Wind turbines work by converting the kinetic energy in the wind first into rotational kinetic energy in the turbine and then electrical energy that can be supplied. The objectives of this paper are to design a small wind turbine that is optimized for the constraints that come with residential use of a 0.75 kW generator for a direct-drive wind turbine and to compare the generator systems for pitch control and for active speed stall control.
The comparison of different generator systems in literature is discussed with the criteria based on the energy yield, cost, and weight. A 150 W at average 4 m/s, 4-meter diameter wind turbine designed at a TSR of 4.7. The design and implementation process includes the selection of the wind turbine type and the determination of the blade airfoil, pitch angle distribution along the radius, and chord length distribution along the radius. The pitch angle and chord length distributions are optimized based on conservation of angular momentum and theory of aerodynamic forces on an airfoil.