Motivated by the growing installation of wind energy systems all over the world and with the perspective of wind energy utilisation in Brazil, the authors present a simplified model to evaluate the optimum aerodynamic configuration for the rotor blades of a horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT). The model is based on the conservation equations and the Panel Method, and a limited set of geometric parameters that strongly affect the rotor aerodynamics are calculated.

By Daniel Fonseca de Carvalho e Silva, Luiz Henrique Gomes Pereira and Gustavo C.R. Bodstein, Brazil

The world’s wind resources are huge. But as wind becomes a larger fraction of electricity generation, grid integration must be resolved, particularly to smooth fluctuations in wind power output. Adding energy storage or back-up has been proposed as a solution, but dedicated storage or back-up adds capital cost to wind power. This article proposes vehicle-to-grid power (V2G) as a storage resource for large-scale wind power.

By Willett Kempton and Amardeep Dhanju, University of Delaware, USA

The introduction of the Multibrid M5000 solution has meant a significant step in the development of new wind energy converter systems for the future. Now, going from prototypes to series production, Multibrid in Germany sees further possibilities. The company recognises that cooperation with good suppliers can add further benefits.

By Ulf Petersson, Roxtec International, Sweden

Thanks to the evolution of both computer and electronic science it is now possible (and easy) to use the acoustic imagery technique to investigate the noise behaviour of a wind turbine under operation. This article introduces the beamforming technique used in acoustic imagery for noise problem troubleshooting. It describes the parameters that are used to produce accurate acoustic images to locate the noise source of interest. Non-stationary noise sources, fast transient events and also mobile noise sources are all easily located with the technique.