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Electricity Generation with Small Wind Turbines

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Renewable Energy Systems

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Definition of the Subject

Small wind systems can be seen in autonomous operation for pumping water, desalinization, and battery charging. A growing number of small wind turbines is connected to the grid, most of them behind the meter. This entry will focus on electricity-generating small wind turbines. Since the electricity production with wind turbines on buildings is a fairly new development with an interesting potential it will also be addressed. Safe and reliable operation of small wind turbines is technically challenging since they usually operate in more turbulent flows than large-scale wind turbines. A short description of the working principles of various types of small wind turbines is given; their safety and control systems are discussed as well as noise and vibrations. Furthermore, a treatment of the investment costs and the cost of energy is provided. Finally the...

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Abbreviations

COE:

Cost of Energy: A method to calculate the electricity costs taking into account investment and operation and maintenance costs.

Control and safety systems:

Systems to keep small wind turbines within their operational range and to bring them back into a normal operational mode.

Darrieus rotors:

A VAWT with curved rotor blades using a lift principle for its operation.

DAWT:

Diffuser-Augmented Wind Turbine or ducted wind turbine.

Drag:

Force in the direction of the incoming flow on a (streamlined) body.

HAWT:

Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine.

H-type VAWT:

A VAWT with rotor blades rotating along a cylindrical surface.

Lift:

Force perpendicular to the incoming flow on a (streamlined) body.

Savonius rotors:

“Crosswind” wind turbines with the main shaft perpendicular to the wind.

VAWT:

Vertical Axis Wind Turbine.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Aerospace Engineering Section Wind Energy, Delft University of Technology, Kluijverweg1, Delft, The Netherlands

    G. J. W. van Bussel

Authors
  1. G. J. W. van Bussel
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to G. J. W. van Bussel .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. German Biomass Research Centre, Leipzig, Germany

    Martin Kaltschmitt

  2. Institute of Environmental Technology and Energy Economics, Hamburg University of Technology, Hamburg, Germany

    Martin Kaltschmitt

  3. Earth Engineering Center, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Nickolas J. Themelis

  4. Ormat Technologies, Inc., Reno, NV, USA

    Lucien Y. Bronicki

  5. Royal Institute of Technology, Electric Power Systems, Stockholm, Sweden

    Lennart Söder

  6. Hawaii Natural Energy Institute, School of Ocean And Earth Science And Technology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA

    Luis A. Vega

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© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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van Bussel, G.J.W. (2013). Electricity Generation with Small Wind Turbines . In: Kaltschmitt, M., Themelis, N.J., Bronicki, L.Y., Söder, L., Vega, L.A. (eds) Renewable Energy Systems. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5820-3_82

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