Wind energy

By: Cole Hartke

            The need for power on an uninhabited island is essential for the modern life and every day to day things. For my thesis of the self-sustainable island resort wind power is a must to achieve the necessary power for life on the island.

            A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into electrical power. The term migrated from parallel hydroelectric technology. The technical description for this type of machine is anaerofoil-powered generator.

The result of modern engineering, today's wind turbines are manufactured in a wide range of vertical and horizontal axis types. The smallest turbines are used for applications such as battery charging for auxiliary power for boats or caravans or to power traffic warning signs.

Slightly larger turbines can be used for making contributions to a domestic power supply while selling unused power back to the utility supplier via the electrical grid. Arrays of large turbines, known as wind farms, are becoming an increasingly important source of renewable energy and are used by many countries as part of a strategy to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels.

This aspect of a wind farm is a tactic that I plan to use as I have a large island and even more water around it. With the strategic placement of the turbines to capture a large amount of the wind blowing across the island I believe with the use of the two different types of turbines I can create enough energy to power the island.

Horizontal-axis wind turbines have the main rotor shaft and electrical generator at the top of a tower, and must be pointed into the wind. Small turbines are pointed by a simple wind vane, while large turbines generally use a wind sensor coupled with a servo motor. Most have a gearbox, which turns the slow rotation of the blades into a quicker rotation that is more suitable to drive an electrical generator

Vertical-axis wind turbines have the main rotor shaft arranged vertically. One advantage of this arrangement is that the turbine does not need to be pointed into the wind to be effective, which is an advantage on a site where the wind direction is highly variable. It is also an advantage when the turbine is integrated into a building because it is inherently less steerable. Also, the generator and gearbox can be placed near the ground, using a direct drive from the rotor assembly to the ground-based gearbox, improving accessibility for maintenance.