Windmill questions???

Question

im in the 11th grade and were talking about these windmill that can produce energy and i was wondering how much do they cost and where can buy them. is there a website i can look at?

Answer 1

i will try to tell you a whole lot so that you can read about the windmills and understand more as you read.

first, all windmills are designed to convert wind energy into electrical energy. to do this, the wind must have a certain speed (wind pressure) in order to turn the blade.  it is not just turning, it is turning at a specific speed necessary to produce the power.

windmills have a small generator inside them and an alternator.  the generator may produce as little as 48 volts DC, which is converted in the alternator into electrical power.

if the wind power is too high, the windmills are shut down to prevent damage to the generator.

what that translates into is a number of hours per year that a generator can actually run.

next is the windmill. the huge ones like t. boone pickens is talking about building have 200 yards of concrete at the base of them, they are expensive to set up, and the parts are huge.  

special permits are required to move the pieces as the trucks really can't make turns in town, and on some over passes, they have to be allowed to use the feeder road to move unimpeded.

if a family bought a windmill for 10,000, given the price of power, it would take about 15-25 years to pay for itself.

alternate energy is a curious power to be sure, and you need to really do some homework to understand how at this time, it is not viable to the economy and can only exist with government handouts

Answer 2

http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/...

This website should answer your questions.