Background and Tutorials

Tutorial Videos
How to Make a Wind Turbine

How to Build Your Own Wind Turbine(2)
More Wind Mill Tutorials

Background Information

In this day and age the need for clean, efficient, and abundant energy is in high demand. The energy sources that we use today are inefficient, limited, and dangerous to their environment for the most part. One of the cleanest forms of energy is wind power. It produces minimal pollution and does not need as much maintenance as other forms of energy. However it is not practical because of a major flaw. In comparison to coal and nuclear energy which are roughly 90 to 95 percent efficient in producing energy, most wind turbines are only about 40 percent efficient. This means that in order to form wind power to produce as much energy as other forms of energy a large amount of mills are needed.
Not only is the purpose to learn the background and mechanics of present day turbine technology, but the lab also focuses on how this environmentally safe energy can be harnessed more efficiently. Through self-design of a small scale turbine, along with other required materials to ensure that everyone stays on track, the lab will educate students on the new technology of wind turbines, how to analyze the present day data, how to find ways to improve the current wind turbine system, and teach the over all process of an engineering design project. The motivation for the lab is to understand why the current turbine systems included in wind farms are inefficient, and creating a better turbine design based on that information.

The very first wind turbine, 1888 by Charles Brush