Wind Power Challenge

How does it work? Energy 101 – Wind

Turbines

Wind Power: Advantages It’s a clean fuel source – no emissions It’s domestic – no reliance on other

countries It’s renewable – can’t be used up

because wind is driven by the sun It’s cheap – 4 to 6 cents per kilowatt

hour

Wind Power: Challenges Initial investment is expensive Good wind sites are often remote –

transmission lines are long Has to compete with other uses for land

that might be more highly valued Environmental impacts: noise,

visual/aesthetic, birds occasionally fly into rotors…

Facts from http://www1.eere.energy.gov/wind/wind_basics.html

Designs There are many viable wind turbine

designs – developers are always looking for one that is slightly more efficient

Your Task: Design and build a set of blades

attached to a rotor that will convert the most wind power to electricity

Materials: Cork (2 per group) Skewers (4-5) Masking Tape Toothpicks (5-10) Construction paper Plastic wrap Aluminum foil

Legos (tower building)

DC Motor (1 per group)

Amp Meter (1 per class)

Glue sticks

Requirements: Tower, propeller and rotor must be able

to spin freely for 30 seconds when placed in front of fan.

It must be made from class materials

Winner: The team who builds the turbine that

generates the most electricity (as determined by highest reading) when attached to the amp meter in a 30 second period wins.