Eli5: windmills
Why is it that in an entire group of windmills all facing the same direction and all right next to each other, you sometimes only see one or two moving and the other windmills aren’t moving at all?
I’m driving through California and noticed this, which is prompting my question. I would expect all of them should be turning, so I think they’re either immobilizing most of them, or manually spinning those windmills somehow. In either case, why? Or am I wrong in my assumptions?
In: 43
There can be many reasons.
1. Windmill is down for maintenance.
2. Windmill is down because thre is currently no need for energy. Shutting it down means less maintenance will be needed and reduces running costs. (Having an excess of non-reduceable power sources is often the cause.)
3. Because of the current winddirection, another windmill upstream is causing turbulence which reduces efficiency and causes more stress on that windmill. Shutdown is sometimes preffered.
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