Wind energy is a source of renewable energy, it does not pollute, it is inexhaustible and it reduces the use of fossil fuels, the origin of greenhouse emissions that cause global warming. In addition, wind energy is an indigenous energy, available in almost the entire planet, which helps to reduce energy imports and create wealth and employment locally.
Therefore, the production of electricity through wind energy and its use efficiently contribute to sustainable development.
HISTORICAL REVIEW
Towards the year 1000 of our era the first windmills are used in the Middle East and during the late middle ages they began to use mechanical wind energy equipment in Europe.
These equipment or mills became popular especially in Holland where from the middle of the fourteenth century it was used to drain marshes and lagoons in addition to the milling of grains, they were multi-blade mills, quite slow.
The predecessor models of the current ones arise in the 20th century and the first ones were manufactured by Jacobs for the generation of electricity in rural areas, with 3 KW equipment during the 30s in the USA. In 1940, the first windmills with large and faster winds appeared with a capacity of 1 MW.
During the Second World War the projects and developments of devices such as the vertical wind turbine wind turbines to produce electricity declined due to the fact that oil was much cheaper and competitive in the energy market.
The next important milestone in the history of wind energy occurs in the 70s when the oil crisis is triggered, this technology reappears and progressively has not stopped its growth and use throughout the world until today.
In these last two decades we have advanced a lot technologically and we have achieved very efficient equipment with a great capacity for producing clean energy not only on land but also at sea.
Wind power will be one of the main sources of renewable energy in the 21st century in a large number of countries, due to its excellent features.
WHAT IS EOLIC ENERGY?
Wind energy is the energy obtained from the wind. It is one of the oldest energy resources exploited by the human being and is today the most mature and efficient energy of all renewable energies. The term "aeolian" comes from the Latin "aeolicus", pertaining to or relative to Eolo, God of the winds in Greek mythology.
HOW IS THE EOLIC ENERGY PRODUCED?
Nowadays, wind energy is used mainly through its transformation into electricity through wind turbines. An electric wind turbine is, therefore, a machine that converts the kinetic energy of wind (mass at a certain speed) into electrical energy. To do this, it uses blades, which make up a "helix", and which transmit the wind energy to the rotor of a generator.
Generally several wind turbines are grouped in the same location, giving rise to the so-called wind farms, which can be seen in places where there is usually a lot of wind.
There is a large number of wind turbine models, although they can be grouped into two large groups: those with vertical axis and those with horizontal axis.
TYPES OF WIND TURBINES.
Vertical Wind Turbine:
As mentioned, vertical or vertical axis wind turbines do not need orientation mechanism and what would be the electrical generator can be found located on the ground.
Its energy production is lower and it has some small handicaps as it needs to be motorized so that it can be started up.
There are three types of vertical wind turbines such as Savonius, Giromill and Darrrieus.
Savonius type
This is characterized by being formed by two semicircles displaced horizontally at a certain distance, through which the air moves, so it develops little power.
Giromil
It stands out for having a set of vertical blades joined with two bars on the vertical axis and offers a range of energy supply from 10 to 20 Kw.
Darrieus
Formed by two or three biconvex blades attached to the vertical axis by the lower and upper part, it allows to take advantage of the wind within a wide range of speeds. The disadvantage is that they do not turn on by themselves and need a Savonius rotor.
Horizontal Wind Turbine:
The horizontal axis are the most used and are those that can be found in those large wind farms where you can get to use this type of wind turbines over 1 Mw of power.
Basically it is a rotational machine in which the movement is produced by the kinetic energy of the wind when it acts on a rotor that normally has three blades. The rotational movement produced is transmitted and multiplied by a speed multiplier to a generator that is responsible for producing electrical energy.
All these components are placed on a gondola that is placed on top of a support tower. They are the conventional ones that can be found in certain regions of our country, drawing a different horizon and landscape but offering clean and cheap energy.
Each wind turbine has a microprocessor that is responsible for controlling and regulating its start-up, operation and shutdown variables. This takes all this information and data to the control center of the installation. Each of these wind turbines incorporates, at the base of the tower, a cabinet with all the electrical components (circuit breakers, current transformers, over voltage protectors, etc.) that facilitate the transport of the generated electrical energy to the connection of network or points of consumption.
The energy obtained from a wind turbine depends on the power of the wind that passes through the rotor and is directly proportional to the density of the air, the surface swept by its blades and the wind speed.
The operation of a wind turbine is characterized by its power curve which indicates the range of wind speeds in which it can be operated and the power that is needed for each case.
Wind energy, is one of the solutions for the production of more economic electricity, without doubt this would become one of the solutions to high costs per generation, without mentioning how it would help the environment, since currently, there are plants of energy that depend for their operation on the burning of fossil fuels, generating CO2 and greenhouse gases, which are as bad for our health as for the environment, it would be good if in the different cabinets of our countries this type of energy is promoted proposals, which would benefit us both in obtaining a cleaner environment, as in the monthly bills for electricity costs.
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For more information visit these links:
https://www.renovablesverdes.com/aerogeneradores-verticales/
https://www.acciona.com/es/energias-renovables/energia-eolica/