EAGER: Innovative Energy Farm Design

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The research objective of this EAGER award is to develop an intelligent optimization search strategy to design the configuration of alternative energy infrastructure such as wind farms and solar farms. The goal is to determine where generators should be located in an environment and what attributes should be associated with each generator, while readily allowing for the inclusion of developing generator and electricity grid technologies. This exploratory research differs from current approaches that are based off of a regular pattern or lattice that also use fixed generator configurations. There is opportunity to significantly improve energy farm design by identifying new patterns of generator locations based on search strategies that combine continuous global and local approaches to configuration. In addition to location, more attributes of each generator (e.g., the type and capability of a wind turbine or the size and capacity of a solar panel) can be considered and varied to further improve overall performance. If successful, deliverables will include a software system that takes as input thorough and realistic information about the environment (terrain, wind speeds and directions, etc.) and outputs a layout of generators that most effectively and efficiently produce energy. This exploratory grant will provide the basis to investigate novel approaches for placement and design of alternative energy generators, and effective ways to use such a software system. The work will contribute to the fields of energy generation design, optimization, and design methods.