CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1

Introduction

In the recent year, renewable energy applications are rapidly increasing in power generation systems. Wind is one of the fastest growing energy resource and their penetration levels in power system are increasing worldwide. The benefit of wind power generation is in providing clean energy and saving fossil fuels thereby reducing emissions. Energy generation by wind power plants is without fuel cost but nature dependent. The meteorological factors like wind speed and air density greatly influence the wind power generation. Of these variables, the wind speed has a major influence on wind turbine power output since the power output varies with cubic value of wind speed [8]. The air density variation during different period of a year and at different location is lesser compared to the wind speed variation. In planning a wind power generation in

Kem Sungai Besi, the first thing is to get wind speed at several locations especially at high locations in Kem Sungai Besi. Turbo meter wind speed indicator was used to get the wind speed. As is well known, the term wind power describes the process by which the wind is used to generate mechanical power or electricity. Wind turbines convert the kinetic energy in the wind into mechanical power. Simply stated, a wind turbine works the opposite of fan. Instead of using electricity to make wind, like a fan, wind turbines use wind to make electricity. The wind turns the blades, which spin a shaft, which connects to a generator and makes electricity.

Figure 1.1

Wind turbine diagram

1.2

Objectives

The main objective of this project is to determine and design a suitable wind turbine which could be employed for small scale applications in Kem Sungai Besi using Computer-Aided Design (CAD). The other objective is to analyze the critical static stresses of the design on the components and structures using Computer-Aided Analysis (CAA).

1.3

Problem Statement

In determine and design of the wind power generation, wind resources is very important. Since in Kem Sungai Besi average wind speed is low, this project will be focus on designing wind turbine that have features suitable in low speed wind and work in this situation.

1.4

Scopes of Work

The scopes of this project as shown below: FYP 1 a. Literature study on the function of the main mechanical, structural, control and electrical components of wind turbine. b. Understand a basic knowledge of the construction and operation of the wind turbine for electricity production.
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c. Conceptual design. FYP 2 d. Determination size of each components and structures by analytical analysis. e. Using the Computer-Aided Design, produce a good design of the wind turbine. f. Using the Computer-Aided Analysis, the maximum static stresses on the wind turbine components and structures.

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter includes the study of wind in Kem Sungai Besi, the history of wind turbine, advantages and disadvantages of wind turbine, types of wind turbine, basic knowledge of the structures and the components of wind turbine.

2.1

Analysis of Wind Speed in Kem Sungai Besi

Speed of wind at a location is varying randomly with time. Hence, the speed of the wind at a site should be properly analyzed and understood. Analyzing the speed of wind is important to design a steady structures and it components of wind turbine with refer to the wind characteristics at the site. Wind exists because solar radiation reaches the Earths highly varied surface unevenly, creating temperature, density and pressure differences which cause the air to move. The different of heat across the earth will be helping creating the wind. In explanation, the air is hot in warmer regions of the earth and therefore it is in a high pressure, compared with in colder regions where the air is at a low pressure [10]. The

movement of air from area of high pressure to low pressure is called wind as shown in Figure 2.1.

Figure 2.1

How wind is created

Wind speeds in Kem Sungai Besi is depends on the location which is wind speeds is varying. The weekly wind speeds at some locations in Kem Sungai Besi are shown in Table 2.1. Turbo Meter Wind Speed Indicator is used to obtain wind speed.

Table 2.1 September Location Abseiling tower UPNM Iron hill Sri hill Kinabalu 1.9 1.8 2.0 2.6 2.1 2.4 3 4

Weekly wind speeds in m/s October 1 2 3 4 1 November 2 3 4

1.8 2.1

1.8 2.6

1.9 2.6

2.1 3.0

1.9 2.4

1.6 2.8

1.8 2.7

1.6 2.9

1.2

1.3

0.9

1.3

1.1

1.3

1.1

1.3

Refer to the table 2.1, the wind speeds at 3 locations in Kem Sungai Besi is not consistent. The average wind speed at Abseiling tower UPNM is 1.86 m/s. Then, the average wind speed at Iron Hill is 2.61 m/s. Lastly,the average wind speed at Sri Kinabalu Hill is 1.32 m/s.

2.2

Wind Turbine History

Wind turbine is a rotation machine which converts the kinetic energy in wind into mechanical energy. The era of wind turbine began close to 1990. The first modern wind turbine was constructed in Denmark in 1890. The function is as supplier electricity to the rural areas. After a few years, a large wind electric generator was built in Cleveland,

Ohio. At that time, the first speed-up gear box was introduced in the wind turbine design [9]. At 1950, the researcher gets to improve the behavior of wind turbines with using the high tip speed ratio and low solidity concept. For an example of improving the behavior of wind turbine is the lightweight constant speed rotors were developed in Germany which the fiber glass blades attached to the simple hollow towers supported by guy ropes. The rated output was achieved at 100 kW with using 15 m diameter of swept area [9]. In 1973, the oil crisis had occurred and forced the scientist and engineer to thought the solution without depends on the fossil fuel. They are realized that the cost of fossil fuels will be increase year by year. Furthermore, the fossil fuel from the plants would be vanished one day. Moreover, for the safety reasons, the nuclear power was unacceptable. These factors caused the revival of interest in wind energy. United States believe, depend on National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in development of the new model with more performance on the wind turbines will get profit and advantage. As a result, the series of horizontal axis wind turbines named MOD-0, MOD-1, MOD-2 and MOD-5 were developed in the better performance and high efficiency [3]. During the same time, scientists at Sandia Laboratories were focused on their research. Then, the Darrieus wind turbine was developed. At 1980, several models of the Darrieus machine in different sizes were fabricate for the good performance [3].

Figure 2.2

The MOD wind turbine [3]

2.3

Advantages and Disadvantages of Wind Turbine

Like every form of power generation, wind turbine offers several advantages. The advantages of the wind turbine are: a. Wind turbine does not generate pollution or radioactive waste. b. Provide electricity to individual homes or other facilities on a self reliant basis, with no need for fuel or other materials to be supplied. c. Wind turbine is cost effective and reliable. d. Does not consume any non-renewable resources. e. The wind is free. f. Available in a range of sizes. The disadvantages of the wind turbine are: a. The strength of the wind is not constant.
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b. The wind turbine can be damaged in thunderstorms. c. The blades of wind turbine can hit birds who attempt to fly between them. d. Some people consider the turbine to have an undesirable appearance. e. Use of wind turbine in poor locations is not effective and does not produce significant energy. f. The power output of wind turbine remains restricted by their design.

2.4

Type of Wind Turbine

The use of wind turbine to harness the energy in the wind is not a new concept and can be dated back as far back as the Chinese in 2000 B.C. A number of different types of wind turbine exist today. They are classified into horizontal axis and vertical axis wind turbines based on their axis rotation.

2.4.1

Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines

The Horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWT), has a rotor which move perpendicular to wind direction. Blades are mounted radially from the rotor and used to create a lift/drag differential which causes the rotor to rotate. The high speed two bladed HAWT can have efficiencies as high as 47% power extraction from the wind. They are generally grid connected for commercial use in electricity generation but smaller versions have been fabricated and sold commercially for small scale applications.

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The advantages of the HAWT are that it can obtain a relatively high efficiency and that because they are typically tower mounted they have to access to the higher undisturbed wind flows above the ground level. With this advantages of being tower mounted there is also a trade off. There is an increased capital cost incurred in the need for the tower and also the rotor and generator are more difficult to attend to for maintenance and repair than if the wind turbine was mounted on the ground. There is also a general need to orientate them into the wind by means of a tail or yaw mechanism. The final major disadvantage of this type of wind turbine is that there is a need for over speed protection as they can rotate at velocities several times that of the wind speed. Figure 2.3 show the HAWT.

Figure 2.3

A horizontal axis wind turbine

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2.4.2

Vertical Axis Wind Turbines

The vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) as seen at Figure 2.4, has rotors which move in the direction of the wind. A Darrieus VAWT, named after the French inventor George Darrieus. The rotor surfaces rotate around a vertical axis. The aerodynamics of the rotors creates a pressure differential and induces rotation around the vertical axis. VAWTs can obtain efficiencies of up to 37% of the power obtainable from the wind. Early designs were used primarily for pumping water as the efficiencies were low but a good low-end torque was obtainable. With increased research into the vertical axis wind turbines a number of different designs were fabricated and patented. One of the advantages of the VAWT is that it doesnt have to be orientated into the wind. There is no requirement for a tower therefore there are lower capitals costs and also the fact that the generator is mounted at ground level means that it is easy to access. No over speed protection is generally needed as this type of turbine rotates at speed less than that of the wind. Because they are not tower mounted they dont have to access at higher wind speeds that the HAWTs have and they also have the disadvantage that they possess a lower power coefficient than HAWTs. Not being able to rotate faster than the speed of the wind often means that extensive gearing is required to match the optimal speed of the rotor with that of the generator.

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Figure 2.4 Darrieus wind turbine [3]

2.5

Main Structure of a Wind Turbine

2.5.1

Tower

The tower carries the weight of the nacelle and the rotor blades. The tower also absorbs the huge static loads caused by varying power of the wind. There are three basic tower type which is lattice tower, tubular steel tower and fixed guyed tower. Schematic views of these towers as shown in Figure 2.5.

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Lattice tower

Tubular tower

Fixed guyed tower

Figure 2.5

Different types of towers [3]

The lattice towers are fabricated with the steel bars joined together to form the structure as shown at Fig. 2.8. They are same structure to the transmission electric towers. Lattice towers used only half of the materials that are required to build tubular tower [3]. This makes it lightweight and cheaper. Lattice towers are not maintenance friendly which is maintenance of systems are difficult as workers would be exposed to chill on the bad weather. Moreover, the towers do not have any lock doors and it is less secure for maintenance. Most of the recent installations are provided with tubular steel towers. These towers are fabricated by joining tubular sections of 10 to 20 m length. The tubular tower with it is circular cross-section can offer optimum bending resistance in all directions [4].

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Towers for small wind systems are generally fixed guyed towers. This means that there are guy wires anchored to the ground on three or four sides of the tower to hold it erect. These towers cost less than lattice towers, but require more land area to anchor the guy wires. Some of these guyed towers are erected by tilting them up. This operation can be quickly accomplished using only a winch, with the turbine already mounted to the tower top. This simplifies not only installation, but maintenance as well.

2.5.2

Rotor

The portion of the wind turbine that collects energy from the wind is called the rotor. The rotor usually consists of two or more wooden, fiberglass or metal blades which rotate about an axis (horizontal or vertical) at a rate determined by the wind speed and the shape of the blades. The blades are attached to the hub, which in turn is attached to the main shaft. Blades of wind turbine have airfoil sections. Thought it is possible to design the rotor with a single blade because balancing of such rotors would be real engineering challenge. Two bladed rotors also suffer on these problems of balancing and visual acceptability. Hence, almost of commercial designs have three bladed rotors. Size of rotor depends on the power rating of turbine. Blades are fabricated with a variety of materials range from wood to carbon composites. The wood and metal are usually used to create small scale units of wind turbine.

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2.5.3

Nacelle

The nacelle is the body of wind turbine. It houses the gear box, low and high speed shafts, generator, controller and brake system. It also contains the blade pitch control, a hydraulic system that controls the angle of the blades, and the yaw drive, which controls the position of the turbine relative to the wind. The nacelle is shown in Figure 2.6.

Figure 2.6

Nacelle of a wind turbine [2]

2.6

Components of a Wind Turbine

Components of a wind turbine usually sit over the tower. The main components of a wind turbine for electricity generation are the break, the transmission system, the generator, the yaw and control system. Their layout is shown at Figure 2.7.

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Figure 2.7

Cross-section of nacelle in a wind turbine [2]

2.6.1

Transmission System

Transmission increases the rotation of the generator to the speeds necessary for efficient electricity production. Some DC-type wind turbines do not use transmissions. Instead, they have a direct link between the rotor and generator. These are known as direct drive systems. Without a transmission, wind turbine complexity and maintenance requirements are reduced, but a much larger generator is required to deliver the same power output as the AC-type wind turbines. [2].

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2.6.2

Generator

The generator is what converts the turning motion of a wind turbines blades into electricity. Inside this component, coils of wire are rotated in a magnetic field to produce electricity. Different generator designs produce either alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC), and they are available in a large range of output power ratings. The generator's rating, or size, is dependent on the length of the wind turbines blades because more energy is captured by longer blades. [2].

2.6.3

Braking System

Wind turbine must have two independent braking systems which is aerodynamic and mechanical braking. Aerodynamic braking system is usually spring operated, in order to work even in case of electrical power failure, and they are automatically activated if the hydraulic system in the turbine loses pressure. The hydraulic system in the turbine is used turn the blades or blade tips back in place once the dangerous situation is over. The mechanical brake is used as a backup system for the aerodynamic braking system, and as a parking brake, once the turbine is stopped in the case of a stall controlled turbine. [1].

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2.6.4

Yaw System

A wind turbine has a yaw system as seen at Figure 2.8 that turns the nacelle according to the actual wind direction using a rotary actuator engaging on a gear ring at the top of the tower. The wind direction must be perpendicular to the swept rotor area during normal operation of the turbine. A slow closed loop control system is used to control the yaw drives [2]. A wind vane usually mounted on the top of nacelle that senses the relative wind direction. In the same time, the wind turbine controller can get the signal and then operates the yaw drives. In some designs the nacelle is yawed to reduce power in high winds and in extreme conditions the machine can be stopped with nacelle turned the rotor axis at the right angles to the wind direction [2]. Although simple, the yaw system has proved one of the more difficult parts of the turbine to design. Prediction of yaw loads remains uncertain especially in turbulent wind condition.

Figure 2.8

Yaw system of a wind turbine

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2.7

Review of Computer Software

Computer software is very important whether in design or problem solving. Computer software can help reduce cost and saves time. In engineering, software that commonly used are computer-aided design software (CAD) and computer-aided analysis software (CAE).

2.7.1

Computer-Aided Design (CAD) Software

CAD is a process of design and design-documentation that use computer technology. CAD is used in various applications, including automotive, shipbuilding and aerospace industries, industrial and architectural design, and many more. For the design of wind turbine, software called SolidWorks is decided to be used for the design process. SolidWorks software is three dimensions mechanical CAD software that are provides tools for mechanical design. The advantages of using SolidWorks are user friendly, easy to understand, low cost and the formats is transferable to any CAE software for analysis process.

2.7.2

Computer-Aided Analysis (CAA) Software

CAA software is the broad use of computer software to aid in engineering tasks. To get an excellent design results, analysis should be done on the design material to study the performance of the design. For analyzing of the wind turbine, several
20

software is decided to be used in analyzing the components and structure which are:

(a)

MSC Nastran MSC Nastran is used for Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of simple

or structure. It can be used multiple CAA studies including multi physics analysis. In addition, MSC Nastran offers a complete set of nonlinear analysis capabilities in both implicit and explicit solution technology, thermal and exterior acoustics and also the coupling analysis between various disciplines such as thermal structural and fluid structure interaction.

(b)

MSC Patran MSC Patran is similar software of MSC Nastran which used as

pre-processing software for Finite Element Analysis (FEA), providing solid modeling, meshing, and analysis setup for MSC Nastran.

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CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

3.1

Introduction

The methodology is generally a guideline method used to achieve the objective of this project. Method is used to complete the project which is divided into three stages, namely literature review, the design process and design analysis. During the design process, several design concepts are required to choose the best and appropriate design concepts. For design analysis, there are two methods used in the analytical study and computer simulation. The methodology is early design process to perform the study.

3.1.1

Methodology Flow Chart

During design process, a methodology flow chart is done as a guideline and the work will been done according to the methodology flow chart. The methodology flow chart shows the step project process on how the project will be carried out until the completion of the project. The methodology flow chart of this project is shown in Fig. 3.1.
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Identify Project Title

Problem Understanding

Literature Review

Design Process

Analysis of Design

Analytical Analysis

Computer Analysis

Results

Conclusion

Figure 3.1 Methodology flow chart

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3.2

Conceptual Design

The conceptual design aimed to select the most suitable topology for wind turbine from the endless combinations of design choices. The most important design choices related to wind turbine topology as follows:

1. Rotor axis orientation: 2. Rotor Position: 3. Rotor Blades: 4. Power Control: 5. Tower Structure:

HAWT or VAWT. Upwind or downwind of tower. Number of blades. Variable pitch or yaw control. Tilt-up, fixed or free standing.

3.2.1

Rotor Axis Orientation

A basic assessment of strengths and weaknesses was used to assess suitability of both HAWT and VAWT configurations.

VAWT configurations:

Advantages: 1. Generator, gearbox etc may be placed on the ground so a tower may be avoided. 2. Easier to maintain since the drive train components are near the ground. 3. Easier installation if a tower is not used.
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4. Yaw mechanism is not required. 5. Efficiency loss from the yaw device tracking the wind is negated. Disadvantages: 1. The VAWTs lack of a tower eliminates most of the additional energy available
higher up due to wind shear. 2. Overall efficiency is low. 3. The highly cyclic power and thrust generated by VAWT rotors result in higher fatigue loads. 4. High thrust loads on bottom bearing due to rotor weight. 5. Bearing replacement requires full strip down of machine.

HAWT configurations:

Advantages: 1. Blades are to the side of the wind turbine centre of gravity, helping stability. 2. Ability to pitch the blades in a storm to minimize damage. 3. Usually self-starting. 4. Can be set up in forests above the tree-line. 5. Tall towers improve access to stronger winds. Disadvantages: 1. Transportation of tall towers can be difficult. 2. Environmental impacts associated with tall towers. 3. HAWTs have difficulty operating near the ground where the wind flow is more turbulent.
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Conclusion: The HAWT configuration was found to be considerably more suitable and was the chosen configuration, mainly to efficiency advantages. VAWT appear to have found a niche in urban environments where the wind resource is more turbulent, and roof-top mounting is available offering considerable height gains without the use of a tower. The power generation for rural areas and small scale uses appears to be firmly in the HAWT.

3.2.2

Rotor Position

The rotor position is relevant to only the HAWT configuration and has major consequences on virtually all drive train component design requirements.

Upwind configurations: Upwind machines have the rotor facing the wind. This configuration is by far the most common position for HAWTs.

Advantages: 1. Tower shadow effect is much less, reducing dynamic rotor blade loading, noise and power reduction. 2. Lower blade fatigue. Disadvantages: 1. Accurate predictions of blade deflections in turbulent wind are required to prevent the rotor blades from striking the tower. 2. Tilting rotor blades back to prevent tower strike reduces power output slightly.
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3. Requires load inducing mechanical yaw mechanism to keep the rotor facing the wind. 4. May require an extended nacelle to position the rotor far enough away from the tower to prevent tower strike.

Downwind Configuration: Downwind machines have the rotor on the lee side of the tower.

Advantages: 1. Allows the use of very flexible blades without the risk or tower striking. 2. Flexible blades may reduce weight. 3. Flexible blades can be less expensive to make. 4. May be built without a yaw mechanism, if the nacelle is designed to follow the wind passively. 5. Flexible blades may take some loading off the tower in high winds due to the blade bending absorbing some of the wind energy. Disadvantages: 1. Blades are subject to large negative impulse loads each time they pass the tower, contributing to fatigue damage and a thump noise effect. 2. Fatigue and structural failure due to turbulence.

Conclusion: The downwind comparison featured slightly better reliability and maintainability because of the absence of the yawing mechanism; however the

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environmental drawbacks due to increased noise made the upwind configuration marginally more attractive.

3.2.3

Rotor Blades

The power coefficient increases as the number of blades increase.

Three Blades : Three bladed rotors were found to be the accepted industry standard and tend to be the standard against which all other concepts are evaluated.

Advantages: 1. Lower impulsive noise from tower shadow than two or one blades. 2. Three per revolution noise is less annoying than one or two per revolution. 3. More dynamically balanced rotor due to 120 degree spacing of blades. 4. Three percent more aerodynamically efficient than two blades. Disadvantages: 1. Cost associated with extra blades.

Two Blades : Two bladed rotors are slightly less efficient than three bladed rotors and generally need to be mounted on a teeter hinge to combat the aerodynamic imbalances to the turbine when a rotor blade passes the tower. Teetering hubs are considerably more complex than the fixed hubs generally found on three bladed rotors.
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Advantages: 1. Cost and weight saving over three blades. 2. Six percent more aerodynamically efficient than one blade. 3. Improved blade, drive train, tower, nacelle & yaw bearing load relief due to teetering mechanism. Disadvantages: 1. Increased rotor noise due to higher tip speed. 2. Requires up to fifty percent increased rotor radius to achieve roughly the same power output as a three bladed rotor. 3. Require higher rotational speeds to yield the same energy output as three blades.

One blade: One-bladed rotors do exist but are not widespread, they generally experience all the same problems experienced with a two bladed rotor but to a larger extent.

Advantages: 1. Cost & weight saving over two and three blades. Disadvantages: 1. Increased rotor noise due to higher tip speed. 2. Require higher rotational speeds to yield the same energy output as two blades. 3. Requires a counterweight to balance the rotor.
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Conclusion: The three blades rotor design was chosen on the grounds of its superior environmental performance and the potential for a simpler design, negating the need for a complex teetering hub. The cost saving potential for one and two-blade configurations were not expected to be realised due to the requirement for larger blades, teetering hubs and counterweight.

3.2.4

Power Control

Various control methods were found to be available to either optimise or limit power output, required so that the wind turbine achieves maximum advantage from the wind and reaches its maximum or rated power at the desired wind speed. Speed control is required to put a ceiling on the rotational speed and output power as the wind speed increases, to serve as a protection mechanism preventing the rotor blades from rotating too fast and possibly breaking. Active control systems depend on transducers to sense conditions and motors to drive the control actuation, adding complexity and cost to the wind turbine design. For this wind turbine design the control must be simple and passive (use natural forces for actuation) to minimize complexity and cost. The mainstream control options are summarized here:

Pitch Control : The purpose of pitch control is to optimise the blade angle to achieve certain rotor speeds or power output. This can be to achieve maximum advantage from the wind, and also for overspeed protection in high wind.
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Advantages: Control can be achieved passively. 2. Increased energy capture. 3. Provides aerodynamic braking. 4. Reduced extreme loads on the turbine when shut down. 5. Very effective way to limit output power by changing aerodynamic force on the blade at high wind speeds. 6. Can still generate power in extreme wind speeds. Disadvantages: 1. Large power swings likely to occur due to reaction times.
2. Complicated hub arrangement including pitch actuation devices. 3. Sometimes powered by hydraulic or electric motors.

Yaw Control : The yaw control ensures that the turbine rotor is constantly facing into the wind to achieve maximum effective rotor area resulting in maximum power output.

Advantages: Control can be achieved passively. 2. Fairly simple arrangements are possible. 3. Rigid hub can be used with no variable pitch mechanism. Disadvantages:
31

Requires a robust yaw system. 2. Large moments of inertia about nacelle and yaw axis. 3. Slower reaction than other control methods. 4. Only really practical for variable speed machines.

Conclusion : Pitch control and yaw control were assessed as being equally suitable for this application. They both offer minimal negative noise related environmental impact which was a major deciding factor. Both were deemed to be relatively inexpensive to design and manufacture as bearing arrangements and mechanisms were expected to be uncomplicated for this wind turbine.

3.2.5

Tower Structure

The function of the tower is to elevate the wind turbine above the low wind speeds experienced at the base of the vertical wind profile, and above obstructions such as buildings, trees & hills. The tower must support the weight of the wind turbine and also handle the thrust loads put on it by the wind. Three basic tower types were found to be used in wind turbine installations and are summarized below:

Tilt-up tower : Usually tilt-up towers are tubular steel construction with sections of pipe coupled together, and 4 sets of guy wires attached at each joint. They consist of the tower pole and a gin pole that is attached to it at 90 degrees.

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When the tower is down the gin pole sticks up in the air at 90 degrees and is used as a lever to lift or lower the tower, pivoting on a sturdy base.

Advantages: 1. Inexpensive. 2. No crane required for installation. 3. Easy maintenance with no climbing. 4. Heights of up to 40 m are achievable for wind turbine.

Disadvantages: 1. Large footprint required (a 10 m high tower requires a diamond area 15 m x 10 m). 2. The footprint area needs to be clear and reasonably level. 3. Minor repairs are potentially more difficult due to the requirement to lower the entire tower rather than simply climbing the tower.

Fixed, guyed tower : These towers are lifted up once, do not tilt down and are held up by guy wires. Installation is possible without a crane by using temporary gin poles however using a conventional crane is the usual method.

Advantages: 1. Inexpensive. 2. The footprint area does not need to be as clear and level as tilt-up towers. Disadvantages:
33

1. Maintenance on the turbine or tower is difficult and requires climbing the tower. 2. Medium sized footprint is required (a 10 m high tower requires a 10 m diameter footprint). 3. Requires a crane to install.

Free-standing tower : These towers have no guy wires but rely on the concrete foundation and the steel or other material tower to hold them up.

Advantages: 1. Small footprint required. 2. Requires very little cleared space. 3. Most aesthetically pleasing option. 4. Enhanced reliability due to elimination of damage to guy wires. 5. More adaptable to composite structural material construction. Disadvantages: 1. Maintenance on the turbine or tower is difficult and requires climbing the tower. 2. Requires crane to install and other equipment to construct concrete foundation. 3. Foundation may require independent civil engineering design. 4. Expensive, at least a third to half higher cost than tilt-up or guyed towers.

Conclusion: The tilt-up configuration was considerably more suitable and was the chosen configuration.
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3.3

Summary

The overall topology of the wind turbine design was selected to best suit the application as follows : 1. Rotor axis orientation is HAWT. 2. Rotor position is upwind. 3. Rotor is three bladed. 4. Power control is pitch control and yaw control. 5. Tower structure is tilt up.

This information was sufficient to begin detailed component design and selection in the next chapter.

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