A windmill is a structure or machine that converts wind into usable energy through the rotation of a wheel made up of adjustable

blades. Traditionally, the energy generated by a windmill has been used to grind grain into flour. Windmills are designed by skilled craftsmen and can be constructed on site using hand tools. Windmills developed steadily over the centuries and achieved their most prominence in Europe during the eighteenth century. They were largely replaced as a power generating structure when steam power was harnessed during the nineteenth century. Today, windmill technology is experiencing a renaissance and the wind turbine promises to be an important alternative to fossil fuels in the future. History Man has used wind to power machines for centuries. As early as 3000 B.C., people used wind energy for the first time in the form of sail boats in Egypt. Sails captured the energy in wind to pull a boat across the water. The earliest windmills, used to grind grain, came about either in 2000 B.C. in ancient Babylon or 200 B.C. in ancient Persia, depending on who you ask. These early devices consisted of one or more vertically-mounted wooden beams, on the bottom of which was a grindstone, attached to a rotating shaft that turned with the wind. The concept of using wind energy for grinding grain spread rapidly through the Middle East and was in wide use long before the first windmill appeared in Europe. Starting in the 11th century A.D., European Crusaders brought the concept home with them, and the Dutch-type windmill most of us are familiar with was born. Modern development of wind-energy technology and applications was well underway by the 1930s, when an estimated 600,000 windmills supplied rural areas with electricity and water-pumping services. Once broad-scale electricity distribution spread to farms and country towns, use of wind energy in the United States started to subside, but it picked up again after the U.S. oil shortage in the early 1970s. Over the past 30 years, research and development has fluctuated with federal government interest and tax incentives. In the mid-'80s, wind turbines had a typical maximum power rating of 150 kW. In 2006, commercial, utility-scale turbines are commonly rated at over 1 MW and are available in up to 4 MW capacity. There are two designs of wind turbines, the horizontal and vertical axis wind turbine. Each type of turbine is based upon the axis on which the turbine rotates. Vertical-Axis Windmills Vertical-axis windmills are designed with a rotor shaft that points vertically. In regions where the wind is highly variable, this design is used because the axis does not have to point directly into the wind. The vertical-axis windmill has a few benefits: It does not have to be mounted on a tower, and therefore uses less building materials. In places where the wind direction changes often, the vertical-axis windmill still produces energy for mechanical purposes. Furthermore, it has a lower start-up speed--about 6 miles/hour--at which it begins collecting energy than the horizontal types. Lastly, the vertical-axis types create less noise, so they do not disturb a community if they are built in a populated area. The windmills produces drawbacks that which to the vertical-axis rotary shaft the include torque,

diminishes

amount of mechanical energy gained from the kinetic energy of the wind. Horizontal-Axis Windmills Horizontal-axis windmills, in contrast with vertical-axis windmills, have a small rotary shaft that is mounted horizontally on top of a tower, facing directly into the wind. Because the blades create turbulence behind them, they are placed upwind of the tower. In addition, the blades are made to be very stiff and positioned away from the tower, to reduce

the chances that they may swing into the tower itself. Of the horizontal axes versions, there are a variety of these including the post mill, smock mill, tower mill, and the fan mill. The horizontal-axis windmill has a few advantages: The blades can pitch different degrees, so they can be positioned remotely to collect the maximum amount of wind energy. In addition, the tall tower thrusts the windmill into higher powered wind so that more energy is collected. Lastly, the horizontal-axis windmill's blades are always pointed perpendicular to the wind so that there is no backtracking with the wind, which inherently loses energy efficiency. 1. Post Mill The earliest design is the post mill. It is named for the large, upright post to which the body of the mill is balanced. This design gives flexibility to the mill operator because the windmill can be turned to catch the most wind depending on the direction it is blowing. To keep the post stable a support structure is built around it. Typically, this structure is elevated off the ground with brick or stone to prevent rotting. The post mills were first developed by the French and English and built throughout Russia, Europe, America and colonies all over the world. The post mill is used for grinding stone, but they are small in size and this limits their grinding capacity. There are two types of post mills. The open post mill's bottom timbers are exposed to the elements. And the closed post mills' bottom timbers are enclosed and can be used for storage. The post mill has four blades mounted on a central post. The horizontal shaft of the blades is connected to a large break wheel. The break wheel interacts with a gear system, called the wallower, which rotates a central, vertical shaft. This motion can then be used to power water pumping or grain grinding activities. SMOCK MILL The smock mill is similar to the post mill but has included some significant improvements. The name is derived from the fact that the body looks vaguely like a dress or smock as they were called. One advantage is the fact that only the top of the mill is moveable. This allows the main body structure to be more permanent while the rest could be adjusted to collect wind no matter what direction it is blowing. Since it does not move, the main body can be made larger and taller. This means that more equipment can be housed in the mill, and that taller sails can be used to collect even more wind. Most smock mills are eight sided although this can vary from six to 12. The tower mill is a European windmill built along the sea shore, facing the sea and used to generate energy. The sails of tower mills are like the sail of a boat. The sails have several masts--structure above the upper part of the boat to hold sails--are fixed to a rotating shaft and were first built both on and offshore near Crete, Italy and Greece. There are different styles of tower mills. Grondzeilers' sails rotate and can be accessed from the ground. Beltmolen is built on top of a hill or dike. Binnenkruier is a mock mill with a cap turned by a tail fan. Buitendkruier's cap is turned by the tail pole. Tower mills are further improvements on smock mills. They have a rotating cap and permanent body, but this body is made of brick or stone. This fact makes it possible for the towers to be rounded. A round structure allows for even larger and taller towers. Additionally, brick and stone make the tower windmills the most weather resistant design.

The tower mill with a stage, the corn mill that is often seen in old towns, generally on the town walls (wall mill) (after Krook) The wind turbine windmill is characterized by its giant three-rotor design. This type of windmill is used to generate mechanical power and electricity, by converting kinetic energy (energy of motion) into mechanical power. The mechanical power connects to a generator, which is converted into electricity. In simple terms, you could say that wind turbines use wind to make electricity and the electricity from the wind turbine travel through distribution lines to provide electricity to schools, businesses and homes. Wind turbines produce electricity by using the natural power of the wind to drive a generator. The wind is a clean and sustainable fuel source, it does not create emissions and it will never run out as it is constantly replenished by energy from the sun. In many ways, wind turbines are the natural evolution of traditional windmills, but now typically have three blades, which rotate around a horizontal hub at the top of a steel tower. Most wind turbines start generating electricity at wind speeds of around 3-4 metres per second (m/s), (8 miles per hour); generate maximum rated power at around 15 m/s (30mph); and shut down to prevent storm damage at 25 m/s or above (50mph).

Wind Turbine Operation The simplest possible wind-energy turbine consists of three crucial parts. The rotor blades are basically the sails of the system. When the wind forces the blades to move, it has transferred some of its energy to the rotor. The wind-turbine shaft connects to the center of the rotor. When the rotor spins, the shaft spins too. The rotor has transferred its mechanical, rotational energy to the shaft, which enters an electrical generator on the other end. The generator consists of magnets and a conductor. The conductor is typically a coiled wire. Inside the generator, the shaft connects to an assembly of permanent magnets that surrounds the coil of wire. When the rotor spins the shaft, the shaft spins the assembly of magnets, generating voltage in the coil of wire. That voltage drives electrical current (typically alternating current, or AC power) out through power lines for distribution. The air flow around a wind turbine blade is completely dominated by the head wind from the rotational movement of the blade through the air. The blade aerodynamic profile produces lift because of its streamlined shape. The rear side is more curved than the front side. The lift effect on the blade aerodynamic profile causes the forces of the air to point in the correct direction. The blade width, thickness, and twist is a compromise between the need for streamlining and the need for strength. At constant shaft speed, in step with the grid, the angle of attack increases with increasing wind speed. The blade stalls when the angle of attack exceeds 15 degrees. In a stall condition the air can no longer flow smoothly or laminar over the rear side of the blade, lift therefore falls and drag increases. Aero The wind passes over both surfaces of the airfoil shaped blade but passes more rapidly over the longer (upper) side of the airfoil, thus creating a lower-pressure area above the airfoil. The pressure differential between top and bottom surfaces results in aerodynamic lift. In an aircraft wing, this force causes the airfoil to rise, lifting the aircraft off the ground. Since the blades of a wind turbine are constrained to move in a plane with the hub as its center, the lift force causes rotation about the hub. In addition to the lift force, a drag force perpendicular to the lift force impedes rotor rotation. A prime objective in wind turbine design is for the blade to have a relatively high lift-to-drag ratio. This ratio can be varied along the length of the blade to optimize the turbine's energy output at various wind speeds. The amount of electricity produced from a wind turbine depends on three factors: 1) Wind speed The power available from the wind is a function of the cube of the wind speed. Therefore if the wind blows at twice the speed, its energy content will increase eight-fold. Turbines at a site where the wind speed averages 8 m/s produce around 75-100% more electricity than those where the average wind speed is 6 m/s.

2) Wind turbine availability This is the capability to operate when the wind is blowing, i.e. when the wind turbine is not undergoing maintenance. This is typically 98% or above for modern European machines. 3) The way wind turbines are arranged Wind farms are laid out so that one turbine does not take the wind away from another. However other factors such as environmental considerations, visibility and grid connection requirements often take precedence over the optimum wind capture layout. Bangui Wind Mills These Bangui Wind Mills in Ilocos Norte can be considered as one of the first wind turbines to be established in the Philippines and to be the biggest in Southeast Asia. The 70-meters Bangui Windmills are located in Bangui, Ilocos Norte, Philippines facing South China Sea and arranged in a single row spaced approximately 326 meters apart. The windmills (NorthWind Bangui Bay Project) were a project by the NorthWind Development Corporation as a practice renewable energy sources and to help reduce the greenhouse gases that cause global warming and started with an aid grant of $48 million dollars from the by the Danish Government to Ilocos Norte Province in 1998. Ilocos Norte is strategically situated near the Asia-Pacific monsoon. By having this geography, one can expect that Ilocos Norte can be considered as a place blessed with powerful wind. In this area, wind mostly comes from the north-east, from the sea towards the land. To optimize the full benefit of the winds, turbines are installed along the shore facing the sea effectively removing wind breaks and achieving a terrain roughness of class 0. This unique natural occurrence became the basis why it is the best place where wind turbines will be erected. Finding and preparing the construction site is a crucial step in creating a functional windmill. First, an area with a prevailing wind of at least 15 mph (24 km/hr) is needed. Then the area needs to be cleared of trees and other structures that may block wind. In some cases, a dirt mound or concrete base is erected to raise the windmill off the surface to catch more wind. The 'Wind Farm" as it is aptly called consist of 15 wind turbines. The turbines are on-shore and arranged in a single row spaced 326 meters apart. The turbines hub height (ground level to center of nacelle that part holding the blades) is 70 meters high (roughly equivalent to a 23 storey building), each blade is 41 meters long (just 9 meters shy of a Olympic sized pool) giving a rotor diameter of 82 meters and a wind swept area of 5,281 square meters. It is a 24.75 M power generation plant consisting of 15 units Vestas NM82 wind turbines rated at 1.65 MW each. Current electrical power production is around 25 megawatts and contributes nearly 40% of the provinces electrical power. With the use of Pagudpud Windmills, people are able to generate natural source of energy. By having this situation, use of commercial energy source was greatly reduces which help the local government save a lot of money. Renewable energy is vital in our fi ght against climate change and technologies such as wind energy can help in building a sustainable electricity generation system for the future. Windmills are currently being used to provide energy to the general public. They are hooked up to computer grids which send the generated electricity to homes. They are also occasionally used privately as one-home power stations, however, this generally uses only one windmill as compared to the wind farms which can cover several acres. Occasionally, they are used to pump water. There are a range of advantages and disadvantages of wind energy to look at, including the many problems associated with wind turbines. Wind turbines are becoming more and more popular throughout the world, due to global warming and the need to generate a sustainable source of energy. On this page you will find a list of the various advantages and disadvantages of wind power. Advantages of wind power

Once up and running, wind turbines produce 100% zero pollution; they are one of the most environmentally friendly sources of energy available at present time. Wind turbines have a low embodied energy, requiring minimal manufacturing, transport and installation costs, in comparison to other alternative energy forms such as solar panels, CHP.

Compared to solar energy, the wind can (depending on weather conditions) generate electricity constantly, 24 hours a day, throughout a windy night or on a cloudy day, which then can be stored for later use. Wind power is a worldwide recognized symbol of green energy, the use of which indicates the user is environmentally conscious. Many alternative forms of wind turbines are available, which unlike decentralized power plants, can provide energy to individual homes, installed on rooftops and in gardens. Wind turbines are available anywhere, allowing remote rural and poorer areas which are not connected to the main power grid to produce their own electricity. This encourages energy independence, reducing our dependence on power sources. See Building Resilience in Communities Generally installation of a home wind turbine is easier and cheaper than the installation of other renewable methods of generating electricity, such as solar panels. You can earn money by selling your excess electricity to a local energy supplier, reducing payback times.

Disadvantages of wind power

Wind power cannot be completely relied upon; as naturally, wind is intermittent, varying from zero to gale force speeds. This means many supplies need an alternative energy supply to meet demands in low wind conditions. Use of wind power in poor locations, particularly urban, densely populated, low lying areas, is not effective and does not produce significant energy. Wind turbines may be adopted by businesses to create a green faade to mask other more environmentally damaging activities. Wind turbines are often clustered together in Wind farms which are often described as visually unattractive, spoiling of the countryside, altering its natural form. Wind turbines are noisy, a problem particularly when installed close to homes and buildings, with decibels matching that of high speed traffic. Wind turbines installed on homes can create turbulence and vibrations which, if installed incorrectly may damage property and/or be ineffective. The power output of individual wind turbines remain restricted by their design, with the largest single turbine available today able to produce enough electricity for approximately 500 homes.