7.2 Plants As Solar Energy Converters

Wind power Wikipedia. Wind power stations in Xinjiang, China. Wind power is the use of air flow through wind turbines to mechanically power generators for electric power. Wind power, as an alternative to burning fossil fuels, is plentiful, renewable, widely distributed, clean, produces no greenhouse gas emissions during operation, consumes no water, and uses little land. The net effects on the environment are far less problematic than those of nonrenewable power sources. Wind farms consist of many individual wind turbines which are connected to the electric power transmission network. Onshore wind is an inexpensive source of electric power, competitive with or in many places cheaper than coal or gas plants. Offshore wind is steadier and stronger than on land, and offshore farms have less visual impact, but construction and maintenance costs are considerably higher. Small onshore wind farms can feed some energy into the grid or provide electric power to isolated off grid locations. Wind power gives variable power which is very consistent from year to year but which has significant variation over shorter time scales. It is therefore used in conjunction with other electric power sources to give a reliable supply. As the proportion of wind power in a region increases, a need to upgrade the grid, and a lowered ability to supplant conventional production can occur. Power management techniques such as having excess capacity, geographically distributed turbines, dispatchable backing sources, sufficient hydroelectric power, exporting and importing power to neighboring areas, or reducing demand when wind production is low, can in many cases overcome these problems. The latest information on energy and power generation in India. Energy Conservation Questions including What would happen if had no electricity and Computer energy save. In addition, weather forecasting permits the electric power network to be readied for the predictable variations in production that occur. As of 2. 01. 5, Denmark generates 4. In 2. 01. 4, global wind power capacity expanded 1. MW. 1. 7 Yearly wind energy production is also growing rapidly and has reached around 4 of worldwide electric power usage,1. EU. 1. 9HistoryeditWind power has been used as long as humans have put sails into the wind. Plants As Solar Energy Converters' title='7.2 Plants As Solar Energy Converters' />For more than two millennia wind powered machines have ground grain and pumped water. Wind power was widely available and not confined to the banks of fast flowing streams, or later, requiring sources of fuel. Wind powered pumps drained the polders of the Netherlands, and in arid regions such as the American mid west or the Australian outback, wind pumps provided water for live stock and steam engines. The first windmill used for the production of electric power was built in Scotland in July 1. Prof James Blyth of Andersons College, Glasgow the precursor of Strathclyde University. Blyths 1. 0 metres 3. Off-Grid-Solar-Power-Plant-Detail.png' alt='7.2 Plants As Solar Energy Converters' title='7.2 Plants As Solar Energy Converters' />Investors. Waiting for legislation yet a recordbreaking year. Wind Energy. Poland 2014. The act on renewable sources of energy has for many years been awaited by. There is unprecedented interest in renewable energy, as sources of sustainable energy, particularly solar and wind energy, which provide electricity with low. Energy Sources. News and Research. Articles on everything from hydrogen powered cars and solar energy systems to nuclear reactors and fossil fuels. Renewable Energy Sources. Read the latest research on renewable sources of energy such as solar energy, wind power, nuclear energy, hydrogen fuel, ethanol. At a test site in Norway, Thor Energy has successfully created a thorium nuclear reactor but not in the. Marykirk in Kincardineshire and was used to charge accumulators developed by the Frenchman Camille Alphonse Faure, to power the lighting in the cottage,2. Call As400 Program From Java. Blyth offered the surplus electric power to the people of Marykirk for lighting the main street, however, they turned down the offer as they thought electric power was the work of the devil. Although he later built a wind turbine to supply emergency power to the local Lunatic Asylum, Infirmary and Dispensary of Montrose the invention never really caught on as the technology was not considered to be economically viable. Across the Atlantic, in Cleveland, Ohio a larger and heavily engineered machine was designed and constructed in the winter of 1. Charles F. Brush,2. The Brush wind turbine had a rotor 1. Although large by todays standards, the machine was only rated at 1. Plants As Solar Energy Converters' title='7.2 Plants As Solar Energy Converters' />W. The connected dynamo was used either to charge a bank of batteries or to operate up to 1. Brushs laboratory. With the development of electric power, wind power found new applications in lighting buildings remote from centrally generated power. Throughout the 2. Today wind powered generators operate in every size range between tiny stations for battery charging at isolated residences, up to near gigawatt sized offshore wind farms that provide electric power to national electrical networks. Wind farmseditA wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used for production of electric power. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines distributed over an extended area, but the land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other purposes. For example, Gansu Wind Farm, the largest wind farm in the world, has several thousand turbines. A wind farm may also be located offshore. Almost all large wind turbines have the same design  a horizontal axis wind turbine having an upwind rotor with three blades, attached to a nacelle on top of a tall tubular tower. In a wind farm, individual turbines are interconnected with a medium voltage often 3. V, power collection system and communications network. In general, a distance of 7. D 7 Rotor Diameter of the Wind Turbine is set between each turbine in a fully developed wind farm. At a substation, this medium voltage electric current is increased in voltage with a transformer for connection to the high voltage electric power transmission system. Generator characteristics and stabilityeditInduction generators, which were often used for wind power projects in the 1. Different types of wind turbine generators behave differently during transmission grid disturbances, so extensive modelling of the dynamic electromechanical characteristics of a new wind farm is required by transmission system operators to ensure predictable stable behaviour during system faults. In particular, induction generators cannot support the system voltage during faults, unlike steam or hydro turbine driven synchronous generators. Today these generators arent used any more in modern turbines. Instead today most turbines use variable speed generators combined with partial or full scale power converter between the turbine generator and the collector system, which generally have more desirable properties for grid interconnection and have Low voltage ride through capabilities. Modern concepts use either doubly fed machines with partial scale converters or squirrel cage induction generators or synchronous generators both permanently and electrically excited with full scale converters. Transmission systems operators will supply a wind farm developer with a grid code to specify the requirements for interconnection to the transmission grid. This will include power factor, constancy of frequency and dynamic behaviour of the wind farm turbines during a system fault. Offshore wind poweredit. The worlds second full scale floating wind turbine and first to be installed without the use of heavy lift vessels, Wind. Float, operating at rated capacity 2 MW approximately 5 km offshore of Pvoa de Varzim, Portugal. Offshore wind power refers to the construction of wind farms in large bodies of water to generate electric power. These installations can utilize the more frequent and powerful winds that are available in these locations and have less aesthetic impact on the landscape than land based projects. However, the construction and the maintenance costs are considerably higher. Siemens and Vestas are the leading turbine suppliers for offshore wind power. DONG Energy, Vattenfall and E. ON are the leading offshore operators. As of October 2. 01. GW of offshore wind power capacity was operational, mainly in Northern Europe.