A prize for the scientists from the Silesian University of Technology for the design of a domestic wind turbine
Scientists from the Silesian University of Technology won third prize in the finals of the “ING Grant Programme”. Their team, named Silesian Wind Generator, was awarded for their design of a domestic wind turbine with a vertical axis of rotation.
The “ING Grant Programme” competition was addressed to start-ups and scientists working in the field of modern and green energy sources. This was the first edition of this national competition. Almost 200 teams from all over Poland took part in this competition.
The main theme was the promotion of innovative technological solutions that respond to the UN's Sustainable Development Goal 7, i.e. that can provide access to sources of stable, sustainable and modern energy for all at an affordable price. Solutions that reduce energy consumption or provide energy from environmentally clean sources could be submitted to the competition. The solutions that, in the opinion of the competition jury, best addressed these challenges, were shortlisted for the finals.
A team of scientists from the Silesian University of Technology named Silesian Wind Generator submitted a design for an innovative wind turbine with a vertical axis of rotation. It is a small, low-power turbine designed for households. For this project, the scientists won third place and a financial prize of PLN 150 000.
- The device is designed to optimally convert wind energy into electrical energy. The mechanical design of the turbine, through the use of advanced computer calculation methods, ensures high efficiency in the conversion of kinetic wind energy into mechanical work. The conversion of mechanical energy into electrical energy is carried out by a highly efficient slow-speed generator. In turn, the electrical energy from the generator is supplied to the consumers via an optimised power electronic converter. The surplus of the generated electricity is stored in an integrated energy storage facility. A control system oversees the operation of the entire unit and the optimal management of the generated energy - as explained by the scientists.
The jury of the “ING Grant Programme” competition primarily valued the complementary nature of the solution proposed by the team from the Silesian University of Technology, especially in the context of prosumer installations popular in Poland. - They valued the synergy of the developed wind turbine with photovoltaic installations, which will ensure constant and even electricity production, said the scientists from the Silesian Wind Generator team.
The inventors of the turbine emphasise that, in its current form, the developed solution is mainly intended for individual consumers, in particular households. - The potential target market is very large, as there are about six million detached houses in Poland alone. It is worth emphasising that the turbine design, together with the energy storage, control systems and safety features, can operate completely independently of the electricity grid. This provides a significant opportunity for large-scale application. Furthermore, the turbines can also be combined into micro wind farms, they added.
The award-winning wind turbine is the result of cooperation among an interdepartmental, interdisciplinary team of scientists. The Silesian Wind Generator team includes: Zbigniew Buliński PhD, DSc, Eng. (project coordinator), Tomasz Krysiński PhD, Eng. (who represented the team in the competition and collected the symbolic cheque with the award), Aleksander Bodora PhD, Eng.; Arkadiusz Domoracki PhD, Eng.; Janusz Hetmańczyk, PhD, Eng.; Andrzej Latko PhD, Eng.; Jarosław Michalak PhD, Eng.; Sebastian Pawlak PhD, Eng.; Łukasz Marzec MSc, Eng. and Jakub Tumidajski MSc, Eng. The specialists from the SWG team represent three faculties of the Silesian University of Technology: Faculty of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Faculty of Mechanical Engineering.
The Silesian Wind Generator team intends to use the financial prize in the competition to further develop their project. In the nearest future, our scientists plan to develop an application that will provide remote and real-time monitoring of the operation of the entire turbine, collection of measurement data (including environmental conditions) and full diagnostics.
- This will be followed by long-term field tests under various operating conditions.
The results of these tests will be used to refine the design elements and enable the optimisation of control algorithms.
In the long term, however, we will aim to develop a grid application, which will offer the possibility of a site-specific approach to turbine design, geared to the requirements of the consumer. This will open up broad opportunities for prosumers to participate in modern personalised energy - as the scientists concluded the researchers concluded.
