Lab Rules

Sean Dengler, Lab Manager

Problem-Based Learning Can a wind turbine economically and sufficiently generate

electricity for a village on the Hopi Indian Reservation? Exploration Kit

DC motor (1.5-3.0 V) Wire leads with alligator clips Propeller AA Battery (1.5 V) Light Bulb (2.33 V, 270 mA) Multimeter

Figure 1 Wind Speed Map of Arizona2

Hopi Reservation

Wind speed data from the Hopi site

0

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.1

0.12

0.14

Wind Speed, meters/sec

Pro

babi

lity

Matching the Wind Turbine to the site

0.0%

1.0%

2.0%

3.0%

4.0%

5.0%

6.0%

7.0%

8.0%

9.0%

10.0%

11.0%

12.0%

13.0%

14.0%

15.0%

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Wind Speed (m/sec)

Pro

babi

lity

(%)

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4

Pow

er/R

ated

Pow

er

Wind Speed Distribution

Siemons 2.4 MW

Vestas V52 850 kW

Vestas V-82 2 speed

GE 1.5 MW SLE

Suzlon 950 kW