WIND POWER

We are learning about wind power

Facts about wind turbines

• Wind mills have been in use since 2000 B.C. and were first developed in China and Persia.

• A single wind turbine can power 500 homes. • Most wind turbines (95%) are installed on

private land.• American wind power is a $10 billion a year

industry.

These are some pictures of wind turbines

So how do wind turbines make electricity? Simply stated, a wind turbine works the opposite of a fan. Instead of using electricity to make wind, like a fan, wind turbines use wind to make electricity. The wind turns the blades, which spin a shaft, which connects to a generator and makes electricity.

How do wind turbines work ?

What are wind turbines made of ?

• A Typical Wind Turbine. Towers are mostly cylindrical, made of steel, painted light grey, and from 25 to 75 metres in height. Wind turbines can have from one to three rotor blades, made of fibreglass-reinforced polyester or wood-epoxy. The blades are usually between 30 and 80 metres in diameter.

We are also learning about solar panels

o Solar energy is obtained from sunlight.

o Solar cells convert light energy into electricity.

o Large numbers of solar cells are put together to create solar panels.

o These are some pictures of solar panels

How do solar panels work Simply put, a solar panel

works by allowing photons, or particles of light, to knock electrons free from atoms, generating a flow of electricity. Solar panels actually comprise many, smaller units called photovoltaic cells. (Photovoltaic simply means they convert sunlight into electricity.) Many cells linked together make up a solar panel.

This is a picture of how solar panels work

The last thing we are going to talk about is the sun

The Sun is a star found at the center of the Solar System.

Light from the Sun reaches Earth in around 8 minutes.

It makes up around 99.86% of the Solar System’s mass.

•Light from the Sun reaches Earth in around 8 minutes

These are pictures of the sun

By Ellie and Melissa