Project Grant 20203353032759

THE GOAL OF PECOS WIND POWER'S USDA SBIR PROJECT IS TO DEMONSTRATE THAT INCREASING CAPACITY FACTOR OF SMALL-SCALE DISTRIBUTED WIND TURBINES IS A TECHNICALLY AND ECONOMICALLY FEASIBLE SOLUTION TO PROVIDING LOWER COST ELECTRICITY TO RURAL AREAS NATIONWIDE. THE CONCEPT WILL BE DEMONSTRATED THROUGH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (R & D) OF A HIGH-CAPACITY FACTOR DRIVETRAIN FOR PECOS WIND POWER'S 85KW DISTRIBUTED WIND TURBINE, THE PW85. IT WILL ENABLE THE PW85 TO UTILIZE THE NATION'S UNTAPPED, VAST LOW-WIND SPEED RESOURCE WHILE ACHIEVING A BREAKTHROUGH LEVELIZED COST OF ENERGY (LCOE) OF $.068/KWH, 43.3% LESS THAN TODAY'S MOST COST-COMPETITIVE SMALL WIND TURBINES (DOE, 2019).AS ESTIMATED BY THE DISTRIBUTED WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION (DWEA), THE NUMBER OF PROPERTIES NATIONWIDE WITH ENOUGH SPACE AND WIND RESOURCES FOR DISTRIBUTED WIND TURBINES COULD SATISFY THE ENTIRE COUNTRY'S ELECTRICITY DEMAND (DWEA, 2015). HOWEVER, THE VAST MAJORITY OF THIS POTENTIAL EXISTS IN LOW WIND SPEEDAREAS, 5-6M/S. IN THESE AREAS, ANNUAL ENERGY PRODUCTION OF TODAY'S SMALL WIND TURBINES IS SO LOW THAT THEY FAIL TO BE COST-COMPETITIVE WITH OTHER SOURCES OF ELECTRICITY. PECOS WIND POWER'S HIGH CAPACITY FACTOR DRIVETRAIN WILL OPTIMIZE THE PW85 FOR THE LOW WIND SPEED MARKETS MOST PREVALENT IN RURAL AMERICA. BY DOING SO, IT WILL EXTEND THE BENEFITS OF DISTRIBUTED WIND POWER TO A GEOGRAPHIC TERRITORY NEARLY 10X GREATER THAN THE CURRENT MARKET FOOTPRINT.THIS USDA SBIR PROJECT AIMS TO RESEARCH AND DEVELOP A HIGH CAPACITY FACTOR DRIVETRAIN CAPABLE OF WITHSTANDING THE EXCEPTIONALLY HIGH LOADING FROM A ROTOR WITH A SWEPT AREA 56% GREATER THAN COMPETING DISTRIBUTED WIND TURBINES. DURING PHASE I, PECOS WIND POWER USED NUMERICAL MODELING TO DESIGN AND ANALYZE A DRIVETRAIN CAPABLE OF ACHIEVING A CAPACITY FACTOR OF 43% IN 6M/S ANNUAL WIND SPEEDS - A 2.5X INCREASE OVER THE AVERAGE CAPACITY FACTOR OF SMALL WIND TURBINES INSTALLED TO DATE (DOE, 2019). THE PHASE II EFFORT WILL VALIDATE PHASE IRESULTS VIA FABRICATION AND FIELD TESTING OF THE PW85 PROTOTYPE. AFTER PHASE II, PECOS WIND POWER WILL BE WELL-POSITIONED TO COMMENCE DEVELOPMENT OF A PAID CUSTOMER DEMONSTRATION PROJECT AT SUNY MORRISVILLE IN NEW YORK STATE.PECOS WIND POWER'S USDA SBIR PROJECT REINFORCES AND SUPPORTS USDA-NIFA'S COMMITMENT TO RENEWABLE ENERGY INNOVATION AND ADVANCING THE ECONOMIC PROSPERITY OF RURAL AMERICA. IF SUCCESSFUL, THE R & D PROPOSED HEREIN WILL EXTEND THE BENEFITS OF DISTRIBUTED WIND POWER TO A VAST AND UNTAPPED GEOGRAPHY OF RURAL COMMUNITIES; COMMUNITIES AND INDIVIDUALS WILL BENEFIT FROM SIGNIFICANT ELECTRICITY COST-SAVINGS, INCREASED ELECTRIC SECURITY, IMPROVED RESILIENCY, AND REDUCED GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS.