Laura Garca Castillo

EASTERN WORLD
1219 Earliest actual documentation of a Chinese windmill by the Chinese statesman Yehlu ChhuTshai. Primary use: grain grinding and water pumping

500-900 Vertical axis system developed in Persia. First known documented design panemone: windmill with vertical sails made of wood which were attached to the central vertical shaft by horizontal struts. Primary use: water pumping, exact method of water transport unknown (no drawings or designs) Disadvantage: lose up to half of their rotor collection area due to shielding requirements

WESTERN WORLD
First windmills to appear were of the horizontal-axis configuration (evolution from the vertical-axis Persian design approach unknown) Reasons: European water wheels also had a horizontal-axis configuration

1270 Improvements are gradually made to European windmills to increase the aerodynamic lift of the blades (sails) and raise rotor speeds, allowing for superior grinding and pumping. Four- bladed mill mounted on a central post, "post mill": Primary use: used to drain fields in the Netherlands and to move water for irrigation in France. Design: used wooden cog-and-ring gears to translate the motion of the horizontal shaft to vertical movement to turn a grindstone. This gear was apparently adapted for use on post mills from the horizontal-axis water wheel developed by Vitruvius.

Before 1390 Tower mills designed in the Mediterranean area. The Dutch improved the tower mill design affixing the standard post mill to the top of a multistory tower, with separate floors which were used to grinding grain, removing chaff, storing grain, and on the bottom for the family in charge of the mill. Both the post mill and the tower mill had to be oriented into the wind manually, by pushing a large lever at the back of the mill. Improvements: use of sails that generated aerodynamic lift improving rotor efficiency compared with the Persian mills by allowing an increase in rotor speed, and superior grinding and pumping action. Primary use: irrigation, grain-grinding, saw-milling of timber, processing of cocoa, tobacco, paints

1700 Wind turbines are brought to Canada by French settlers and became the electrical motor of pre-industrial Europe, supplying an estimated 1500 MW of power in Europe. 1900 Use of large tower mills declined with the increased use of steam engines Improvements: o Most of the mills had tails to orient them into the wind. o Speed control is achieved by hinging sections of blades, so that they would fold back like an umbrella in high winds reducing the rotor capture area to reduce thrust. o Development of steel blades in 1870. They could be made lighter and worked into more efficient shapes.

1850-1970 Over 6 million wind machines were installed in the U.S. (1 horsepower=0.74kW or less) Primary use: water-pumping for stock watering and farm home water needs. Very large windmills, with rotors up to 18 meters in diameter, were used to pump water for the steam railroad trains in areas where there were no navigable rivers.

1888 First use of a large windmill to generate electricity built in Cleveland, Ohaio by Charles F. Brush. Design: Post mill with a multiple-bladed rotor 17 meters in diameter, with a large tail hinged to turn the rotor out of the wind. It had a capacity of 12 kW Disadvantages: low-speed, low electricity production

1891 Dane Poul La Cour developed the first electrical wind turbine with fewer rotor blades to generate more electricity than slow-moving turbines with many rotor blades. He incorporated the aerodynamic design principles (low-solidity, four-bladed rotors incorporating primitive airfoil shapes). Design: The machine of 25 kW electrical is spread throughout Denmark and it was based on four-bladed rotors in order to increase efficiencies. The use of these machines is increased during World War I. Later the emergence of large fossil-fuel powered steam plants in Denmark puts these wind turbine operations out of business.

1920 French inventor G.J.M. Darrieus developed the concept of a vertical-axis rotor. This design consists of slender, curved blades attached at the top and bottom of a rotating vertical tube. Developments: o United States developed wind generator electrical systems inspired by the design of airplane propellers and (later) monoplane wings in order to generate high amounts of electricity. o 1 to 3-kW wind generators used in the rural areas to provide lighting for farms and to charge batteries, also extended to appliances in refrigerators, freezers, washing machines, and power tools

1950 Declining fossil-fuel prices once again made wind energy uncompetitive against steam-powered generating plants Decrease in U.S production due to Great Depression Expansion in Europe, Africa and Australia Appearance of fatigue problems in blades near the hub - Denmark: the 200 kW Gedser Mill, developed by Johannes Juul in 1957, operated successfully until 1967, when fuel prices fell in late 1940's and therefore, interest in wind turbines decreased. The Gedser mill is the technological model for all subsequent Danish wind turbines.

1970 Growth in the price of oil increased extremely (Arab Oil Crisis 1973), therefore appearance of worldwide interest in wind turbine generators. Wind farms are built in the United States and Europe. Designs are leaded by Germany and Denmark.

Germany: the design is focused on reducing bearing and structural failures by "shedding" aerodynamic loads, rather than "withstanding" them as did the Danish approach. Denmark: used advanced materials, improved aerodynamic design, and aerodynamic controls to reduce some of its shortcomings.

1971 The worlds first offshore wind farm, a 5MW plant, begins operating off the coast of Denmark. 1973-1986 Change in size range of windmills from domestic and agricultural applications of small machines of 1 to 25 kW to interconnected wind farm applications of intermediate-scale machines of 50 to 600 kW connected to the power grid. Developments: o Decrease in wind market in U.S (politic problems, quick and disastrous designs) Denmark: wind farm market dominated by means of offering three-bladed upwind machines derived from the Gedser mill design, a primitive and inefficient, but wellunderstood configuration, modernized with the addition of fiberglass blades. They were armed with certification from the Danish test center at Riso and with statistics that showed their designs were more reliable (in terms of availability for energy production) than their U.S. counterparts.

1990 Concern about environmental issues such as air pollution and climate change, therefore governments take a greater interest in using renewable energy as a way to decrease greenhouse gases and other emissions 2001 The capacity of generate wind energy increased 37% (about 24800MW) 2002 US generating capacity (4600MW) concentrated in California and Texas 2003 US had more than 6300MW. Europe had 70% of the worlds wind capacity due in part to laws encouraging its growth in Germany, Denmark and Spain. Germany: had more than 14000MW installed and wind energy industry supplies 3.5% of the countrys electricity Denmark: has the highest proportion of electricity generated by wind in the world (more than 20%). Danish manufacturers control nearly 40% of the world wind turbine market.

2004 Global wind energy generating capacity exceeds 39000 MW.

Parts of wind turbine

- Rotor component: represents 20% of the wind turbine cost, includes the blades for converting wind energy to low speed rotational energy. - Generator component: 34% of the wind turbine cost, includes the electrical generator, the control electronics, and most likely a gearbox as component for converting the low speed incoming rotation to high speed rotation suitable for generating electricity. - Structural support component: 15% of the wind turbine cost, includes the tower and rotor yaw mechanism.

REFERENCES
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_turbine http://www.centreforenergy.com/AboutEnergy/Wind/History.asp http://windenergyfacts.eu/brief-history-of-wind-energy.html