Compact Wind Acceleration Turbine - Optiwind

Optiwind

In the case of Optiwind, there appears to be a growing body of evidence that they believe have solved for both the acceleration and economic challenges posed by CWAT/DAWT designs. Where previous attempts at new designs in this category have focused purely on acceleration magnitude, Optiwind appears to have taken a more holistic approach to their design, considering cost as much as acceleration benefit. In addition, the ongoing operational and maintenance cost of the entire unit appears to be successfully addressed in this design. It is absent the significant cost drivers of HAWT systems - large composite blades, gearbox, yaw motor, pitch control, lubrication, etc. In addition, the novel foundation geometry appears to have mitigated the structural challenges of the conventional monopole foundation design, which was originally conceived to offset the counter-rotational effects ("wobbling") of large, three blade turbines. As such, it is reasonable to assume that Optiwind's holistic approach to systemwide costs have led to a series of designs and discoveries that can realistically deliver the economic advantages of accelerated wind at a cost that is less than the net system cost. This is accurate if the Optiwind system is compared to a HAWT purely on rating. The problem therein is, if one compares the Optiwind design based on its stack height (the distance from its lowest turbine to the highest turbine) to a traditional HAWT of the same diameter, the overall power output of the machine is 20% less than that of the HAWT, with all the attendant material and structural expenses generally associated with a CWAT/DAWT. On average a CWAT/DAWT system would need to produce at least 2-3 times the energy a HAWT could produce from the maximum area used by the CWAT/DAWT in order to offset the substantially larger material costs. There is no evidence yet that there are any DAWT/CWAT designs capable of this level of increase when compared on an apples to apples basis with HAWT's.