Performance Comparison of A Small Scale Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

Abstract

The demand for wind energy is on the rise due to the tremendous increase in fossil fuels. Also, there are areas which do not have electricity supply and these places coincided with the poorest as well as isolated countryside areas. These people are not able to afford a wind turbine, neither small nor big. Hence, this research is focused on the design and performance of a small scale vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) that anyone with common workshop materials could build as to harvest the wind energy to produce small scale electricity. In this research, the parameters such as rotational speed of turbine and voltage acquired are measured. The turbine built featured interchangeable part for blades that allows blades made of different type of material to be inserted for finding the material that could provide higher turbine’s efficiency. The performance of the turbine is studied and discussed. The VAWT built is economical and affordable as it could be built using simple and easy to get material. This small scale turbine could have great real-life application in rural areas to improve the people living condition by low cost small scale electricity generation.