PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF 1 kW HORIZONTAL AXIS WIND TURBINE FOR RESIDENTIAL USE IN ABEOKUTA

Abstract

The conventional energy sources are mainly use in Nigeria to generate electricity and yet, there is a critical challenge of electric power deficit. Therefore, design, modeling and simulation of 1 kW horizontal axis wind turbine as alternative power supply for residential use is considered. This paper presents the design, modeling and simulation of horizontal axis type wind turbine with power output of 1 kW at a wind speed of 4 m/s. Analysis of wind power capacity in W/m² was done based on the obtained wind data using Weibull probability distribution function. The results showed that the average exploitable wind power density between 4 W/m² and 14.97 W/m² was realizable. The wind turbine blades were modeled using blade element momentum theory. The rotational speed of the blades was increased by using airfoil. Mathematical equations were used to determine the tip speed ratio, lift and drag forces and the power output.  The MATLAB^TM AND SIMULINK^TM scientific computer program was used to simulate the model of the wind turbine. The model with its required input parameters, pitch angle, rotational speed of the rotor, angle of attack, and wind speed were varied above and below its actual settings. The results showed that when the parameters were decreased, there was no power output and with the parameters values above the actual settings, the output power was increased to 2.5 kW at a wind speed of 8 m/s and generator speed of 620 rpm. The capacity is small and it is affordable for many household applications in Nigeria.