Hydro, Wind, Solar ENERGY

TEAM 5 – GREEN ENERGY

HYDRO ENERGY

Hydro-power or water power is power derived from the energy of falling water and running water, which may be harnessed for useful purposes. Since ancient times, hydro-power has been used for irrigation and the operation of various mechanical devices, such as watermills, sawmills, textile mills, dock cranes, domestic lifts, power houses and paint making.

The Bernoulli equation can be considered as a principle of conservation of energy, suitable for moving fluids.The behavior usually called "Venturi effect" or "Bernoulli effect" is the reduction of fluid pressure in areas where the flow velocity is increased. This decrease in pressure in a narrowing of the duct may seem contradictory, unless you consider the pressure as an energy density. Passage through the narrowing, the fluid velocity, so its kinetic energy should be increased at the expense of pressure energy

Bernoulli

Law (equation) is a consequence of Bernoulli's law of conservation of energy for steady flow of an ideal (ie, without internal friction) incompressible fluid

Since the early 20th century, the term has been used almost exclusively in conjunction with the modern development of hydro-electric power, which allowed use of distant energy sources. Another method used to transmit energy used a trompe, which produces compressed air from falling water. Compressed air could then be piped to power other machinery at a distance from the waterfall. Hydro power is a renewable energy source.Having fallen out of favor during the late 20th century due to the disruptive ecological and social effects of large impoundments, hydropower enjoyed a revival by 2013 as international institutions such as the World Bank tried to find solutions to economic development which avoided adding substantial amounts of carbon to the atmosphere.Water's power is manifested in hydrology, by the forces of water on the riverbed and banks of a river. When a river is in flood, it is at its most powerful, and moves the greatest amount of sediment. This higher force results in the removal of sediment and other material from the riverbed and banks of the river, locally causing erosion, transport and, with lower flow, sedimentation downstream.

WIND ENERGY

“Of all the forces of nature, I should think the wind contains the largest amount of motive power. All the power exerted by all the men, beasts, running-water, and steam, shall not equal the one hundredth part of what is exerted by the blowing of the wind. Quite possibly one of the greatest discoveries, will be the taming and harnessing of it.”

- Abraham Lincoln - 1860

WIND ENERGY

Wind vane: Measures wind direction and communicates with the yaw drive to orient the turbine properly with respect to the wind.

Nacelle: Sits atop the tower and contains the gear box, low- and high-speed shafts, generator, controller, and brake. Some nacelles are large enough for a helicopter to land on.

Blades: Lifts and rotates when wind is blown over them, causing the rotor to spin. Most turbines have either two or three blades.

WIND ENERGYCOMPONENTS OF A WINDMILL

Anemometer: Measures the wind speed and transmits wind speed data to the controllerBlades: Lifts and rotates when wind is blown over them, causing the rotor to spin. Most turbines have either two or three blades.Brake: Stops the rotor mechanically, electrically, or hydraulically, in emergenciesController: Starts up the machine at wind speeds of about 8 to 16 miles per hour (mph) and shuts off the machine at about 55 mph. Turbines do not operate at wind speeds above about 55 mph because they may be damaged by the high winds.Gear box: Connects the low-speed shaft to the high-speed shaft and increases the rotational speeds from about 30-60 rotations per minute (rpm), to about 1,000-1,800 rpm; this is the rotational speed required by most generators to produce electricity. Generator: Produces 60-cycle AC electricity; it is usually an off-the-shelf induction generator.High-speed shaft: Drives the generator.Low-speed shaft: Turns the low-speed shaft at about 30-60 rpm.

Nacelle: Sits atop the tower and contains the gear box, low- and high-speed shafts, generator, controller, and brake. Some nacelles are large enough for a helicopter to land on.Pitch: Turns (or pitches) blades out of the wind to control the rotor speed, and to keep the rotor from turning in winds that are too high or too low to produce electricity.Rotor: Blades and hub together form the rotor.Tower: Made from tubular steel, concrete, or steel lattice. Supports the structure of the turbine. Because wind speed increases with height, taller towers enable turbines to capture more energy and generate more electricity.Wind direction: Determines the design of the turbine. Upwind turbines—like the one shown here—face into the wind while downwind turbines face away.Wind vane: Measures wind direction and communicates with the yaw drive to orient the turbine properly with respect to the wind.Yaw drive: Orients upwind turbines to keep them facing the wind when the direction changes. Downwind turbines don't require a yaw drive because the wind manually blows the rotor away from it.Yaw motor: Powers the yaw drive.

COMPONENTS CONTINUED

GREEN ENERGY PRODUCTION IN THE U.S. AS OF 2010

WIND ENERGYWind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such

as using wind turbines to make electrical power, windmills for mechanical power, wind pumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships.

Large wind farms consist of hundreds of individual wind turbines which are connected to the electric power transmission network. For new constructions, onshore wind is an inexpensive source of electricity, competitive with or in many places cheaper than fossil fuel plants. Small onshore wind farms provide electricity to isolated locations. Utility companies increasingly buy surplus electricity produced by small domestic wind turbines. Offshore wind is steadier and stronger than on land, and offshore farms have less visual impact, but construction and maintenance costs are considerably higher.

Wind power, as an alternative to fossil fuels, is plentiful, renewable, widely distributed, clean, produces no greenhouse gas emissions during operation and uses little land. The effects on the environment are generally less problematic than those from other power sources. As of 2011, Denmark is generating more than a quarter of its electricity from wind and 83 countries around the world are using wind power to supply the electricity grid. In 2010 wind energy production was over 2.5% of total worldwide electricity usage, and growing rapidly at more than 25% per annum.

Wind power is very consistent from year to year but has significant variation over shorter time scales. As the proportion of windpower in a region increases, a need to upgrade the grid, and a lowered ability to supplant conventional production can occur. Power management techniques such as having excess capacity storage, geographically distributed turbines, dispatchable backing sources, storage such as pumped-storage hydroelectricity, exporting and importing power to neighboring areas or reducing demand when wind production is low, can greatly mitigate these problems. In addition, weather forecasting permits the electricity network to be readied for the predictable variations in production that occur.

SOLAR ENERGY

“I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait ‘til oil and coal run out before we tackle that.”        -Thomas Edison - 1931

COMPONENTS OF A SOLAR PANEL

SOLAR ENERGY

Frame-Holds all of the components that makes up the solar panel

Metalization- A series of Photovoltaic cells that are used to harvest the power from the sun.

Terminal and leads- Feeds the power produced from the photovoltaic cells to where it is needed.

SOLAR ENERGY

Frame-Holds all of the components that makes up the solar panel

LightSwitch Frontsheet- Protects the Photovoltaic cells of a solar panel from any damage.

LightSwitch Encapsulent- An anti-reflective material used to capture more of the suns photons.

Metalization- A series of Photovoltaic cells that are used to harvest the power from the sun.

Encapsulent- The encasement of the electrical components that insulates the component as a whole and protects the wires from the environment.

Back sheet- Used to protect the photovoltaic cells and electrical components from external harm and stress.

Terminal and leads- Feeds the power produced from the photovoltaic cells to where it is needed.

COMPONENTS OF A SOLAR PANEL

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"Photovoltaic Cell Parts - Google Search." Photovoltaic Cell Parts - Google Search. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2014.

"Wind Power Glossary." Otherpower. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2014.