Designing cost-effective high-performance residential wind turbines for remote Canadian communities

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Wind power is a sustainable source of renewable energy with many benefits, including low environmental impact and the ability to provide electricity in remote locations, which can lead to greatly reduced fuel dependence. A key area of growth for wind power in Canada is in the small domestic wind turbine sector, particularly for remote northern residential communities where access to affordable renewable energy is limited. A key challenge for growth of this sector in Canada is the startup costs associated with small wind turbine infrastructure, including the complex aerodynamic blades. Borrum Energy Solutions Inc. (BES), a small enterprise located in Waterloo Ontario, designs, manufactures and assembles small domestic 1.2 kW wind turbines targeted for remote northern Canadian communities. Currently BES fabricates their wind turbine blades using costly carbon fiber epoxy-based materials which is not sustainable. The challenge is to find an alternative cost-effective replacement material with similar characteristics. The proposed research aims to investigate the potential for reducing the cost of BESs wind turbine blades by 30% through use of an emerging class of high-performance fiber-reinforced composite materials. The project involves two main components: (i) characterizing the performance of candidate materials and assessing these against a baseline material, and (ii) conducting a study to develop efficient fabrication methods. The material performance data will be crucial for BES to design new wind turbine blades, while the developed fabrication methods will lead to feasible part production. The research project aims to address a critical need in the small wind turbine sector and will allow BES to deploy new products at a faster rate. The benefits of this research to Canada include providing affordable renewable energy to remote residential communities, while also reducing environmental impact.