Optimized Arrangement of Clustered Savonius VAWTs, Techno-Economic Evaluation, and Feasibility of Installation

In a wind farm, the wake interference between wind turbines particularly upstream and downstream turbines is the main issue that leads to identifying the optimum configuration of the turbines. The two-dimensional CFD simulations of a solo wind turbine and turbine cluster were performed to determine turbine configurations that could boost the efficiency of wind farms. The efficiency of a turbine cluster is examined by arranging the two downstream turbines in eight relative positions to the upstream turbine in a V-shaped layout. The Kriging optimization technique was based on 8 design parameters that suggested optimum layout resulting in 21.96% augmentation in the cluster’s average efficiency compared to the power coefficient (Cp) of a solo turbine. Furthermore, the optimum rotational direction of the downstream turbines in the optimized layout was examined through 4 sets of arrangements and it was revealed that the optimal rotational direction for the upstream turbine and the lower downstream turbine are clockwise rotating, whereas the best rotational direction for the upper downstream turbine is counterclockwise rotating. By analyzing the efficiency of five and seven turbine clusters at the optimum position, it was determined that the clusters of five and seven turbines, improve the average Cp by 22.6%, and 23.03%, respectively. Finally, the result of the HOMER-based economic analysis demonstrates that a 7-turbine cluster with more electrical production and lower Net Present Cost (NPC) than a 5-turbine cluster can be employed to meet the site load demand.