Responding to more demand in coming years, the task of the small wind energy industry requires progress on several fronts-the public policy initiatives, technology development, and market growth. One important issue of the wind energy utilization is the conversion efficiency of the usable energy into productive power. Enhanced technologies such as contrarotating blades, gearbox and lubrication, airfoils, generators, and power electronics will lower cost and increase energy production. The purpose of this paper is, therefore, to reinforce the effectiveness of employing contrarotating system to enhance the performance of a small wind energy converter (SWEC). With this concept, the SWEC works more efficiently and therefore produces more energy in a unit turbine area. To verify the SWEC performance, a research model has been built and tested over a range of operating conditions. Wind tunnel tests were carried out to ascertain the overall performance of the contrarotating SWEC. Results are presented for cases of different wind speeds and Reynolds number. The results demonstrated a significant increase in wind energy conversion efficiency and capability of operation at lower wind speeds while keeping up performance compared to a single-rotor system of the same type.
Photothermal desalination driven by solar energy has emerged as a promising strategy for freshwater and clean energy production. One of the great challenges in interfacial evaporation is simultaneous achievement of superior freshwater production, salt harvesting, and electricity generation in an evaporator. Herein, an all‐inclusive photothermal solar steam generator using high‐performance photothermic converting film is reported, featuring in interconnected fibrous network, broadband absorption, heat insulation, and unidirectional water transfer. The superior characteristics can readily form a constant salinity gradient in system during vaporization, not only realizing the spatial isolation of evaporation and salt crystallization zones to harvesting freshwater and salt separately, but more importantly achieving continuous electricity generation from salinity gradient power without trade‐offs. Such stable solar steam generator integrated with efficient photothermal converting material and rational structural design highlights the practical consideration toward solar distillation by deep desalination, which can not only sustainably achieve the freshwater and salt production, but collaboratively generate the electricity for emergency needs.
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