Article by Mike Hicknon
A good wind generator design can help you to dramatically cut the cost of your utility bills and it can also help you to make a difference with the environment. Wind power has been used for a lot of years now and many people use wind power to run the electrical appliances in their homes, but how do you know which is the best wind turbine to use? There are many designs of turbines available to purchase and build so have a look at this article to compare and find out more about the types of wind generators you can get today.
Horizontal axis:
This type of wind turbine has a rotor shaft and an electric generator at the very top of a tower which will be pointed into the direction of the wind, smaller wind generators are pointed by a vane but more modern designs don’t always need a tail vane. Larger designs will use a wind sensor as well as a servo motor to generate electricity.
A lot of these designs will use a gear box which will turn the blades of the turbine so that it can become fast enough to drive an electric generator. This type of design will produce turbulence behind it which means that it should have the generator placed upwind of the actual tower. The blades of the generator will usually be stiff in order to stop the blades being damaged by strong winds.
Wind turbine blades are often places quite a distance away from the front of the tower and are tilted up, you can also find downwind generators which do not need any other mechanisms to keep them lined with the wind. During strong winds the blades will bend with the wind to cut down on any wind resistance. Many horizontal axis designs are made in upwind designs and there are also a lot of sub types to the horizontal axis generators.
Vertical axis wind turbines:
The vertical axis design will have a main rotor shaft which is placed vertically and this means that the wind turbine doesn’t always need to be pointed towards the wind to work. These designs are good for using on sites with changeable wind directions because they can collect the wind power from all directions. The downside of this particular design in that they are hard to mount onto towers so that they will normally need to be installed close to the base and rest on the ground. The vertical axis design is easy to access for mechanical components but wind speeds are often slower which mean less energy collected depending upon the size of the turbine.
You can find out more information on the different designs of wind turbines by running a search on any good search engine which will be able to give you a full and comprehensive list on wind generator designs.
About the Author
The author, who has an engineering background, has created a detailed review site that has the latest information on wind generator design. For more about wind generator design and wind generator systems, please go to BestHomemadeEnergy.com
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