Wind is a form of solar energy. As long as the sun shines, the winds will blow.
Wind and Solar power are very complementary renewable energy sources, for example, in day time, the sun shines and the wind is weak but at night time, the wind is strong, or, the sun is less intense in winter, but wind is usually stronger. Therefore, these two energy sources are often used in combination for power generation.
Renewable energy sources will not pollute our environment, and will not produce wastes that will pile up year after year. We can continue to use them effectively and efficiently for centuries. Wind technology is growing very fast in the world. The rate at which it is growing promises to make it an important part of our energy mix in the future.
In order to benefit from wind power, we have to know the technology. We know that wind turbines convert wind power to electrical power. However, the knowledge behind is very demanding. We will introduce some basic knowledge on wind power technology here for you to start with. You may go further into the technology after you know more. I can promise you, it is very interesting.
After you read various materials from books and on internet, you may like to do some hands on experiments with a wind turbine in order to master the wind technology.
WindLab, WindLab Plus, WindCharge, WindCharge Plus and WindPitch are miniaturized wind turbine dedicated to the learning of wind power technology in a controlled environment. Students can use a desk fan or floor fan as the wind source to do various experiments, including changing the blade parameters. Blade parameters are very important to the efficiency of the wind turbine in harvesting the wind power from the wind. If the wind speed is low, larger blade pitch, long and wide blades will harvest more power. If the wind speed is high, smaller blade pitch, the blades should be short and narrow. Therefore, a higher power fan allows you to test a wider range of wind speed performance.