Discussion of a new rocking buoy reaction based wave energy converter topology

It has been recognized that there is a huge potential for wave energy to become a fully mature power generation technology. The design challenges that need to be overcome toward the development of a commercially viable wave energy converter (WEC) include a wide consideration of the benefits and disadvantages of the WEC regarding manufacturing, deployment and maintenance cost. This has motivated the development of a new reaction based WEC topology that offers certain advantages over previously presented designs with respect to these important factors. Power extraction, mooring, survivability, manufacture and maintainability, and environmental aspects of this design are presented.