1. Wind Energy in Residential Areas
Practicality and Efficiency of Turbines
The Magic School Bus: Jared Weist, Daniel Estelle, Jim Peckham

2. Components of a wind turbine
TOWER: Supports the weight of turbine mechanism and absorbs loads put on the turbine by external forces
NACELLE: Attached to tower, rotates towards wind to maximize rotor speed, houses generator assembly
BLADES: Blade design generally uses lift, the creation of a high and low pressure zone from the wind to move the blades.
ROTOR: Holds blades, rotates in order to turn generator to produce power
1.Height of tower is set to catch higher wind speeds that exist at higher altitudes.
2.Nacelle contains generator, gearbox, assembly required to produce power.
3.Blades on the typical wind turbine work like aeroplane wings.
4.Rotor spins from wind, which is then gear to higher rpms to generate power.
Image from kentwindenergy.co.uk/

3. What are the optimal conditions?
Wind speed is high enough across the United States for wind turbines almost anywhere (NREL)
Traditional turbines are required to be at least 300 meters away from any residential area due to volume. (BWE Bundesverband)
Wind speeds increase in winter, especially around areas with lake effect.
This is too wordy and needs to be cut down… just have the main ideas on the slide
Image from nrel.gov/rredc/

4. Wind patterns in residential areas
Wind speeds can vary due to differing landscapes (Chiras 223).
Example: tree cover can cause turbulence and slow down wind speeds, or lakes can increase uneven heating, increasing wind speeds
Houses can cause turbulence, the “valley” between houses accelerates wind and causes disruptions at ground level, as well as above ground level. (Chiras 223-4)
Bat and bird death is an environmental factor that needs to be considered and avoided, and can impede the placement of turbines within their habitats.

5. Environmental Concerns
Wind energy is a clean renewable source of energy, and as more and more energy is required to power the world, the environment has to be protected and considered more and more. (NREL)
Wind turbines offset their carbon manufacturing cost in months. This means years of completely clean energy production. (Chiras 227)
Turbines have minimal impact on the environment compared to other sources of energy, specifically fossil fuels without filtration systems. (NREL)

6. What is the wind vs power output?
The maximum conditions for most windmills are around mph.
Slower speeds decrease the power output drastically.
For example, if the wind speed decreases by half then the power output decreases by a factor of 8.
Obviously every windmill has a different power output at different wind speeds, but most follow the trend shown below.

7. Cost vs Benefit
On average, windmills produce $4000-$8000 worth of energy per year.
The average size windmill costs around $50,000-$80,000.
This makes the average payoff around years.
Image from thefiscaltimes.com
Image from zibbett.com

8. Traditional vs modern wind turbines
Below are some examples of wind turbines in use today and in the past.
Image from danspapers.com
Image from interberg.com
Image from Wikipedia.org
Image from connect-green.com

9. Future Wind Turbines Pros: More practical
More aesthetically pleasing could lead to more desire
Cons:
Produce less energy
Costs could outweigh most of the benefits
Image from alternative-energy-news.info

10. Challenges: Wind patterns are never certain
Costs could outweigh benefits or take too long to payoff
Maintenance prices could be high because of new market
Difficult to be approved of in many neighborhoods
Image from solar.excluss.com

11. Works Cited
"Building an Offshore Wind Farm." Kent Wind Energy. London Array Limited, n.d. Web. 23 Oct <
BWE Bundesverband WindEnergie. "The Structure of a Modern Wind Turbine – An Overview." The Structure of a Modern Wind Turbine An Overview. German Wind Energy Association, Sept Web. 23 Oct <
Chiras, Daniel D. "Chapter 8: Wind Power – Meeting Your Needs for Electricity." The Homeowner's Guide to Renewable Energy. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society, Print.
"Wind Energy Resource Atlas of the Unites States" RReDC Online. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 16 Aug Web. 23 Oct <
Knoll, Aaron, and Katherine Klink. "Residential- and Commercial-scale Distributed Wind Energy in North Dakota, USA." Renewable Energy (2009): Web.
Simmons, Randy. "What's the True Cost of Wind Power?" Newsweek. N.p., 11 Apr Web. 08 Nov <
"Wind Energy Basics." Upper Great Plains Wind Energy. N.p., Web. 8 Nov <