How wave power works
Ocean waves are caused by the wind as it blows across the sea. Wave power is a powerful source of energy.
Although wave energy is a clean energy, a green energy, the problem is that it's not easy to harness wave energy and convert it into electricity in large amounts.
There are several methods of getting energy from waves. One of them works like a swimming pool wave machine in reverse.
At the swimming pool, air is blown in and out of a chamber beside the pool, which makes the water outside bob up and down, causing waves.
And at a wave power station, the waves arriving cause the water in the chamber to rise and fall, which means that air is forced in and out of the hole in the top of the chamber.
We place a turbine in this hole, which is turned by the air rushing in and out. Then the turbine turns a generator.
The problem with this design is that the rushing air can be very noisy, unless a silencer is fitted to the turbine. Of course the noise is not a huge problem anyway, as the waves make quite a bit of noise themselves.
