Short Summary
Development of
Optimum Design Configuration and Performance for
Vertical Axis Wind
Turbine
Hamid R. Rahai
00-17
EISG Project Title: Development of Optimum Design Configuration and Performance for Vertical Axis Wind Turbine
EISG Grant Number: 00-17
PIER Area: Renewable Energy Technologies
Principal Investigator: Hamid R. Rahai
Contact Information: (562) 985-5132 rahai@csulb.edu
Organization: CSU Long Beach Foundation
Grant Amount: $69,781
Grant Term: 12 months
Project Description:
The purpose of this project is to research the feasibility of improving the efficiency of vertical axis wind turbines by optimizing the blade design through numerical modeling. Two subscale prototypes will be fabricated and tested, one with an optimized mono airfoil and one with an optimized two element airfoil.
Proposed Outcomes:
· Two subscale prototype wind turbines with optimized blades
· Methodology for optimizing blade designs
· Feasibility analysis based on performance of prototype turbines
Anticipated Benefits:
· Increase vertical axis wind turbine efficiency by 20 - 30%
· Cost effective vertical axis wind turbines that could be used for distributed generation applications