Renewable Energy 36 (2011) 2128e2138

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Renewable Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/renene

Small wind turbines with timber blades for developing countries: Materials choice, development, installation and experiences
Leon Mishnaevsky Jr. a, *, Peter Freere b, Rakesh Sinha b, Parash Acharya b, Rakesh Shrestha c, Pushkar Manandhar d
a

Materials Research Division, Ris National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy, Technical University of Denmark, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark Kathmandu Alternative Power and Energy Group Ltd. (KAPEG), Bhatti Danda, P.O. Box 25060 Ktm, Dhulikhel, Nepal International Institute of Management, Energy and Environment Management, University of Flensburg, Germany d Practical Action Nepal, Pandol Marga, Lazimpat, P.O. Box 15135, Kathmandu, Nepal
b c

a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history: Received 8 June 2010 Accepted 29 January 2011 Available online 23 February 2011 Keywords: Wind turbines Wooden blades Materials testing Coating Renewable energy in developing countries

a b s t r a c t
The low cost wind turbines with timber blades represent a good solution for the decentralized energy production in off-grid regions of developing countries. This paper summarizes the results of investigations on the mechanical testing and choice of timber for wind blades, testing of different coatings and blades as well as installation and practical experience with wooden wind turbines in Nepal. The recommendations on the optimal choice of Nepali timber and coatings for low cost wind blades are summarized. The timber wood blades were designed and tested. On the basis of the recommendations, the wind turbines with timber (lakuri) wind blades were produced, and tested. The turbines with timber wind blades were installed on several locations around Nepal, and their usability was studied. It was demonstrated that the appropriate choice of timber and coatings ensures necessary reliability of the blades and turbines. It was further demonstrated that the low cost wind turbines with timber blades represent a promising and viable option for the decentralized energy production in developing countries, which also opens new areas for businesses. 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction The population in many developing countries is distributed over large areas, with long distances between small villages or farms. Given the low energy consumption in the remote villages and small energy markets, it is in many cases impracticable to use the traditional technologies of energy supply, e.g. grid extension. The possible alternative, as stand-alone diesel generators, which rely on imported fuel, can be also inefcient due to high costs of transportation of fuel (especially in mountainous and remote regions) and potential dependency of the external supply. A good solution for the quest of developing countries and their poor regions for decentralized energy sources, allowing the energetic independence of the countries and regions, is based on small wind turbines [1]. However, the introduction of wind energy in developing countries should not lead to the situation when the dependency of the country on external energy and fuel supply, or

* Corresponding author. E-mail address: lemi@risoe.dtu.dk (L. Mishnaevsky). 0960-1481/$ e see front matter 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.renene.2011.01.034

transportation is replaced by the new dependency, on expensive materials and equipment, very special know-how and development aid. Thus, the wind turbines for developing countries should be inexpensive in production and in service, reliable and durable, and producible locally, from local materials and with the use of the local equipment. In order to reduce the costs of the wind turbines, and to make wind energy more attractive for developing countries, natural, locally available materials, notably wood, can be used to produce parts of the wind turbines instead of conventional, rather expensive composite materials [2e6]. In order to explore the applicability and efciency of wood as the material for wind blades, a Danish-Nepalese collaborative research project on Development of wind energy technologies in Nepal on the basis of natural materials was initiated and funded by the Danida program. The results of the research carried out in the framework of this project, including the results of comprehensive program of investigations for the choice of timber and coating for low cost wind turbines, their testing and the practical experiences with the design of the turbines and their installation in Nepal, are summarized below.