Animation demonstration of wind power generation principle diagram

How do wind turbines work?

Wind turbines harness the wind—a clean, free, and widely available renewable energy source—to generate electric power. The animation below is interactive. You can start and stop the turbine’s movement, hover over parts to see their description, and use the icons in the lower right corner of the animation to switch views.

What is the difference between upwind and downwind turbines?

Upwind turbines—like the one shown here—face into the wind while downwind turbines face away. Most utility-scale land-based wind turbines are upwind turbines. The wind vane measures wind direction and communicates with the yaw drive to orient the turbine properly with respect to the wind.

How much electricity can a wind turbine generate?

The amount of electricity that a wind turbine can generate depends mostly on the size of the turbine, the area swept by the turbine blades, the air density, and the wind speed. The overall design of the wind turbine is also crucial for how efficiently the blades can capture the wind.

How does a wind turbine pitch system work?

The pitch system adjusts the angle of the wind turbine's blades with respect to the wind, controlling the rotor speed. By adjusting the angle of a turbine's blades, the pitch system controls how much energy the blades can extract.

Do wind turbines have a horizontal axis?

Most modern wind turbines are built with a horizontal-axis similar to the one seen in the figure. The figure is also a common up-wind turbine, meaning that the for the turbine to perform effectively, the nose and blades of the turbine should be facing the wind.

How do you know if a wind turbine is aerodynamic?

Step-by-step look at each piece of a wind turbine from diagram above: (1) Notice from the figure that the wind direction is blowing to the right and the nose of the wind turbine faces the wind. (2) The nose of the wind turbine is constructed with an aerodynamic design and faces the wind.