Blade Designeers Strive to Capture More Energy with Less Weight

The following is from an article published in WindStats Newsletter Vol. 19, No. 4. The complete article is available from WindStats at: http://www.windstats.com.

"It comes as no surprise that much of today's wind power research focuses on increasing blade lengths. The weight of a rotor can take up as much as 77% of the total weight of a system, says John Locke, a researcher at Wichita State University's National Institute for Aviation Research.

Yet, according to Dr. Paul Veers of Sandia National Laboratories, blades account for just 10% of a turbine's cost: If you double the [cost] of your blades, that would only increase [system] cost by 10%, says Veers. But if you increase your swept area by just 20%, you win, as that represents a substantial boost in power output."