The collaboration between AI design specialists EvoPhase and precision metal fabricators Kwik Fab provides a solution to the design and production of small-scale, affordable, generators of wind energy.
EvoPhase used its AI-driven design process to generate and test designs for their efficiency at wind speeds found in Birmingham, which, at 3.6m/s are lower than the 10m/s rating for most turbines.
The design process employed evolutionary algorithms, mimicking natural selection, to optimize the turbine's performance by generating and evaluating various designs, introducing randomness to avoid local minima in optimisation.
“Most algorithms would be able to take one design and start refining it [but] only change tiny bits around it, and it still looks kind of the same,” explained Leonard Nicusan, EvoPhase’s Chief Technology Officer. “For algorithms with our AI, we don't test one design. We tested hundreds at a time, created 2000 designs that all looked completely different. They allowed us to find these best characteristics. They produced a seven-fold improvement in the amount of kinetic energy that it collects from the wind, as opposed to the industry standard designs that work for cities.”
MORE FROM ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
The prototype's output is yet to be rated, but simulations suggest it could power an average European household or provide energy equivalent to 10,000 miles for an electric car like a Tesla Model 3 annually.
Kwik Fab produced the first iteration of the Birmingham Blade to demonstrate the feasibility of manufacturing the design. An aluminium version will be sited on a roof in Birmingham for evaluation and testing, and the final product is expected to be available by late 2025.
The EvoPhase – Kwik Fab collaboration is now working on another design for the very different conditions in Edinburgh.
Kwik Fab’s Paul Jarvis said: “We can take a complex design, and manufacture and ship a prototype for testing within weeks. We’d like to work with organisations that want to make the most of wind power, a source of sustainable energy that is free, and present in every country.”
Onshore wind and grid queue targeted in 2030 energy plan
It does seem that the wind lobbyists are, as one would expect, neglecting the cost due to wind - (storage, lots of grid links and backup - all of...