Darrieus wind turbine

Making the most of the wind: the Darrieus Turbine and recent developments
Our world today is one that is growing at a faster pace and is always challenging our habits with it high demands in terms of costs and adaptability. The developments in the fields of science and technology has seemed to make our lives easier with its introduction of new devices and processes that revolutionize the way by which we undergo our everyday routines - from taking a bath, entertaining ourselves, eating and many more. In our case, it is undeniable that one of our key needs is the abundant supply of energy. Energy is a very important part of our lives as it enables us to proceed with our activities. We need energy to process and cook our food; we need energy to sustain the industries that subsequently define human activities. Wars have been forged ahead because of the desire to have access, if not control over the massive sources of energy in the world. The changing lifestyle of the 21st century population keeps on subtly demanding for innovations that will satiate their desires for continual improvement - things being done faster, easier and better.
With the growing demand of the present-day human population, it is inevitable for people to invest in necessary technologies to passively postpone human`s exploitations on the Earth`s natural energy resources. And since the supply and the demand for energy is one of the issues that define our key, daily activities, there have been numerous, consistent efforts forwarded to address the deemed fallbacks under this important issue. We have seen how mankind has tried to vitalize the energy sector by attempting to develop alternative ways for its production. Hence, we have the solar energy, the energy obtained from large windmills, energy from water and many more. At present, wind energy is one of the least expensive of the alternative/renewable energy sources and is becoming more affordable as the technology improves and infrastructures develop.
Wind energy is estimated to have the lowest cost of all renewable options. Governments and private businesses have been investing in research in this technology and results are paying off. For example, it is estimated that the cost per kilowatt-hour (cents/kWh) from wind energy has been reduced by 80% over the last two decades. Recent high efficiency wind turbines develop electricity for about 11 to 13 cents/kWh depending on turbine design and location. However, the lowest cost of hydrocarbon fuel sources is coal, generating electricity for about 6 cents/kWh. Still, there are many opportunities to further reduce the cost of wind energy.
One of the better mechanisms invented to produce viable energy from wind is the Darrieus wind turbine. The Darrieus wind turbine is a wind turbine designed to have a vertical appearance that can generate electricity through wind energy. With the initial model constructed by Georges Jean Marie Darrieus in 1931, this wind turbine is created with several aerofoils vertically put on the top of a rotating shaft or network which serves as the anchor of the device. In its much more complicated initial design, the aerofoils` vertical arrangement are put in place in perfectly symmetrical order so to attune with any type of motion or rate of gustiness of the wind. In contrast to earlier models of other wind turbines where the positioning of the aerofoils are rather haphazard because of the lack of symmetry and proportion, the construction of the aerofoils if the Darreius wind turbine no longer needs to be rotated by the blows of the wind to be able to generate energy (Walker and Jenkins: 1997).
With this improvement in its external construction, the spinning of the wind turbine is made more efficient with the aerofoils rotating forward and in a more balanced manner. The symmetry enables this and is really designed to achieve such rotational ease. With the blades of wind turbine also arranged symmetrically, the incoming airflow with the rotations of the foils are made to collect together and make the production of energy much easier.
In another case, when the foils are moving around the back of the framework, the direction of rotation reverses but still maintaining the same strength of energy production. The overall design of the device enables it to spin around at a consistent speed without being ...