Wind energy advances

Engineers at the University of Alberta have created a wind energy generator that they hope people will one day use to power their own homes.

"We have developed a simple, reliable, controller for small scale wind energy generators that is cheaper than competing technologies," said Dr. Andy Knight, a professor in the U of A Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and lead author of a paper on the subject published recently in IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion.

The traditional problem with harnessing wind energy has been the high cost and the low return of energy, especially for small-scale generators, Knight explained. A particular problem is that the devices have been unable to convert any energy when winds fall below specific cut off speeds, and much energy is therefore wasted.

However, Knight's open loop control system can be built with a few, simple electronic components that are cheap and easy to find, use and repair. As well, Knight's system is able to transfer even light winds into electric energy.