page_title: Wind turbine design
section_title: Electrical braking
hierarchical_section_title: Wind turbine design / Other controls / Electrical braking
caption_attribution_description: English: Turbine brake resistor (PWM dynamic braking system) Dynamic braking resistor for wind turbine. This 2kW resistor was manufactured by IPC resistors. It is mounted on size 6, schedule 40 structural aluminum pipes. These structural members are attached to the building's structural members by way of Alvin structural pipe fittings. view of the installation process of this resistor.
context_page_description: Wind turbine design is the process of defining the form and specifications of a wind turbine to extract energy from the wind.
  A wind turbine installation consists of the necessary systems needed to capture the wind's energy, point the turbine into the wind, convert mechanical rotation into electrical power, and other systems to start, stop, and control the turbine.
  In 1919, the physicist Albert Betz showed that for a hypothetical ideal wind-energy extraction machine, the fundamental laws of conservation of mass and energy allowed no more than 16/27 of the kinetic energy of the wind to be captured. This Betz' law limit can be approached by modern turbine designs which may reach 70 to 80% of this theoretical limit.
  In addition to aerodynamic design of the blades, design of a complete wind power system must also address design of the hub, controls, generator, supporting structure and foundation. Further design questions arise when integrating wind turbines into electrical power grids.
context_section_description: Braking of a small wind turbine can be done by dumping energy from the generator into a resistor bank, converting the kinetic energy of the turbine rotation into heat. This method is useful if the kinetic load on the generator is suddenly reduced or is too small to keep the turbine speed within its allowed limit.
  Cyclically braking causes the blades to slow down, which increases the stalling effect, reducing the efficiency of the blades. This way, the turbine's rotation can be kept at a safe speed in faster winds while maintaining (nominal) power output. This method is usually not applied on large grid-connected wind turbines.
caption: 2kW Dynamic braking resistor for small wind turbine.
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