Wind Energy Educators Workshop

Michael Arquin The Kidwind Project St. Paul, MN michael@kidwind.org

What is KidWind?
The KidWind Project is a team of teachers, students, engineers and practitioners exploring the science behind wind energy in classrooms around the US. Our goal is to introduce as many people as possible to the elegance of wind power through hands-on science activities which are challenging, engaging and teach basic science principles.

KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org

Why Wind Education in K-12 ?

Students learn science/math standards
Lessons are completely scalable from elementary through college level

Addresses myths regarding wind energy

Improves the local understanding of wind energy Provides a bulwark against misunderstandings and fictional problems with wind energy Science/Math activities with larger social purpose

Encourages higher interest in Science and Math Students learn about jobs/careers in wind industry, as well as opportunities for further training

Expensive Wind Kits

$99 ?? $200 !!

$200 ?? $800 !!
$300 Complete Renewable Energy Set Demonstration little experimental value

Typical Wind Lessons - Not Technical

Beaufort Scale Pinwheels Student Reports Demonstrations Discussion Activity All very interesting but very little of the science and technology related to the current wind industry is presented. In fact most text books are pretty negative about the future of wind and misrepresent the technology miserably.

This is strange because

Wind Energy is the Fastest Growing Energy Source in the World!!

US installed capacity grew 45% in 2007 and

50% in 2008!!!

KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org

KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org

2008: 8,358 megawatts (MW) of new wind energy capacity installed

50% growth rate! Brings US total installed wind energy capacity to 25,170 MW Enough electricity to power the equivalent of close to 7 million households! 2009 was a slower year due to the economy

KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org

KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org

Why such growthcosts!

1979: 40 cents/kWh

2000: 4-6 cents/kWh Increased Turbine Size

NSP 107 MW Lake Benton wind farm 4 cents/kWh (unsubsidized)

R&D Advances
Manufacturing Improvements

2004: 3 4.5 cents/kWh

Other Reason to teach

Elegant Power Source

Need to Change Perceptions

Wind Power
- History - Technology - The Wind Resource - Wind in the Classroom

KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org

Early Windmill in Afghanistan (900AD)

Jacobs Turbine 1920 - 1960

WinCharger 1930s 40s

Smith-Putnam Turbine Vermont, 1940's

Modern Windmills

Orientation
Turbines can be categorized into two overarching classes based on the orientation of the rotor Vertical Axis Horizontal Axis

Vertical Axis Turbines

Advantages
Omnidirectional
Accepts wind from any angle

Disadvantages
Rotors generally near ground where wind poorer Centrifugal force stresses blades Poor self-starting capabilities Requires support at top of turbine rotor Requires entire rotor to be removed to replace bearings Overall poor performance and reliability Have never been commercially successful (large scale)

Components can be mounted at ground level

Ease of service Lighter weight towers

Can theoretically use less materials to capture the same amount of wind

Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines

Rotors are usually Up-wind of tower Some machines have down-wind rotors, but only commercially available ones are small turbines Proven, viable technology

Modern Small Wind Turbines: High Tech, High Reliability, Low Maintenance

Technically Advanced Only 2-3 Moving Parts Very Low Maintenance Requirements Proven: ~ 5,000 On-Grid American Companies are the Market and Technology Leaders

10 kW

50 kW

400 W

900 W
(Not to scale)

Over-Speed Protection During High Winds

Upward Furling: The rotor tilts back during high winds

Angle Governor: The rotor turns up and to one side

Yawing Facing the Wind

Active Yaw (all medium &
large turbines produced today, & some small turbines from Europe)
Anemometer on nacelle tells controller which way to point rotor into the wind Yaw drive turns gears to point rotor into wind

Passive Yaw (Most small

turbines)
Tail vanes Downwind turbines

Wind forces alone direct rotor

Wacky Designs out there

Large Wind Turbines

450 base to blade Each blade 112 Span greater than 747 163+ tons total Foundation 20+ feet deep Rated at 1.5 5 megawatt Supply at least 350 homes

Wind Turbine Perspective

Workers
Blade
112 long

Nacelle
56 tons

Tower
3 sections

KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org

Maintenance

KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org

Wind Farms

Off-Shore Wind Farms

Middelgrunden

Importance of the WIND RESOURCE

Why do windmills need to be high in the sky??

Turbulent wind is bad wind

Calculation of Wind Power

Power the=wind Power in thein Wind AV3

Effect of swept area, A Effect of wind speed, V Effect of air density,

Swept Area: A = R2 Area of the circle swept by the rotor (m2).

Importance of Wind Speed

No other factor is more important to the amount of power available in the wind than the speed of the wind Power is a cubic function of wind speed

VXVXV
20% increase in wind speed means 73% more power Doubling wind speed means 8 times more power

KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org

Key Issues facing Wind Power

Wildlife Impacts

1980s California Wind Farm Older Technology + Higher RPMs + Lower Elevations + Lattice Towers + Poorly Sited = Bad News!

 In the November-December Audubon Magazine, John

Flicker, President of National Audubon Society, wrote a column stating that Audubon "strongly supports wind power as a clean alternative energy source," pointing to the link between global warming and the birds and other wildlife that scientist say it will kill.

Impacts of Wind Power: Noise

Modern turbines are relatively quiet Rule of thumb stay about 3x hub-height away from houses

Transmission Problems
Where is the wind? Where are the

population centers?
Where are the wind

farms?

How do we get wind

energy from the wind farms to the population centers?

Siting and NIMBY

Wind Energy in the Classroom

Standards/Skills
Scientific Processes (Collecting & Presenting Data, Performing Experiments, Repeating Trials, Using Models) Use of Simple Tools & Equipment Forces Cause Change Energy Transformations (Forms of Energy) Circuits/Electricity/Magnetism Weather Patterns Renewable Non Renewable Energy

Elementary
Engineering is Elementary Wind Chimes Wind Art Building simple blades

Middle
balloon

Building Wind Turbines Assessing Wind Resource Mathematics

~3m

streamers

Kite or balloon string

Secondary
Advanced Blade Design School Siting Projects Data Analysis Advanced Math

KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org

Math Curriculum

Circuits, Wind Farms, Battery Charging, and Hybrid Systems

KidWind Project | www.kidwind.org

Questions???

The KidWind Project www.kidwind.org