Interactive Primary Newsletter 36 Sun and Wind (Renewable Energy Special)

School wind turbines In May 2004 five Fife Primary schools each had a rooftop wind turbine device installed as part of a pilot study jointly funded by the Scottish Executive, Renewable Devices, Scottish Power and Fife Council. It was projected that each turbine could generate up to 4000 kW hours of green electricity per year, saving up to 1720 kg of carbon dioxide. Figure 7 - School turbine installed at Collydean Primary The pilot study was launched at Collydean Primary in Glenrothes. Recently, we decided to go and find out how the turbine was performing. The school janitor, Mr Bob Gold, is an enthusiastic advocate of the wind turbine and provided us with a wealth of information (technical and non-technical!). He is also willing to spread the word to any other interested parties. The wind turbine (Fig.7) is about two metres across with five angled blades to catch the wind. Two tail fins ensure that the turbine is constantly being directed to face the wind. There is an integral safety device to ensure that if the wind is too strong the turbine will stop automatically. The direct current produced by the turbine is conveyed to the school switch room where an inverter changes it to alternating current suitable for sending to the National Grid. It can produce up to 1.5 Kw per hour, (currently worth about 9p), and all electricity produced by the turbine is offset against the school electricity bill. A meter (Fig.8) shows the amount of power the turbine has produced and the rate at which it is currently working. Because this was the first turbine to be installed there were some teething problems but these have now been overcome, and on the bright and breezy day of our visit the turbine was working perfectly and making very little noise. Figure 8 - Display showing kWhr generated We visited a Primary Six class who were very aware of the importance of being able to produce “green” electricity from their turbine. Typical comments included - “it is eco-friendly”, “it shows we care about the environment”, “we are not using up energy resources”, “the meter shows how much we have made”. Each term, Mr Gold has one class read the meter regularly and construct graphs to show how the amount of power produced varies over time. He suggested that it would be useful if an LCD display could be installed at the entrance to the school to provide constant monitoring of the wind turbine’s performance, wind speed and the energy produced. Mr Gold reported that parties from other schools come to visit the turbine and find out about its potential. We would be interested to hear from other schools that have had similar devices installed. Our sources suggest that the installation of wind turbines has not always been such a positive experience. Indeed, complaints from neighbours about noise has resulted in at least one school having to turn off its turbine at night and in other cases less power than anticipated has been produced. Model wind turbine