Grant: Applied Research Tools and Instruments Grants

The market for ""small wind"" turbine technology has been limited due to cost, size of physical footprint, relative size to output power ratio, and weight. Developing a ""small wind"" turbine that overcomes these limitations would ensure the technology becomes more widely accessible for potential customers who have been previously prohibited from accessing the advantages of such technology, particularly its use within urban areas. Potential economic benefits beyond those delivered by alternative renewable and green energy sources in general include increased market potential due to a greater range of urban, residential and commercial applications, increased ease of set-up and installation, and reduced manufacturing and transportation costs. In June 2010 Green Syndications, a subsidiary of Syndications Canada, a Toronto based investment firm, partnered with George Brown College to build a prototype of a new vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) design. Led by Professor Leo Salemi, the George Brown College (GBC) student research team developed a pilot scale prototype. The innovative blade design provides a substantial improvement with regard to size vs output power allowing it to be used for a wider range of applications than existing technologies. Securing NSERC funding will provide equipment enabling development of a fully functional VAWT for immediate commercialization. The phases of this process are: (i) Preparing documentation, drawings and test data for a patent application; (ii) Testing turbine blades with selected generator designs and power ratings; (iii) Finalizing rotor assembly design and machine parts for an out-of-the-box trial assembly, and testing ease of assembly; (iv) Developing the mould design for the pultrusion blade manufacturer; (v) Building three fullyfunctional VAWTs for field testing, wind tunnel testing and for demonstration purposes; and (vi) Obtaining necessary approvals and beginning full scale production and training.