About wind turbines
Wind turbines are machines which take energy from the wind and use it to generate electricity. There are more and more types available. Some are designed to power single households and generate a few thousand watts of power. Some are real giants and can generate up to 8 MW (= million watts) of power each. These are often built in 'windfarms'. More and more of these windfarms are being built well away from the land, out to sea where they don't bother anyone. Both the little ones and the big ones can be linked together into the electricity grid. A special meter records how much power your turbine generates because the electricity companies will pay turbine owners for the energy their machines make. They can be a safer way to earn money than investing in the stock market.
energy
— that's energy from the sun and wind. Solar
panels can help
you get much of your hot water and heating
from the sun and even generate electricity.
If you live in a windy place, a wind turbine — also called 
'windmill' —
really is a serious option. More and
more people are installing them and more
and more companies are producing well-designed,
sturdy machines. Many of the largest windfarms are now built offshore. 
You have to buy special machines to use be able to use sun or wind energy. But once you've got them, the energy the machines make is free. The machines get cheaper all the time as more and more companies compete to give best value in a growing worldwide renewable energy market.
Solar panels