CONTENTS

DECLARATION

ACKNOWLEDMENT

CERTIFICATE

CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES

LIST OF TABLES

INTRODUCTION

ABSTRACT

PROJECT BACKGROUND

Chapter 1: Wind Turbines 9-16

1.1 Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines

1.2 HAWT advantages
1.3 HAWT disadvantages
1.4 Vertical Axis Wind Turbines
1.5 VAWT advantages
1.6 VAWT disadvantages
1.7 Wind turbine glossary

1|Page
Chapter 2: An Introduction to the Small Wind Turbine
Project 17-22

2.1 Small Wind Turbine Market

2.2 Small Wind Turbine Project

2.3 Small Scale Wind Energy Portable Turbine

(SWEPT)

2.3.1 SWEPT design specification and Construction

2.3.2 Experimental set-up

2.4 Advantages of Small Scale Turbines

Chapter 3: Conclusion 23

Chapter 4: Bibliography 24

2|Page
 LIST OF FIGURES
Fig.1.1 Horizontal axis wind turbine

Fig.1.2 Vertical axis wind turbine

Fig.1.3 Parts of a wind turbine

Fig.1.4 Power coefficient vs tip speed ratio

Fig.2.1 Small wind turbine proposed concept

Fig.2.2 Small scale windmill prototype

Fig.2.3 Experimental setup with schematic diagram

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1.Countries with installed capacity

Table 2 States with strong potential: (potential MW /installed

MW)

3|Page
 INTRODUCTION
Renewable Energy Sources are those energy sources which
are not destroyed when their energy is harnessed. Human use
of renewable energy requires technologies that harness natural
phenomena, such as sunlight, wind, waves, water flow, and
biological processes such as anaerobic digestion, biological
hydrogen production and geothermal heat. Amongst the above
mentioned sources of energy there has been a lot of
development in the technology for harnessing energy from the
wind.

Wind is the motion of air masses produced by the irregular

heating of the earth’s surface by sun. These differences
consequently create forces that push air masses around for
balancing the global temperature or, on a much smaller scale,
the temperature between land and sea or between mountains.

Wind energy is not a constant source of energy. It varies

continuously and gives energy in sudden bursts. About 50%
of the entire energy is given out in just 15% of the operating
time. Wind strengths vary and thus cannot guarantee
continuous power. It is best used in the context of a system
that has significant reserve capacity such as hydro, or reserve
load, such as a desalination plant, to mitigate the economic
effects of resource variability.

The total capacity of wind power on this earth that can be

harnessed is about 72 TW. There are now many thousands of
wind turbines operating in various parts of the world, with
utility companies having a total capacity of 59,322 MW. The
power generation by wind energy was about 94.1GW in 2007

4|Page
which makes up nearly 1% of the total power generated in the
world.

Globally, the long-term technical potential of wind energy is

believed to be 5 times current global energy consumption or
40 times current electricity demand. This would require
covering 12.7% of all land area with wind turbines. This land
would have to be covered with 6 large wind turbines per
square kilometer.

Some 80 percent of the global wind power market is now

centered in just four countries—which reflects the failure of
most other nations to adopt supportive renewable energy
policies. Future market growth will depend in large measure
on whether additional countries make way for renewable
energy sources as they reform their electricity industries.

Table 1.Countries with installed capacity

5|Page
India’s Market Overview of Wind
Energy
Overview
India has a vast supply of renewable energy resources. India
has one of the world’s largest programs for deployment of
renewable energy products and systems 3,700 MW from
renewable energy sources installed.

Table2 States with strong potential: (potential MW /installed MW)

The Project
The projects are to install two 0.8 MW wind turbine in
Karnataka, India. These will generate renewable electricity, to
displace fossil fuel powered electricity from the grid. Each
turbine will generate enough electricity each year to power the
equivalent of 550 homes in the UK – saving 1,500 tonnes of
CO2 each per year.

6|Page
 ABSTRACT
This report describes about the wind power and its potential
that can be harnessed in the future to meet the current energy
demand. With detailed description of the wind turbine and the
wind generator focus has been given on the interconnection of
the generators with the grid and the problems associated with
it. The use of power electronics in the circuitry and their
applications have also been emphasized.
This study provides the first systematic effort towards design
and development of Small Scale Wind Turbines (SSWT)
targeted to operate at low wind speeds.

7|Page
PROJECT BACKGROUND
Large Scale Wind Turbines (LSWTs) have been extensively
examined for decades but very few studies have been conducted on
the small scale wind turbines (SSWTs) especially for the applications
near ground level where wind speed is of order of few meters per
second. This study provides the first systematic effort towards design
and development of SSWTs (rotor diameter<50 cm) targeted to
operate at low wind speeds (<5 m/s). An inverse design and
optimization tool based on Blade Element Momentum theory is
proposed. The utility and efficacy of the tool was validated by
demonstrating a 40 cm diameter small-scale wind energy portable
turbine (SWEPT) operating in very low wind speed range of 1 m/s-5
m/s with extremely high power coefficient. In comparison to the
published literature, SWEPT is one of the most efficient wind turbines
at the small scale and very low wind speeds with the power
coefficient of 32% and overall efficiency of 21% at its rated wind
speed of 4.0 m/s. It has very low cut-in speed of 1.7 m/s. Wind tunnel
experiments revealed that SWEPT has rated power output of 1 W at
4.0 m/s, and it is capable of producing power output up to 9.3 W at
wind speed of 10 m/s. The study was further extended to develop a
piezoelectric wind turbine which operates below 2.0 m/s wind speed.
The piezoelectric wind turbine of overall dimension of 100mm x
78mm x 65mm is capable of producing peak electric power of about
450 microwatt at the rated wind speed of 1.9 m/s.

8|Page
 WIND TURBINES
A wind turbine is a rotating machine which converts the
kinetic energy in wind into mechanical energy. If the
mechanical energy is then converted to electricity, the
machine is called a wind generator, wind turbine, wind
power unit (WPU), wind energy converter (WEC), or
aerogenerator.

Wind turbines can be separated into two types based by the

axis in which the turbine rotates. Turbines that rotate around a
horizontal axis are more common. Vertical-axis turbines are
less frequently used.

HORIZONTAL AXIS WIND TURBINES

Fig.1.1 Horizontal axis wind turbine

9|Page
Horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWT) have the main rotor
shaft and electrical generator at the top of a tower, and must
be pointed into the wind. Most have a gearbox, which turns
the slow rotation of the blades into a quicker rotation that is
more suitable to drive an electrical generator.

Since a tower produces turbulence behind it, the turbine is

usually pointed upwind of the tower. Turbine blades are made
stiff to prevent the blades from being pushed into the tower by
high winds. Additionally, the blades are placed a considerable
distance in front of the tower and are sometimes tilted up a
small amount.

Downwind machines have been built, despite the problem of

turbulence, because they don't need an additional mechanism
for keeping them in line with the wind, and because in high
winds the blades can be allowed to bend which reduces their
swept area and thus their wind resistance. Since cyclic (that is
repetitive) turbulence may lead to fatigue failures most
HAWTs are upwind machines.

HAWT advantages
• Variable blade pitch, which gives the turbine blades the
optimum angle of attack.
Allowing the angle of attack to be remotely adjusted gives
greater control, so the turbine collects the maximum amount
of wind energy for the time of day and season.
• The tall tower base allows access to stronger wind in sites
with wind shear. In some wind shear sites, every ten meters
up, the wind speed can increase by 20% and the power output
by 34%.
• High efficiency, since the blades always move
perpendicularly to the wind, receiving power through the
10 | P a g e
whole rotation. In contrast, all vertical axis wind turbines, and
most proposed airborne wind turbine designs, involve various
types of reciprocating actions, requiring airfoil surfaces to
backtrack against the wind for part of the cycle. Backtracking
against the wind leads to inherently lower efficiency.

HAWT disadvantages
• The tall towers and blades up to 90 meters long are difficult
to transport. Transportation can now cost 20% of equipment
costs.
• Tall HAWTs are difficult to install, needing very tall and
expensive cranes and skilled operators.
• Massive tower construction is required to support the heavy
blades, gearbox, and
generator.
• Reflections from tall HAWTs may affect side lobes of radar
installations creating signal clutter, although filtering can
suppress it.
• HAWTs require an additional yaw control mechanism to
turn the blades toward the wind.

11 | P a g e
Vertical Axis Wind Turbines:

Fig.1.2 Vertical axis wind turbine

Vertical-axis wind turbines (or VAWTs) have the main rotor

shaft arranged vertically. Key advantages of this arrangement
are that the turbine does not need to be pointed into the wind
to be effective. This is an advantage on sites where the wind
direction is highly variable. VAWTs can utilize winds from
varying directions.
With a vertical axis, the generator and gearbox can be placed
near the ground, so the tower doesn't need to support it, and it
is more accessible for maintenance. Drawbacks are that some
designs produce pulsating torque. Drag may be created when
the blade rotates into the wind.

VAWT advantages
• A massive tower structure is less frequently used, as
VAWTs are more frequently mounted with the lower bearing
mounted near the ground.

12 | P a g e
• Designs without yaw mechanisms are possible with fixed
pitch rotor designs.
• A VAWT can be located nearer the ground, making it easier
to maintain the moving parts.
• VAWTs have lower wind startup speeds than HAWTs.
Typically, they start creating electricity at 6 M.P.H. (10
km/h).
• VAWTs may have a lower noise signature.

VAWT disadvantages
• Most VAWTs produce energy at only 50% of the efficiency
of HAWTs in large part because of the additional drag that
they have as their blades rotate into the wind.
• While VAWTs' parts are located on the ground, they are also
located under the weight of the structure above it, which can
make changing out parts nearly impossible without
dismantling the structure if not designed properly.
• Having rotors located close to the ground where wind speeds
are lower due to wind shear, VAWTs may not produce as
much energy at a given site as a HAWT with the same
footprint or height.
• Because VAWTs are not commonly deployed due mainly to
the serious disadvantages mentioned above, they appear novel
to those not familiar with the wind industry. This has often
made them the subject of wild claims and investment scams
over the last 50 years.

13 | P a g e
Wind Turbine Glossary

Fig.1.3 Parts of a wind turbine

Anemometer: Measures the wind speed and transmits wind

speed data to the controller.
Blades: Most turbines have either two or three blades. Wind
blowing over the blades causes the blades to "lift" and rotate.
Brake: A disc brake which can be applied mechanically,
electrically, or hydraulically to stop the rotor in emergencies.
Controller: The controller starts up the machine at wind
speeds of about 8 to 16 miles per hour (mph) and shuts off the
machine at about 65 mph. Turbines cannot operate at wind

14 | P a g e
speeds above about 65 mph because their generators could
overheat.
Gear box: Gears connect the low-speed shaft to the high-
speed shaft and increase the rotational speeds from about 30
to 60 rotations per minute (rpm) to about 1200 to 1500 rpm,
the rotational speed required by most generators to produce
electricity. The gear box is a costly (and heavy)
part of the wind turbine and engineers are exploring "direct-
drive" generators that operate at lower rotational speeds and
don't need gear boxes.
Generator: Usually an off-the-shelf induction generator that
produces 60-cycle AC electricity.
High-speed shaft: Drives the generator. Low-speed shaft:
The rotor turns the low-speed shaft at about 30 to 60 rotations
per minute.
Nacelle: The rotor attaches to the nacelle, which sits atop the
tower and includes the gear box, low- and high-speed shafts,
generator, controller, and brake. A cover protects the
components inside the nacelle. Some nacelles are large
enough for a technician to stand inside while working.
Pitch: Blades are turned, or pitched, out of the wind to keep
the rotor from turning in winds that are too high or too low to
produce electricity.
Rotor: The blades and the hub together are called the rotor.
Tower: Towers are made from tubular steel (shown here) or
steel lattice. Because wind speed increases with height, taller
towers enable turbines to capture more energy and generate
more electricity.
Wind direction: This is an "upwind" turbine, so-called
because it operates facing into the wind. Other turbines are
designed to run "downwind", facing away from the wind.

15 | P a g e
Wind vane: Measures wind direction and communicates with
the yaw drive to orient the turbine properly with respect to the
wind.
Yaw drive: Upwind turbines face into the wind; the yaw
drive is used to keep the rotor facing into the wind as the wind
direction changes. Downwind turbines don't require a yaw
drive, the wind blows the rotor downwind.
Yaw motor: Powers the yaw drive.

The following is a graph between Power Coefficient (CP) vs

Tip Speed Ratio (λ):
Fig.

Fig.1.4 Power coefficient vs tip speed ratio

16 | P a g e
CHAPTER 2
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE SMALL WIND TURBINE
PROJECT

Small wind turbines are typically used for the remote or rural
areas of the world including villages;
a farmer who wants to water his crop; or a utility company that
wants to use
distributed generation to help defer building new transmission
lines and distribution facilities. Small wind turbines can be used
for powering communities, businesses, homes, and
miscellaneous equipment to support
unattended operation. This report covers the Indian Department
of Energy/National Renewable Energy Laboratory Small Wind
Turbine project, its specifications, its applications, the
subcontractors and their small wind turbine concepts.

2.1 SMALL WIND TURBINE MARKETS

Small wind turbines are used throughout the developed and
developing world and are primarily used in rural or remote
settings in the domestic and international markets. Small wind
turbines can be used to power communities, businesses,
schools, clinics, single households, farms and a variety of
equipment. Small wind turbines can be developed to meet the
specifications suitable for the domestic and international
(developed
and developing) markets.

Domestic Markets:
In the India most of the population lives in rural areas and a
growing number live remotely. Most of those individuals have
access to the grid, but there is a group of customers where the
cost to connect with the utility grid is prohibitive. For those off-
17 | P a g e
grid individuals, diesel generation systems, renewables (solar,
wind), and a storage device (batteries) used in combination as
a hybrid power system could provide a solution.

International Markets:
Currently, 50% of the international rural sector (not necessarily
agricultural) population does not have electric power. An
estimated 2 billion people do not have access to electricity. This
figure is projected to increase to 3 billion by the year 2030.
Within the international market, there are two market groups:
the developed countries and the developing countries. In the
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD) nations or developed countries, electric needs are met
with a mature market, with developed
infrastructure and a stable population. OECD nations will
experience slow growth in the power market, estimated to be at
0.7%/year. OECD countries have typical needs for grid-
connected technology, which makes this market similar to the
domestic market.

In developing countries, energy needs are driven by migration

to urban areas, growth in per capita income, increased use and
manufacture of energy intensive products, and poor efficiency
in providing power.
Worldwide growth in energy services is expected to be seven
times that of the OECD countries (5.3%/year).
The World Bank has estimated that within 15 years, the total
energy consumption will be greater in the developing world
than in the OECD countries. "At present, in some developing
countries, between one-third.

18 | P a g e
2.2 SMALL WIND TURBINE PROJECT
The goal of the Small Wind Turbine project is to help india
industry develop cost-effective, high reliability small wind
turbine systems for both the domestic and international wind
energy markets.
The objective of this project is to provide tested small wind
turbine systems, sized from 5 to 40 kW (maximum power), that
meet a Cost/Performance Ratio.
The systems are also expected to meet certain design
requirements such as:
high reliability, ease of transportation and installation, low
maintenance, International Electrotechnical Commiss-ion (IEC)
Class II requirements, and environmental considerations
(desert, coastal, cold weather) based on specific markets.
The scope of work emphasizes an iterative engineering
development process, including formal design reviews at the
end of each project stage and tests to verify the system design
and analyses.

SMALL WIND TURBINE PROJECT

FIGURE 2.1 - SMALL WIND TURBINE PROPOSED CONCEPT

19 | P a g e
2.3 Small-scale wind energy portable turbine
This chapter presents design and characterization of the
small-scale wind energy portable turbine (SWEPT) targeted
to operate near ground level (wind speed: below 5 m/s).

2.3.1 SWEPT design specifications and construction

Fig.2.2 small-scale windmill prototype “SWEPT"

20 | P a g e
 2.3.2 Experimental set-up

Fig.2.3 Experimental set-up with the schematic diagram

21 | P a g e
2.4 Advantages of Small Scale turbines:
 High Reliability and Low Maintenance:
This requirement of high reliability and low maintenance is
driven primarily by the need to have operating wind turbine
systems in remote or developing locations throughout the
world. Unlike utility grade turbines,
small wind turbines are typically sold in small groups or as
stand-alone installations. This adds to the maintenance costs
since turbines are not co-located. Maintenance could involve a
trained windsmith who would have to travel potentially
significant distance to maintain a few or one wind turbine
system. An alternative is to get in-country support and have
detailed simple instructions for scheduled maintenance and
neasy unscheduled maintenance. The sensitivity to high
reliability and low maintenance increases as the
remoteness of the location increases.

 Ease of Transportation and Installation:

Ease of transportation is necessary for international markets
that require the use of standard shipping containers for
transporting the small wind turbine systems. The primary
market drivers for ease of installation are the developing
countries that do not have the infrastructure (roadways, lifting
equipment, and transportation systems) to support small wind
turbine installation and erection. Domestic customers living in
remote areas may also have limited access to lifting equipment
necessary for turbine erection.

22 | P a g e
 CONCLUSIONS
From the report we studied that wind has a lot of potential in
it and if properly harnessed then it can help solve the energy
crises in the world. The study of wind turbine and its
characteristics showed that how it can be properly designed
and used to get the maximum output. The power
electronic circuitries have helped the concept of wind power a
lot. Without them this concept would have been too expensive
and far fetched. This report also showed the integration of
wind farms with the transmission grid and the problems
associated with it and the probable solutions that can be
applied to solve them and have a better performance.
The wind energy is a rapidly expanding field. Extensive
research activities are being conducted across the globe in
this area, with the goal of improving the efficiency of wind
turbines. Several configurations of wind turbines have been
proposed and the modern megawatt horizontal axis wind
turbines are at this juncture very efficient with the power
coefficient up to 45 % to 50 %. In spite of all the efforts, as
reported in chapter 1, the overall contribution of wind power
in the global total electricity generation is still a small
fraction. One of the main reasons for the low success rate of
wind turbines is the high rated wind speed. The low wind
speed small scale wind turbines (SSWTs) are generally
ignored because of their poor performance that does not
allow justifying their installation and operational cost. The
aim of this thesis was to develop the wind energy harvesters
that can operate near the ground level where wind speed is
very low (< 5 m/s).

23 | P a g e
 BIBLOGRAPHY
1. Yongning Chi, Yanhua Liu, Weisheng Wang, “Voltage
Stability Analysis of Wind Farm
integration into Transmission Network” IEEE Trans. Energy
Conversion, vol. 21, issue 1,
pp. 257-264, March. 2006.
2. Poller.M.A, "Doubly-fed induction machine models for
stability assessment of wind
farms," Power Tech Conference Proceedings, IEEE Bologna,
Volume 3, 23-26 June 2003
Page(s):6 pp.
3. K. Nandigam, B. H. Chowdhury. "Power flow and stability
models for induction
generators used in wind turbines," IEEE Power Engineering
Society General Meeting,
Vol.2, 6-10 June 2004 Page(s):2012 - 2016
4. www.windpower.org
5. www.arrc.ou.edu
6. www.scribd.com
7. www.davidarling.info/encyclopedia

24 | P a g e