This document proposes a high-return-on-investment wind turbine design that eliminates the need for expensive yaw systems, brakes, and foundations. It would utilize ultra-high lift airfoils optimized for moderate wind speeds and constant cross-section blades that can be mass produced. Initial funding is requested to build 10 pre-production prototypes to test in various locations and demonstrate the viability of the simplified, lower-cost design. The goal is to produce a turbine that pays for itself in under 10 years without subsidies by targeting markets with consistent moderate winds.

1. HIGH-ROI WIND
TURBINE PROPOSAL
A new way of thinking about wind energy

2. CREDENTIALS
My name is Kim
Christensen
I have an engineering
degree from Cal Poly and
a MBA
I have been a design
engineer for over thirty
years, including The Boeing
Company.
I have recently won
two R&D 100 awards
I have been
president of a wind
turbine company.

3. Value proposition #1:
Climate Change

4. Value proposition #1:
Climate Change
Climate change has become an
issue of national security for
the US.

5. Value proposition #2: Increase in
the ROI compared to current wind
turbines
Complex wing shapes
are expensive to
manufacture
Yaw systems, brake
systems and gearboxes
add costs and reduce
reliability.
The wind industry is a high fixed cost industry.
Return on investment is key.

6. Model of a high fixed cost
industry: An airline
90% of the cost of an airline are fixed costs.

7. Case study: Economics of a
conventional turbine
These are two 1 megawatt
Mitsubishi wind turbines
located in Tracey, California and
owned by Safeway corporation
The combined cost of the
two turbines is $5,000,000
The Safeway web site states
the each turbine had a
production of 1,069,296
kW-hours last year
Then, $.12* 1,069,296 = $128,315 in revenue
The pay-back period: $2,500,000/$128,315 = 19 years (without subsidy)
PG&E now pays ~$.12k
per KWH

8. Value engineered
propositions
 A wind turbine that does not require an expensive
foundation, yaw system or brake system

9. Value engineered propositions
 A wind turbine that has low-cost airfoils that can be
mass produced.

10. Enabling concept #1: Ultra-
high lift airfoils
Handley Page discovered ultra-high
lift, multi-element airfoils with CL
over 3.8!
Conventional wings have a
maximum CL of 1.8

11. Enabling concept #2: Constant cross-section
airfoils that can be mass-produced

12. Enabling concepts #3: Take advantage
of wind shear (7th power law)
Power of this wing: P= W*(1/738) *½ pClAV3
P= (1/738)*2*½*.00238*3.8*700*223= 91 KW
Power of this wing: P=(1/738) W*½ pCdAV3
P= (1/738)*2*½*.00238*2*700*223= 48 KW
P=0
P=~0
Total power is 139 KW
Estimated yearly production =
75,000 KWH
@14 MPH mean wind speed

13. Enabling concept #4: Eliminate the yaw
system with high aspect ratio wings
Typical wind rose

14. I invented a simplified and value-
engineered design and recently received
a patent
Cost of the VE wind turbine:
$75,000
Yearly production of the VE
wind turbine: 75,000 KWH (at
the same location as the
Mitsubishi.
Then, $.12/KWH* 75,000 KWH= $9,000 in revenue
The pay-back period: $75,000/$9000 = 8.3 years (without subsidy)

15. Put it all together!
The VE1 requires no
foundation, brake or
yaw system and is
optimized for
production at
moderate wind
speeds

16. Mining for wind

17. Target moderate wind speed
regimes, such as Hawaii
#
#
#
")
")
")
")
")
")
")
")
")
")")
160°0'0"W
160°0'0"W
159°0'0"W
159°0'0"W 158°0'0"W
158°0'0"W
157°0'0"W
157°0'0"W
156°0'0"W
156°0'0"W
155°0'0"W
155°0'0"W
19°0'0"N
19°0'0"N
20°0'0"N
20°0'0"N
21°0'0"N
21°0'0"N
22°0'0"N
22°0'0"N
350000
350000
425000
425000
500000
500000
575000
575000
650000
650000
725000
725000
800000
800000
875000
875000
950000
950000
2100000
2100000
2175000
2175000
2250000
2250000
2325000
2325000
2400000
2400000
2475000
2475000
Mean Speed at 50 m
mph m/s
< 12.3 < 5.5
12.3 - 13.4 5.5 - 6.0
13.4 - 14.5 6.0 - 6.5
14.5 - 15.7 6.5 - 7.0
15.7 - 16.8 7.0 - 7.5
16.8 - 17.9 7.5 - 8.0
17.9 - 19.0 8.0 - 8.5
19.0 - 20.1 8.5 - 9.0
20.1 - 21.3 9.0 - 9.5
> 21.3 > 9.5
Hawaii_FINAL_SPD50m_26July04.mxd
WindSpeedMapofHawaiiat50MetersWindSpeedMapofHawaiiat50Meters
Moloka'i
Lana'i
Maui
Kaho'olawe
Hawai'i
Kaua'i
O'ahu
Ni'ihau
Projection: UTM Zone 4, WGS 84
Spatial Resolution of Wind Resource Data: 200 m
This map was created by AWS Truewind using the MesoMap system and historical weather
data. Although it is believed to represent an accurate overall picture of the wind energy
resource, estimates at any location should be confirmed by measurement.
0 25 50 75 10012.5
Kilometers
0 25 50 75 10012.5
Miles
Key to Features
")
City
# Volcano
Major Road
County Boundary
Water Body
Pacific Ocean

18. Marketing plan
 Product: A mass-produced, value engineered wind
turbine targeted for moderate wind regimes
 Price: $75,000 for a 75,000 KW-Hr system (but
scalable)
 Place: Moderate wind regimes, such as coastal
regions
 Promotion: Build ten pre-production systems and
place them at test sites through-out the US.

19. Profit analysis

20. Variations of the theme
Actuator
Off-shore version
Variable angle of attack version

21. Manufacturing plan

22. Target Market

23. Phase 1 Project team and
funding
 CEO: Jack Frank (CEO of Andros, Inc.)
 VP Finance: Cindee Beachwood (CFO Andros, Inc)
 VP Engineering: Kim Christensen
 Manufacturing engineering: Rich Shaw
 Sales and Marketing: Bob Schrader (Andros, Inc)
 Electrical engineer and control systems consultant: Dave Palmer
 Objective: Design and build ten pre-production proto-types in two years.
 $750,000 in start-up funding to hire a manufacturing engineer, lease an
assembly facility, build tooling and build ten pre-production prototypes

24. Back-up

25. Typical wind turbine
power curves