The Development of a Straight-bladed Vertical-axis Wind Turbine

ABSTRACT A straight-bladed vertical-axis wind turbine has been constructed at Napier College. The installation has been designed as a test bed in order to test various blade configurations and electrical generator load systems. The turbine has been placed on a test site and will be tested over the next two years. Available evidence has shown that the line of investigation should include a low aspect ratio, high solidity configuration and electrical power take-off to naturally match the turbine and supply a variety of load requirements.