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Impacts of coexisting buildings and trees on the performance of rooftop wind turbines: An idealized numerical study

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  • Fan, Xiantao
  • Ge, Mingwei
  • Tan, Wei
  • Li, Qi

Abstract

In response to the rapid growth of energy consumption in urban cities, rooftop wind turbines (RWT) have emerged as a powerful technique for providing sustainable energy and strategically minimizing the carbon footprint of buildings. However, significant knowledge gaps exist regarding how RWT respond to the complex urban environmental flows modified by the coexisting buildings and trees. This study conducts idealized numerical experiments using an open-source large-eddy simulation model to investigate the interactions between actuator-disc turbines, street trees and buildings. We found that trees taller than the mean building height modifies the existing roof-level strong shear layer by extracting energy from the mean momentum. A significant change in the mean kinetic energy budget is induced, drastically increasing turbulence production of the flow, which leads to lower power output of RWT. Trees lower than the buildings hardly alter the mean flow field but they reduce turbulence production near the roof level. As a result, improved power output (16%) and decreased normalized power fluctuation (5.2%) are observed compared to the control case without trees. The results highlight that it is important to assess effects of different street tree morphologies on the performance of RWT in their design and implementation processes.

Suggested Citation

  • Fan, Xiantao & Ge, Mingwei & Tan, Wei & Li, Qi, 2021. "Impacts of coexisting buildings and trees on the performance of rooftop wind turbines: An idealized numerical study," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 164-180.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:177:y:2021:i:c:p:164-180
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2021.05.090
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Fan, Xiantao & Guo, Kai & Wang, Yang, 2022. "Toward a high performance and strong resilience wind energy harvester assembly utilizing flow-induced vibration: Role of hysteresis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 251(C).
    3. Dar, Arslan Salim & Armengol Barcos, Guillem & Porté-Agel, Fernando, 2022. "An experimental investigation of a roof-mounted horizontal-axis wind turbine in an idealized urban environment," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 1049-1061.
    4. Widad Yossri & Samah Ben Ayed & Abdessattar Abdelkefi, 2023. "High-Fidelity Modeling and Investigation on Blade Shape and Twist Angle Effects on the Efficiency of Small-Scale Wind Turbines," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-26, April.
    5. Dai, S.F. & Liu, H.J. & Chu, Y.J. & Lam, H.F. & Peng, H.Y., 2022. "Impact of corner modification on wind characteristics and wind energy potential over flat roofs of tall buildings," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).
    6. Zhang, Shuaibin & Du, Bowen & Ge, Mingwei & Zuo, Yingtao, 2022. "Study on the operation of small rooftop wind turbines and its effect on the wind environment in blocks," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 708-718.

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