WIND ENERGY 

TECHNOLOGY
WIND: DEFINITION
 a natural movement of air of any velocity

 the perceptible natural movement of the air, 
especially in the form of a current of air blowing 
from a particular direction.
WHAT CAUSES WIND?
 Unbalance radiation insolence
 Earth’s rotation
WHAT CAUSES WIND? 
UNBALANCE RADIATION INSOLENCE

• Earth’s surfaces absorb and reflect solar

radiation at different rates.
• As a result, air temperature varies from
surface to surface.
• Air pressure is directly proportional to
temperature. The higher the temperature,
the higher the pressure.

• Variation of air temperature within

surfaces produces a state of mechanical
instability.
• To maintain mechanical equilibrium, high
pressure air moves from regions of low
pressure and low pressure air moves
from region of high pressure.

• The resulting movement is WIND.

WHAT CAUSES WIND? 
EARTH’S ROTATION

• Earth’s rotation affects the direction of

wind.

• The Coriolis Effect “ the tendency for any

moving body on or above the earth's
surface to drift sideways from its course
because of the earth's rotation

• Northern Hemisphere deflection is right

• Southern Hemisphere deflection is left

• At roughly 30° latitude Coriolis Effect

stops air.
WHAT CAUSES WIND? 
EARTH’S ROTATION
WHAT CAUSES WIND? 
EARTH’S ROTATION
 GLOBAL WIND GEOGRAPHY

Mean Wind Speed at 100 m above ground (1979­2010)
Source: http://globalwindatlas.com/datasets.html
WIND ROSE
 A  wind  rose  diagram  is  a  tool  which  graphically 
displays  wind  speed  and  wind  direction  at  a 
particular location over a period of time. 
WIND ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES

 Windmills
 Converts kinetic energy of air 
into mechanical energy

 Wind Turbines
 Converts kinetic energy of air 
into electricity
TYPES OF WIND TURBINES

Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine  Vertical Axis Wind Turbine 
(HAWT) (VAWT)
COMPARISON BETWEEN HAWT AND 
VAWT
Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine
Advantages
• Generator can be placed on  • Higher power generation 
the ground (easy to  (captures higher wind speed)
maintain)
• Yaw mechanism is not  • Greater efficiency
needed for wind angle
• Easier to design (no cyclic 
load on the blades)
Disadvantages
• Lower wind speeds at ground  • More complicated blade 
level  design
• Less efficiency  • Turbine’s axis must always be 
aligned with wind direction
• Requires an initial force during  • Difficult access to generator’s 
OPERATING PRINCIPLE OF WIND 
TURBINE
OPERATING PRINCIPLE OF WIND 
TURBINE
OPERATING PRINCIPLE OF WIND 
TURBINE
TYPICAL INSTALLATION OF WIND 
TURBINES
TYPICAL INSTALLATION OF WIND 
TURBINES
TYPICAL INSTALLATION OF WIND 
TURBINES
PARTS OF A WIND TURBINE (HAWT)
 MAIN PARTS OF A WIND TURBINE (HAWT)
1. Rotor
• The portion of the wind turbine that collects energy from the wind
• consists of the hub, three blades and a pitch regulation system

• The blades are airfoils, which depend on aerodynamic lift to move the blades
and cause rotation.

• The design speed of the

rotor is 16 rpm.

Rotor
 MAIN PARTS OF A WIND TURBINE (HAWT)
2. Transmission System
• Transmit mechanical power generated by the rotor blades to the generator
• Increase and regulates the rotation of the shaft
• Consists of a gearbox and a braking system plus the auxiliary lubricating and
cooling systems

• The gearbox is needed to

increase the rotor’s speed
(16 rpm) to the 1800-rpm
speed of the generator.

• The braking system is

designed to lock the rotor
when shut down.

Transmission System
 MAIN PARTS OF A WIND TURBINE (HAWT)
3. Generator
The generator converts the mechanical energy to electrical energy in an
asynchronous (induction) generator.

Different generator designs produce either alternating current (AC) or direct

current (DC).

AC generators, are generally

equipped with features to
produce the correct voltage
(120 or 240 V) and constant
frequency (60 cycles) of
electricity, even when the
wind speed is fluctuating.

Generator
 MAIN PARTS OF A WIND TURBINE (HAWT)
4. Yaw and control systems:
• A fully automatic microprocessor-based control and monitoring system
• The yaw system turns the nacelle into the actual wind direction using a
rotary actuator and a gear mechanism at the top of the tower.

Yaw and Control Systems

DESIGN CRITERIA: WIND SPEED
Wind Speed Range Remarks
0 – 10 mph • Wind speed is too low for
generating power.
• Turbine is not operational.
Rotor is locked.
10 – 25 mph • 10 mph is the minimum
operational speed (“Cut-in
speed”)
• In 10 ~ 25 mph wind,
generated power increases with
the wind speed.
DESIGN CRITERIA: WIND SPEED
DESIGN CRITERIA: WIND SPEED
Wind Speed Range Remarks
25 – 50 mph • Typical wind turbines reach the
rated power (maximum
operating power) at wind speed
of 25 mph (called Rated wind
speed)
• Further increase in wind speed
will not result in substantially
higher generated power by
design.
> 50 mph • Turbine is shut down when wind
speed is higher than 50 mph
(called “Cut-out” speed) to
prevent structure failure.
DESIGN CRITERIA: ELEVATION
DESIGN CRITERIA: TYPE OF BLADE
 Drag Blade Design
• the wind literally 
pushes the blades out of 
the way
• slower rotational speeds 
and high torque 
capabilities

Wind
DESIGN CRITERIA: TYPE OF BLADE
 Lift Blade Design
• The blade is essentially an airfoil, or 
wing
• When air flows past the blade, a wind 
speed and pressure differential is 
created between the upper and lower 
blade surfaces.
• The pressure at the lower surface is 
greater and thus acts to "lift" the 
blade.

• Lift­powered wind turbines have 
much higher rotational speeds than 
drag types and therefore are well 
suited for electricity generation. 
DESIGN CRITERIA: BLADE DESIGN
 Angle of Attack (Blade Angle)
 angle between the chord line of the airfoil and the flight 
direction
 Angle of attack has a large effect on the lift generated by an 
airfoil
 Typical values range from 1.0 to 15.0 degrees. 
DESIGN CRITERIA: BLADE DESIGN
 Angle of Attack (Blade Angle)
DESIGN CRITERIA: NUMBER OF 
BLADES
 The  determination  of  the  number  of  blades  involves  design 
considerations of aerodynamic efficiency, component costs, system 
reliability, and aesthetics.

 Aerodynamic  efficiency  increases  with  the  number  of  blades  but 

with diminishing return.
 Increasing  the  number  of  blades  from  one  to  two  yields  a  6% 
increase  in  efficiency,  whereas  increasing  the  blade  count  from 
two to three yields only an additional 3% in efficiency.
DESIGN CRITERIA: BLADE SHAPE
 The  rotor  blade  has  to  be  twisted,  so  as  to  achieve  an  optimal 
angle of attack throughout the length of the blade .
DESIGN CRITERIA: WIND TURBINE EFFICIENCY, 

 Betz Limit
 Maximum theoretical efficiency of a wind turbine, 59.3%
 Under Betz Law an ideal wind turbine would slow down the 
wind by 2/3 of its original speed.

 Typical efficiency is 35% to 45%
DESIGN CRITERIA: TIP SPEED 
RATIO, 
 Tip  speed  ratio  is  the  ratio  of  the  rotational  speed  of 
the blade to the wind speed

 The  larger  this  ratio,  the  faster  the  rotation  of  the 
wind turbine rotor at a given wind speed

 For electricity generation,
 Lift­type wind turbines: max = 10
 Drag­type wind turbines: max = 1
SEATWORK
 Give five advantages of wind energy technology.

 Discuss three environmental impacts of Wind 
energy technology.
QUIZ
 Develop a mathematical model relating available 
turbine power with measurable quantities.

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