Development of a wind turbine for a hybrid solar-wind power system

Abstract

Conventional energy supply has not been able to meet the energy needs of most developing nations. This calls for the need to invest in renewable energy systems which are not only sustainable but clean, abundant, and easily assessable. This research presents a study of wind variability by using wind data got from a weather station to design and fabricate a small-scale horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT). This was done by using locally sourced materials for a Hybrid Solar-Wind power system for irrigation purposes, as a performance evaluation of the turbine. The materials used in the fabrication of the turbine include wood, polyvinyl chloride plastic, acrylic glass, Teflon, and steel all sourced locally. From the evaluation, the power capacity of the wind turbine was derived to be 40 W, 41 W and 43 W from the voltage and current output reading on the multi-meter from three average wind speed variations of 5 m/s, 10 m/s and 15 m/s measured from handheld digital anemometers respectively. A regression analysis of the relationship between the turbine's power capacity and the wind speed showed that the turbine operates best at low speed of 5 m/s, with an R2 value of 0.9602. The fabricated wind turbine was connected to a hybrid power system with the second energy source consisting of a 40 W solar tracking system to give a more stable power supply. The system was used for soil monitoring irrigation purposes. The design of the HAWT indicates a cheap, alternative and sustainable energy source that is more stable and suitable for smart solar panel irrigation system.