eBook - Wind Power - Wind turbine construction plans SAVONIUS cp1.pdf

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Background ciency, this type of turbine must always face directly
into the wind. Many horizontal turbines have a large
The Savonius Wind Turbine wind vane that acts like a sail, helping them to stay
These plans are for the construction of a machine pointed in the right direction.
called a Savonius wind
turbine. Wind turbines Making electricity
come in two general We are surrounded by hundreds of appliances that
types, those whose use electricity to do work. But what is electricity?
main turning shaft is Basically, electricity is a fl ow of electrons in a metal
horizontal and points wire, or some other conductor. Electrons are tiny
into the wind, and particles found inside atoms, one of the basic build-
those with a vertical ing blocks of all matter. We call the fl ow of electrons
shaft that points up. through any conductor a “current of electricity.”
The Savonius is an
example of the vertical Each electron carries a tiny negative charge. When
axis type. It consists of A Savonius wind turbine. they move through a conductor, they produce an
two simple scoops that invisible fi eld of ic force, similar to that found
catch the wind and cause the shaft to turn. around a . The strength of that fi eld depends
on how many electrons are in motion. You can con-
This type of