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From gust to grid: follow the energy through a wind turbine

Change the wind and the blade pitch. Watch the rotor turn the shaft, the gearbox speed it up, the generator make current, and the cable carry it down to town. A simplified teaching model, not real production figures.

Fig. 1 · Simplified turbine, nacelle cutawayParked
BRG SLOW · FAST AC→DC→AC Wind → 12345678910
Blade cross-section
windturning energyelectricitypitch and control signalsheat, brake, trips

1 · Wind

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2 · Rotor takes

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3 · Shaft speed

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4 · Generator gives

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5 · Grid and homes

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8 m/s (model)
calmpartial loadstorm
0°
0° · face the wind90° · feathered
Try:

What's happening

A simplified model

Wind power rises with the cube of wind speed. Pitching a blade away from the wind spills part of it, so the same rotor can be gentle or greedy. Thresholds, ratios and percentages are illustrative, shown against a made-up "model rating". No real machine's output is promised.

  1. 1
    Rotor bladesCatch the wind. Pitch twists them about their length.
  2. 2
    Hub + pitch driveTurns each blade to catch more or less wind.
  3. 3
    Main shaftSlow, high-torque turning, carried by a bearing.
  4. 4
    GearboxSpeeds the turning up for the generator.
  5. 5
    Brake discClamps the fast shaft to park the rotor.
  6. 6
    GeneratorMagnets turning past coils make current.
  7. 7
    ConverterShapes the output so it can join the grid.
  8. 8
    Controller + wind sensorReads wind, commands pitch, brake and grid link.
  9. 9
    Yaw ring + tower cableNacelle turns into the wind; cable runs down.
  10. 10
    Transformer + gridLifts voltage and sends power to homes.

Cutaway not to scale. Gearbox ratio, speeds and thresholds are schematic; some real turbines use no gearbox at all. Colours follow the energy: blue wind, orange turning energy, green electricity.