Growing Renewable Energy Investment In Wind Energy

Wind energy has been harvested in the form of mechanical energy for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Boats with sails have certainly taken advantage of the wind’s power for long enough to have facilitated human habitation of the pacific islands.

Large-Scale Renewable Energy Investment On Wind Power

The most commonly seen wind power turbines by far, are the large, high-capacity turbines. These are usually owned by the power company and very often put in large fields. They cast little shadow overall, and collect Megawatts of electricity per hour on a windy day. Large, open spaces such as grazing lands in

One method of transferring this power into storage is to use hydrogen lines. These are more efficient than copper wire, but more expensive to install. Hydrogen storage held at just below the point where tanks burst when they fail costs about 1/3 what other “pressure storage devices” do. When used in conjunction with a fuel cell device, it can serve as a backup supply of power from the generation site when the wind isn’t blowing.

Renewable Energy Investment On Distributed Wind Power

Installing personal wind power in the form of micro turbines can be hooked up to the grid, just like solar power, sending power to the local power company which we can then purchase back during peak hours if we need to.

Most distributed systems have some type of storage unit on site. These typically take the form of battery banks, though hydrogen gas and fuel cells are used by some. Many choose to hook the conditioned output from several such devices into the power company grid, running the meter backwards while the wind is blowing and taking power from the larger grid when it’s not.

Renewable Energy Investment On Wind Power Designs

The most commonly seen design seen with large turbines is a tall mast with three slow blades. These have already been built to generate as much as 1.5MW. Larger models can take advantage of some unusual shapes, such as the “eggbeater” type. Like a kite, each shape has a different advantage in a different sort of wind.