Wind Power Generators

Humans have been attempting to harness the power of the wind throughout history.  Whether this has been in the form of windmills or sailing ships, the goal is the same; use the forces of nature to do work.  Fast forward to modern times, man is again using the wind.  This time it is in the form of the wind power generator in order to create electricity.

How Wind Power Generators Work

Those familiar with a motor know that it is configured with a magnetized rotor inside a metal housing.  This housing is wrapped in a conducting wire that turns the housing into an electro-magnet.  By changing the direction of the current flowing through the wire, one is able to change the poles of the electro-magnet, thus moving making the rotor spin.

The interesting thing is that the reverse also works.  If you manually spin the rotor, you will generate a current in the wire wrapped around the metal housing.  Combine this with a windmill that spins the rotor using the wind and you have a wind power generator.  Of course this is an extremely simplistic explanation but it gets the basic idea across.

Wind Power Generator Popularity

Wind power generators are gaining in popularity.  They can especially be found in areas of that possess few obstacles to hamper the wind.  Two of the greatest benefits of electricity generated through wind power are the fact that the wind blows without human influence and it is created without creating pollution.