James Blyth and his wind turbine

 Wind is the horizontal movement of air on the Earth's surface. Its strength and scale depends on the difference in air pressure and terrain. Wind is an excellent free energy source and its energy potential was appreciated by the English scientist Blyth when he constructed the world's first wind turbine in the late 19th century.





James Blyth and his wind turbine
Public Domain



James Blyth was born on 4 April 1839 in the small town of Marykirk in Scotland. He was an electrical engineer and researcher at Anderson's College, now the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. Blyth worked most of his life on wind power equipment. His work was appreciated by scientists, but it was not widely used for economic reasons.  

Wind turbine  - principles of operation and construction.

In July 1878 in the garden of a summer house in a small Scottish town - Marykirk .James Blyth built his first wind turbine device. It was a very simple and original construction, only the wind was needed for its operation.The wind turbine produced electricity and stored it in batteries.
The stored electricity was used to power the light bulbs in his summer home, which has become the same as the first wind-powered house in the world. The device was made of wood, the most important part of the device was dynamo 
 and a wheel with sails made of canvas. The wind moved the sails, and the sails set the dynamo in motion.Even in moderate weather the wind turbine could produce enough power to ignite ten 25-volt bulbs and power a small mechanical device.Of course, the device had its disadvantages, too strong a wind could destroy or disrupt the operation of the wind turbine. 

James Blyth developed his design over the following years, and in 1891 he patented his invention
and he managed to get a license from one of the English companies. It was a great leap into the future, and the era renewable energies could have started already at that time. People in the late 19th century they didn't believe in the future of the wind turbine, they trusted more superstition, despite the fact that Wind turbines produced enough electricity to light a small town. 
The public considered Blyth's invention to be the work of a demon.

James Blyth was the forerunner of renewable energy and strongly believed in the benefits it could bring the world's a wind turbine. In 1906, James Blyth died and his designs were forgotten.

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