Design Optimization of a Micro Wind Turbine

Abstract

Nation’s economic health depends on Industrialization. For the growth of Industrial sector i.e. in turn that of society, adequate uninterrupted electric power is essential. Conventional fuel sources are limited and hence the whole world is searching for proper renewable energy sources. Out of many renewable energy sources (Solar, wind, waves etc.) wind energy is offering substantial contribution today. Although, according to Betz’s limit, only 59% energy conversion (i.e. efficiency) can be achieved using wind turbine, many researchers are working on the development of efficient wind energy harvesting system. The authors present, in this paper, a design of efficient micro turbine for very small wind speed as well as very low discharge. As wind speed may vary from absence of wind to light wind breeze, where wind force is very small, harvesting of energy from this becomes a challenging task. For development of such a micro turbine, simulink program has been used to simulate wind power generation for low discharge, low wind speed and design of the turbine parameters was optimized. The prototype of wind turbine was developed and results are presented in this paper.

Keywords: Renewable energy, micro turbine, wind energy harvesting, simulink