Windmills were used in Persia in the 7th century and in Europe since the 12th century, but they were first used for making electricity in the late 19th century. Today, California, USA, is the world’s leading area for wind generated electricity. Tehachapi Wind Resource, California, produces as much wind energy as the rest of the USA combined.
A windmill is a device which is used to convert the energy of wind to rotational motion by means of adjusting vanes to sail the main work of the windmill is grinding that is reducing a solid or coarse substance into pulp, or minute coarse grains by crushing, grinding or by pressing. The windmill also provide energy to sawmills, paper mills, hammer mills and wind pumps for obtaining fresh water from underground.
The wind wheels of Heron of Alexandria in the 1st century marks the very first known windmill which provided power to machines in the history. In the 4th century there were prayer wheel which was used in Tibet and China.
A group of wind mills situated in the same location is known as wind farm. These wind mills gives medium voltage along the power collection and communication system. To convert this medium voltage we add a transformer which gives us high voltage current. The countries which produce the energy with the help of wind mill are Spain, Germany and Denmark. This wind farms are always situated off shore to collect the power of the wind blowing through the surface.
The location is selected by7 Wind Power Density for the development. The sites can be put into controversial stage. These areas are non residents because of the noise pollution caused. The picture of power grid should be kept in mind. The speed of the wind should be 10mph that is 16km/h or even more than this.
The constant wind flow should be available through out the year. And the transmission capacity should be equal to the demand of the local area. The Park wind effect refers to the loss of output due to the mutual interferences of the turbines. In large wind park there can be multi fractal effects can be seen. Wind mill never cause any type of air pollution, and no fuel is either consumed. The power of fossil fuels is also not needed. The energy consumed to manufacture and transport the material used and to build the power equal to the consumption.
The majority of windmills had four sails. An increase in the number of sails meant that an increase in power could be obtained, at the expense of an increase in the weight of the sail assembly. In Lincolnshire, more multi-sailed windmills were found than anywhere else in the United Kingdom. There were five, six and eight sail windmills.
In the early 1980s, several small companies started wind farms for commercial energy production in the San Joaquin valley region of California. At one point in the mid-80’s there were over twenty-six wind farm companies operating in this area of the United States. This eventually expanded to areas outside of Palm Springs, as seen as backdrops in several films of the era, such as Less Than Zero.
Windmills and related equipment are still manufactured and installed today on farms and ranches, usually in remote parts of the western United States where electric power is not readily available. Today, the increases in energy prices and the expense of replacing electric pumps have led to an increase in the repair, restoration and installation of new windmills.
The multi-bladed wind turbine atop a lattice tower made of wood or steel was, for many years, a fixture of the landscape throughout rural America. These mills, made by a variety of manufacturers, featured a large number of blades so that they would turn slowly with considerable torque in low winds and be self regulating in high winds. A tower-top gearbox and crankshaft converted the rotary motion into reciprocating strokes carried downward through a rod to the pump cylinder below.
Along with the wind farm the person can use its land in the production of agriculture. The environment impact is that the non clean power source is used. The offshore wind mill zones generally need ten kilometers to more acre of land. The offshore winds turbines are less obtrusive than on land. The noise is migrated from the distance. The offshore will continue to be the largest turbines still in the operation. The maximum cost of the installation is more energy producing rather than reducing the average cost. The turbines barges can be transported easily by trucks. The cranes vessels need to set up the process can be transported through water.
The development of the water-pumping windmill was the major factor in allowing the farming and ranching of vast areas of North America, which were otherwise devoid of readily accessible water. They continue to be used in areas of the world where a connection to electric power lines is not a realistic option. Windmills were often built on top of castle towers or city walls, and were a unique part of a number of fortifications in New France, such as at FortSenneville. Trimming the sails allowed the windmill to turn at near the optimal speed in a large range of wind velocities. The smock mill is a later variation of the tower mill, constructed of timber and originally developed in the sixteenth century for land drainage.
Horizontal-axis windmills:
The economies of power and transport allowed the use of these ‘offshore’ mills for grinding grain transported from the mainland and flour returned. A 1/10th share of the flour was paid to the miller in return for his service. This type would mount triangular sails when in operation. Fixed windmills, oriented to the prevailing wind were extensively used in the Cyclades islands of Greece.
Vertical Axis windmills:
The first practical windmills were the vertical axle windmills invented in eastern Persia as recorded by the Persian geographer Estakhri in the 9th century. Made of six to twelve sails covered in reed matting or cloth material, these windmills were used to grind grain or draw up water, and were quite different from the later European horizontal-axis versions. However, the debate about whether the European vertical-shaft windmill evolved from the Islamic horizontal-shaft windmill or was an independent development remains unresolved.
Wind energy is regarded as the fastest growing commercial energy source in the world. These potential sources of wind energy are usually located near major population centers, which have high energy costs and limited opportunities for land-based wind development. The water in these areas typically deepens gradually as you move away from the shore.
Offshore wind energy development is generally preferred to land-based development because of transmission issues and wind conditions. The winds found offshore are also notably stronger and less turbulent than those found on land, thus facilitating the production of more electricity. The energy that can be produced from wind corresponds directly with the cube of the wind speed, so that an increase as minimal as a few miles an hour would result in the production of a significantly larger amount of electricity.
This lack of offshore wind energy development is on the verge of changing. As previously mentioned, the past few years have seen a dramatic increase in the attention offshore wind energy has received. This monitoring station will serve as a meteorological data tower and measure oceanographic and meteorological data, such as information about wind, waves, currents, tide heights, and water temperatures.
In addition to providing essential information for the environmental permitting process, the data collected is being used to provide current weather and sea conditions to the public via a website. The public is further provided an estimate of the amount of emissions that would have been produced by generating that same amount of energy from oil, coal, and natural gas.
Concluded that the strong ocean winds to the south of Long Island could produce large amount of clean and renewable electricity. Identified potential sites where the project could be built within the next four to five years. In essence, it entrusts the Department of the Interior (Department) with the authority to grant offshore property interests for the purpose of renewable energy development on the OCS and the authority to regulate activities resulting from such development.
The wind technology has improved. They are fully cost competitive as compared to the original electricity. There are some points one should keep in mind before establishing a wind mill:
- The person should contact a potential stakeholder to initiate the program. He should try to put his consensus on a near term approach which beneficial to both for the further research and development.
- They should establish a permanent permit process.
- We should see a appropriate location for the settlement of data acquisition, experiments and demonstration installation.
- To check the available potential the offshore wind current should be measured properly.
- We should see and promote the turbines and equipment.
“We just sit tight while wind dives,
And strafes invisibly. Space is a salvo,
We are bombarded by the empty air.
Strange, it is a huge nothing that we fear.”
By: Seamus Heaney.