Design of a small wind turbine for a rural community in Australia

Abstract

[Abstract]: The health and the very survival of humanity are dependent on the health of the planet, which is deteriorating rapidly due to the burning of fossil fuels. Renewable energy is of paramount importance to humanity for this reason. Wind turbines are an environmentally friendly power generation option for the sustainable future of our planet and of humanity. The Australian Government has a Renewable Power Percentage target of 6% for 2010, increasing to 20% in 2020. Financial incentive schemes have recently been introduced in the form of Renewable Energy Certificates to encourage small power generation unit installations. The Australian wind power market is almost doubling annually and is expanding far quicker than the global market. The appetite and potential for Small Wind Turbine innovation in Australia is enormous. This project aims to design a lightweight, durable and economical wind turbine (~ 1 kW) using commercially available parts and composite structural materials. The target market is farmers in rural Victoria, and paramount to the concept is that two farmers are able to erect the Small Wind Turbine and also pull it down for maintenance using only typical farming machinery such as a light truck. The conceptual design evaluates the horizontal axis, three bladed, rigid hub, upwind configuration with passive control and tilt-up tower to be the most suitable for the application. The detailed design requires the Small Wind Turbine to be divided into six systems – rotor, drive train, nacelle, tower, machine controls and electrical system. The six systems are further divided into sub-components which are then designed as per the design load calculations for the target market. All components are freely available in component form in a variety of materials including composites. The dissertation aims to make a positive contribution to the ethical, financial and environmental potential of the rural community in Australia. The research is expected to result in an SWT design which is viable for use by the rural community, economical to produce due to its simplicity and reliance on commercially available modular components.