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Mr.
Dayton Griffin, Principal Investigator, dgriffin@globalenergyconcepts.com
Mr.
Robert Poore, Business Official, rpoore@globalenergyconcepts.com
DOE
Grant No. DE-FG02-03ER83848
Amount:
$749,832
The
cost of wind energy has declined dramatically in the past 20 years and is now
closely competitive with more conventional sources of electrical energy.
This project addresses the need to further reduce the cost of wind
energy, by developing an innovative rotor design for commercially available,
megawatt-scale wind turbines. In
order to reduce loads without increasing system costs, an adaptive blade will be
designed to change pitch (twist) at the same time it bends in response to
changes in wind speed. This will be
accomplished by making optimal use of carbon fiber. Phase
I examined a matrix of possible blade designs and identified several that offer
significant energy reductions. The
study included updated and current carbon-fiber-material properties,
manufacturing methods, and cost information to ensure that an optimized design
can deliver at least a roughly 5% energy reduction. Phase
II will design, build, and test a megawatt-scale (30 m) blade that uses
bend-twist coupling to reduce loads without increasing overall costs
Commercial Applications and Other
Benefits
as described by awardee: The
potential market for blades of this type is over $500 million annually at
today’s level of wind turbine sales. The
technology also should facilitate commercial acceptance of carbon fiber in wind
turbine blades.