Abstract
Vertical axis wind turbine is widely noticed as wind turbine of wind power generation system because it can be easily miniaturized, generates low noise and rotates regardless of wind direction. Vertical axis wind turbine has, however, low rotation performance as compared with that of horizontal axis wind turbine. Therefore, we need to improve rotation performance of vertical axis wind turbine. This study proposes new blade shape of vertical axis wind turbine effective for wide range of wind speed. Proposed new blade profile has largely rounded leading and trailing edges. Results obtained by numerical simulation and wind tunnel experiments suggested proposed new blade profile has higher performance as compared with conventional blade profile.
