Prediction of Ideal Wind Turbine Blade Angle and Size for Minimum Electricity Cost Using CFD and Actual Wind Records

The research merges studies on the computational fluid dynamics of wind turbine blades with evaluations of actual wind data. We took the stall regulated NREL VI wind turbine, as our reference. Through the CFD approach, we identified the ideal pitch angle at the blade tip that amplifies power output (ensuring the rated power isn't surpassed) for wind velocities ranging between 5-20 m/s, thereby transitioning the turbine from stall-regulated to pitch-regulated. The ideally pitched blade was scaled up by three varying factors: 1.05, 1.1, and 1.15. We then determined the power curves for each scale using CFD. For two different locations, we assessed the wind to predict yearly energy output and to compute electricity costs. This evaluation used actual wind records from these sites and our derived power curves. The assessment employed the well-known maximum likelihood technique, which operates on Weibull distribution based on two parameters. Our findings indicated a noteworthy increase in yearly energy yield and a marked reduction in electricity generation costs.