System Engineering and Energy Costs of Small and Medium Wind Turbines

A preliminary system-level, computational model was developed to allow broad assessment and optimization of wind turbine design and costs analysis at The Wind Energy Research Center, Solar Energy Research Institute under contract to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). This paper briefly describes the basic principles used in the model for energy capture and cost-of-energy (COE), and demonstratesthe model's usefulness in determining the effects of rotor and system design modifications. The model's utilization for conducting parametric studies and defining the energy cost of small and medium-sized wind turbines is also shown. Topics of interest to wind turbine engineers and designers include the effects on rotor performance of airfoil geometry, blade pitch angle setting, and the systemRPM schedule, etc.