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HARVESTING ROADSIDE WIND ENERGY
Impact/Purpose:
In this proposal, we will study the feasibility of utilizing wind produced by passing vehicles in highways and converting it to electricity. A vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) will be built and installed along highway I-81. Its performance will be monitored and analyzed.
There are several questions we want to answer by conducting this research: (1) Does this technology abide by Pennsylvania Department of Transportation highway regulations? (2) What is the energy output from such an instrument? (3) What are the possible applications of such a technology?
Description:
For the first question, we have tried different routes to reach the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and request permission to attach an anemometer on the guardrails along Interstate I-81. However, due to the lack of current policy guiding such activities, PennDOT has to go through a full process to make such a guideline, including steps such as request a review process and drafting of an agreement between PennDOT's legal department and PSU's legal department. The process is so lengthy that even though we sent our request in October 2009, an approval has not been granted as of March 2010.
Not being able to install an anemometer along I-81, we are not able to carry out the experiment to answer the second questions. To circumvent this situation, we searched for other facilities that would allow us to collect data without going through such a lengthy process. A nearby 1-mile long track in Letter Kenny Army Depot is suitable for our study. Fortunately, Letter Kenny agreed to help us and allow us to bring our instrument onsite for data collection when the combat vehicles are tested on the track. Based on their schedule, we will not be able to start this study until late March or early April. Currently, our instrument has been designed, constructed, and tested. We just need to collect the data at Letter Kenny Army Depot and then analyze them afterwards. We expect to bring our results and conclusions to the P3 Expo in April.
We have not had the opportunity to answer the third question at the present time; however, our team has discussed the possible applications. Examples include highway safety signs, weather stations, and traffic monitors in remote areas where a hardwire power line is expensive or not an option.
A photo of our team was used as the cover for the Penn State Mont Alto Alumni publication – The Bridge. We will present our project at the Penn State Mont Alto Academic Festival (April 2010).