operation in 2008. Today, wind turbines with an output of around 8,000 megawatts ...

Energy & Green Tech

Bionic wing flaps improve wind energy efficiency

Wind energy relies on efficient wind turbine blades, which act as airfoils, structures akin to an airplane wing. Air flow control accessories similar to those found in aircraft improve the turbine blade's aerodynamic performance.

Energy & Green Tech

Steering wind turbines creates greater energy potential

As wind passes through a turbine, it creates a wake that decreases the downstream average wind velocity. The faster the spin of the turbine blades relative to the wind speed, the greater the impact on the downstream wake ...

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Wind turbine

A wind turbine is a rotating machine which converts the kinetic energy in wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used directly by machinery, such as a pump or grinding stones, the machine is usually called a windmill. If the mechanical energy is then converted to electricity, the machine is called a wind generator, wind power unit (WPU), or wind energy converter (WEC).

This article discusses electric power generation machinery. The windmill article discusses machines used for grain-grinding, water pumping, etc. The article on wind power describes turbine placement, economics and public concerns. The wind energy section of that article describes the distribution of wind energy over time, and how that affects wind-turbine design.

This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA