erator. If the wind speeds get too high, a brake is deployed to slow the blades down and prevent damage being done to the system.

There are two basic types of wind turbine:
horizontal axis wind turbines: the kind most commonly in use today and the focus of U.S.
Department of Energy research on wind power, thes

Wind energy is an environmentally inert, clean, and inexhaustible source of electric power that, as it turns out, is really just another form of solar energy. The sun creates wind by its uneven heating of the planet’s atmosphere. It’s moderated by the earth’s rotation and irregularities in its surface. The planet’s terrain, water bodies, and vegetation then affect the wind flow patterns. With the invention of wind turbines, we can now harness the wind’s energy and use it instead of purchasing electricity from the utility companies that are derived from non-renewable sources.

The easiest way to understand how wind turbines work is to think of a fan operating in reverse – rather than electricity spinning the blades and thus generating wind, the wind spins the blades, thereby generating electricity.

Breaking it down to it’s simplest components, a wind turbine operates as follows:
the wind turns the blades
the blades spin a shaft
the shaft connects to a generator
the generator produces electricity

To expand on that simplification, the turbine’s blades are connected to a hub that’s mounted atop a turning shaft which runs into a gear transmission box that increases the turning speed which, in turn, is connected to a high speed shaft that cranks the generator. If the wind speeds get too high, a brake is deployed to slow the blades down and prevent damage being done to the system.

There are two basic types of wind turbine:
horizontal axis wind turbines: the kind most commonly in use today and the focus of U.S.
Department of Energy research on wind power, thes

, water bodies, and vegetation then affect the wind flow patterns. With the invention of wind turbines, we can now harness the wind’s energy and use it instead of purchasing electricity from the utility companies that are derived from non-renewable sources.

The easiest way to understand how wind turbines work is to think of a fan operating in reverse – rather than electricity spinning the blades and thus generating wind, the wind spins the blades, thereby generating electricity.

Breaking it down to it’s simplest components, a wind turbine operates as follows:
the wind turns the blades
the blades spin a shaft
the shaft connects to a generator
the generator produces electricity

To expand on that simplification, the turbine’s blades are connected to a hub that’s mounted atop a turning shaft which runs into a gear transmission box that increases the turning speed which, in turn, is connected to a high speed shaft that cranks the generator. If the wind speeds get too high, a brake is deployed to slow the blades down and prevent damage being done to the system.

There are two basic types of wind turbine:
horizontal axis wind turbines: the kind most commonly in use today and the focus of U.S.
Department of Energy research on wind power, thes

nk of a fan operating in reverse – rather than electricity spinning the blades and thus generating wind, the wind spins the blades, thereby generating electricity.

Breaking it down to it’s simplest components, a wind turbine operates as follows:
the wind turns the blades
the blades spin a shaft
the shaft connects to a generator
the generator produces electricity

To expand on that simplification, the turbine’s blades are connected to a hub that’s mounted atop a turning shaft which runs into a gear transmission box that increases the turning speed which, in turn, is connected to a high speed shaft that cranks the generator. If the wind speeds get too high, a brake is deployed to slow the blades down and prevent damage being done to the system.

There are two basic types of wind turbine:
horizontal axis wind turbines: the kind most commonly in use today and the focus of U.S.
Department of Energy research on wind power, thes

connects to a generator
the generator produces electricity

To expand on that simplification, the turbine’s blades are connected to a hub that’s mounted atop a turning shaft which runs into a gear transmission box that increases the turning speed which, in turn, is connected to a high speed shaft that cranks the generator. If the wind speeds get too high, a brake is deployed to slow the blades down and prevent damage being done to the system.

There are two basic types of wind turbine:
horizontal axis wind turbines: the kind most commonly in use today and the focus of U.S.
Department of Energy research on wind power, thes

erator. If the wind speeds get too high, a brake is deployed to slow the blades down and prevent damage being done to the system.

There are two basic types of wind turbine:
horizontal axis wind turbines: the kind most commonly in use today and the focus of U.S.
Department of Energy research on wind power, these come in two varieties –
2-blade horizontal axis turbines spin downwind
3-blade horizontal axis turbines spin upwind
vertical axis wind turbines

The size of a wind turbine will influence its power generating capacity, with the smaller windmills that produce under 50 kilowatts being the type most commonly used to power water pumps, telecom dishes, and homes.

In an innovative advancement known as hybrid wind systems, these smaller turbines are also being used in combination with solar (photovoltaic) systems, rechargeable deep-cycle batteries, and diesel generators to provide storable, on-demand power in more remote, off-the-grid places.

In most residential situations, a wind turbine is used as a supplemental source of power in combination with local, on-the-grid, utility power. There is something called a cut-in speed (7-10 miles per hour), below which the wind turbine will cease to provide an output, and the utility grid provides the structure’s power. Above the cut-in speed, the wind turbine kicks in and the grid power supply is proportionately reduced (depending on the structure’s energy draw at the given moment).

If the output produced by the wind turbine exceeds the draw from the structure (and/or storage devices, like batteries), the excess p