What Is a Wind Turbine? Did you know that wind is actually a type of solar energy?

Wind occurs when the Earth's rotation causes the atmosphere to be heated unevenly. This uneven heat ing as well as the hills and uneven terrain of the Earth's surface is what creat es wind. The wind is redirected by obstacles it encounters such as hills, trees and build ings. Mankind has been using the energy of the wind for centuries in the form o f windmills and sails for ships. A wind turbine converts the kinetic energy of the wind into mechanical power whi ch can then be converted in to electricity. A typical household ceiling fan use s power to make it run but a wind turbine, on the other hand, generates electric ity when the wind catches the blades, spins the shaft connected to the generator , and makes electricity. There are two styles of wind turbines; vertical axis and horizontal axis. Horiz ontal axis turbines are what you see on most wind farms. They are the huge wind mill looking structures that can cover hundreds of acres of land. The blades o f these behemoths face into the wind . The big commercial style windmills you see on wind farms will produce about 100 kilowatts to 5 megawatts of power. The largest wine turbine today is 390' acro ss it's blades! This one turbine can generate enough electricity to fully power up to 5,000 homes! The average home sized turbine has a diameter of about 8' up to 20'. This small turbine can generate about 3 hundred watts up to 5 or 6 kilowatts of electricit y. In order for a home sized turbine to be practical your location would need to ha ve consistent wind speeds of around 10 mph. Modern technology is improving the efficiency with which the turbine operates and some newer models only need spee ds of around 5 MPH. Of course, you'll want to make sure you have plenty of room for your turbine whe re the wind won't be obstructed. Before you go out and install a turbine, or two, make sure you talk to your loca l zoning board. In some locations home sized wind turbines are not allowed. Ev en though the smaller residential models are not nearly as noisy as the huge com mercial models, many people don't like the looks of them and your local zoning b oard is likely behind the times on allowing this new energy saving technology. If they do turn down your request you may want to suggest installing a different style, such as a vertical axis model. Most people consider this style of turbi ne to much more pleasing to the eye. Installing a wind turbine on your property is one way that you can take a signif icant bite out of that monthly utility bill. If you live in a location where yo u have a lot of land and a lot of wind you may even consider installing more tha n one. If you are lucky enough to generate more electricity than you can use fo r your home, you can sell the excess to the utility company and have them pay yo u for a change!