Understanding 1MW and 500W Wind Turbines

[drugyjay]

can someone explain in simple terms what does 1mw wind turbine mean?

how many houses can this power?

if it is a 500w turbine, how many houses can this power?

 

[stewartcs]

can someone explain in simple terms what does 1mw wind turbine mean?

1 MW is one mega watt. It is the rated power capacity of the wind turbine for a given (and constant) wind speed.

how many houses can this power?

It depends on the capacity factor of the wind turbine and the household consumption. The capacity factor depends largely on the average wind speed. A typical capacity factor would be between 0.25 and 0.40. The average household consumption in the US is about 10,600 kWh per year (according to the DOE).

Therefore, the number of houses in the US that can be powered by a 1 MW wind turbine would be 1,000,000 x 0.40 x 8760 / 10600 = 331 homes.

if it is a 500w turbine, how many houses can this power?

Use the same approach as above to find this.

CS

 

[oswaler]

A wind turbine's power output is measured in megawatts (MW) or kilowatts (kW), which represent the amount of electricity it can generate in one hour. 1MW equals 1,000kW. This means that a 1MW wind turbine can generate 1,000 kilowatts of electricity in one hour.

To put this into perspective, the average American household uses about 900kW of electricity per month. This means that a 1MW wind turbine can power approximately 1,100 homes for one hour.

A 500W wind turbine, on the other hand, can generate 500 watts of electricity in one hour. This is significantly less than a 1MW turbine and can only power a fraction of a single household's electricity needs. It would take 2,000 500W turbines to generate the same amount of electricity as one 1MW turbine.

In summary, the larger the wind turbine's power output, the more electricity it can generate and the more homes it can potentially power. However, the exact number of homes a wind turbine can power will depend on factors such as wind speed, turbine efficiency, and the energy needs of the homes.