Daniel C. Harris  

A Lenz Vertical Axis Wind Turbine was designed and manufactured using MDF wing supports and profiles as well as polyurethane plastic sheets to create the casing for each wing. Three steel wires were also attached to the bottom support of each wing, which converged at the top of the rod to increase the structural integrity of the entire turbine. Luckily, the process of determining the most efficient airfoil was simple because the Optimal Design Parameters can readily be found online. 

Two other small-scale prototypes, a Savonius VAWT and Darrieus VAWT, were designed, manufactured and tested in the wind tunnel but our team of 4 members elected to use a Lenz VAWT which was also tested on a smaller scale in the wind tunnel before a full-scale model was manufactured. After a week of graphical analysis, the optimal gear ratio and circuit load were determined. The turbine performed exceptionally, generating a power output that was 1.5 times what was predicted.