How is wind energy stored?
The mechanical energy can easily be converted into electrical energy by the rotation of the shaft of the wind turbine in direct current or DC form. From there this form of energy is converted from DC to AC form of energy. This is a very expensive option in the way of costs as well as because there is loss of power. Another method to store energy is by induction generators. Energy needs to be stored for the purposes of high demands or when the winds don’t blow hard even thought the blades of the windmills are adjustable in accordance with the wind speed.
Long term use of energy produced by wind mills can be achieved only by the storage of the energy. The ways to store the energy produced by the wind are
1) Energy is used to charge Electrolyte batteries
2) Lead-acid or Lead-cobalt car batteries are often used. These batteries may however prove to be expensive and inefficient– and may lose 10-25% of the total percentage of the energy stored in them.
3) Nickel-Iron, Nickel-cadmium, and zinc-air cells are often brought into use too. These have a record of being more efficient.
4) Windmills now use organic electrolyte batteries such as CuCl2, Ni Cl2, and NiF2 batteries as well as sodium-sulfur batteries, these operate in high temperature.
Nowadays energy is being stored not by the conversion to electrical energy, but by the morphing into thermal or electromagnetic energy.
Windmills are noisy business. A 300 kW turbine at a distance of 1 mile has a dB level to equal a traffic light 100 feet away. The sound levels in windmills are regulated. The rule stating that the Db level has to be kept below 46 dB in a residential area. These windmills can also be the cause of disturbance in the signals of radio’s, microwaves and also be a hindrance in the satellite reception as well.
