Energía Eólica y Solar: Cómo Funcionan los Aerogeneradores y los Sistemas Fotovoltaicos

Vocabulario clave: energía eólica y solar

 Active (activo) § Advantage (ventaja) § Air currents (corrientes de aire) § Air pressure (presión del aire) § Attach/ed (to) (pegar/adjuntar) § Awareness (concienciación) § Barrier (barrera) § Begin (to) (comenzar/empezar) § Bird strikes (choques de aves) § Blades (hojas/palas) § Central collector (colector central) § Centralized electricity distribution systems (sistemas de distribución de electricidad centralizada) § Challenge/d (to) (desafiar) § Clean energy (energía limpia) § Commercial heating (calefacción comercial) § Concentrated solar power (CSP) (energía solar concentrada) § Conduct/ed (to) (dirigir) § Connect/ed (to) (conectar) § Death rate (tasa de mortalidad) § Decarbonization (descarbonización) § Design/ed (to) (diseñar) § Disadvantage (desventaja) § Drive (IRR) (to) (conducir/accionar) § Effective measures (medidas efectivas) § Efficiency (eficiencia) § Electrical energy (energía eléctrica) § Electricity (electricidad) § Enhance/d (to) (mejorar) § Environmental concerns (preocupaciones/asuntos medioambientales) § Evoke/d (to) (provocar) § Extract/ed (to) (obtener/extraer) § Feature (característica/elemento) § Fuel (combustible) § Generate/d (to) (generar) § Generator (generador) § Green energy (energía verde/limpia) § Grid (red de servicio público) § Horizontal axis turbine (aerogenerador de eje horizontal) § Hybrid wind systems (sistemas eólicos híbridos) § Increase/d (to) (aumentar) § Kinetic energy (energía cinética) § Land-based wind farm (parque eólico terrestre) § Land-use concerns (preocupaciones por el uso de la tierra) § Large / larger (grande/más grande) § Large-scale (a gran escala) § Location (ubicación) § Main (principal) § Microgrid (microrred) § Mirror (espejo) § Off-grid (desconectado del servicio público) § Off-shore wind farm (parque eólico marítimo) § Passive (pasivo) § Provide/d (to) (proveer) § PV technology (tecnología fotovoltaica) § Refer/red (to) (referirse) § Rely/relied on (to) (basarse/apoyarse en) § Research (investigar) § Researcher/s (investigador/es) § Residential heating (calefacción residencial, en los hogares) § Risk (riesgo) § Solar thermal systems (sistemas solares térmicos) § Solar thermal technologies (tecnologías termosolares) § Speed (velocidad) § Steam (vapor) § Take place (to) (acontecer/suceder) § Transform/ed (to) (transformar) § Turn/ed (to) (girar) § Uneven (desigual) § Upfront (por delante) § Utility grid (red de servicios públicos) § Vertical axis turbine (aerogenerador de eje vertical) § Viability (viabilidad) § Weather vane (veleta) § Wildlife (fauna) § Wind farm (parque eólico) § Wind turbine (aerogenerador) § Work/ed (to) (funcionar/trabajar)

Parques eólicos y ubicación de los aerogeneradores

These farms are usually located in unpopulated rural areas far from towns and cities, to prevent the noise they make from disturbing inhabitants.

Estas granjas suelen estar ubicadas en zonas rurales despobladas, alejadas de pueblos y ciudades, para evitar que el ruido que producen perturbe a los habitantes.

They are installed at or near the place where the energy they produce will be used.

Se instalan en el lugar donde se utilizará la energía que producen o cerca de él.

These turbines are able to capture powerful ocean winds and generate vast amounts of energy.

Estas turbinas pueden captar los poderosos vientos oceánicos y generar enormes cantidades de energía.

These wind farms are located on land.

Estos parques eólicos están ubicados en tierra firme.

The components can be transported on ships.

Los componentes pueden transportarse en barcos.

Pequeños aerogeneradores

They are small wind turbines.

Son pequeños aerogeneradores.

They are used for residential, agricultural and small commercial and industrial applications.

Se utilizan en aplicaciones residenciales, agrícolas y en pequeños comercios e industrias.

They are massive, and taller than the Statue of Liberty.

Son enormes y más altos que la Estatua de la Libertad.

Sistemas eólicos híbridos

Small turbines can be used in hybrid energy systems with other distributed energy resources, such as microgrids powered by diesel generators, batteries, and photovoltaic. These systems are called hybrid wind systems and are typically used in remote, off-grid locations (where a connection to the utility grid is not available) and are becoming more common.

Las turbinas pequeñas pueden utilizarse en sistemas de energía híbridos con otros recursos energéticos distribuidos, como microrredes alimentadas por generadores diésel, baterías y fotovoltaica. Estos sistemas se denominan sistemas eólicos híbridos y normalmente se utilizan en ubicaciones remotas y desconectadas de la red (donde no hay conexión a la red eléctrica pública), y cada vez son más comunes.

Preguntas y respuestas: energía solar

1. What are Passive Systems and what are the two examples mentioned?

Passive systems are more basic and have no moving parts. They simply rely on design features to enhance our ability to capture and use the sun's rays, like a greenhouse or a solar oven.

2. Talking about Active systems, what are the two mechanical components mentioned as examples and what are they used for?

Active systems have mechanical components, like fans or pumps, to circulate heat-carrying fluids. These systems can be used for residential or commercial heating. For electricity production, high-temperature solar thermal systems, called concentrated solar power or CSP, are used.

3. High-temperature solar thermal systems are called concentrated solar power or CSP. What do CSP systems use for electricity production?

CSP systems use groups of mirrors to concentrate solar energy on a central collector. This produces temperatures high enough to generate steam, which then turns a turbine driving a generator to produce electricity.

4. Which problems can the nature of sunlight cause for the use of solar thermal systems?

However, the nature of sunlight can cause problems for the use of solar thermal systems. Sunshine is not a very concentrated energy source, so it can take a large area to produce a reasonable amount of energy, raising efficiency concerns and, in some cases, land-use concerns.

Preguntas y respuestas: paneles solares fotovoltaicos

1. Which is the difference between a solar thermal panel and a solar photovoltaic panel?

Solar thermal panels are only used to heat water, while solar photovoltaic panels are used to generate electricity and heat water.

2. Solar PV panels are made up of solar cells connected together within the solar panel. What are solar cells usually made from?

Solar cells are usually made from silicon wafers.

Completar el texto

When light energy strikes the solar cell, electrons are knocked loose from the atoms, resulting in a flow of electric current when the cells are connected to a load. Solar PV panels are connected together in series, called an array.

The electricity that is generated passes through an inverter, which converts it into a usable form. From the inverter, the electricity flows to your fuse board and is consumed by the appliances in your home. When your home demands more power than your solar PV is producing, the balance is imported from the grid. When your solar PV generates more power than your appliances are using, the excess can be stored in a battery for use later.

A solar PV installation normally takes one day and must be completed by a registered contractor.

Funcionamiento de un aerogenerador

A wind turbine transforms the kinetic energy of air currents into electrical energy. The energy is mainly extracted by the rotor, which transforms the kinetic energy into mechanical energy, and by the generator, which transforms this mechanical energy into electrical energy.