Falcon Power: “Investing in Our Planet” through Innovation

Earth Day is a global event celebrated by more than 1 billion people and occurs each year on April 22. This year, the official Earth Day theme is “Invest in Our Planet.” One of the biggest challenges of wind energy production is the limitation in production caused by the variability of wind currents, which is intermittent by nature. In this month’s blog, we are highlighting Advent® client Falcon Power, their innovations in Variable Torque Generation (VTG™), and how their patented technology addresses the intermittency challenges of these renewable energy sources. 

Falcon Power’s innovation in permanent magnet (PM) technology significantly increases the amount of power that can be produced by wind and wave power generation. VTG™ generators monitor the wind and rotor speed and then vary the induction of electricity into the coils of the turbine stator by changing the magnitude or direction of the magnetic field of the permanent magnets in the rotor.  This produces a resistive torque that is synchronized with the torque produced by the rotation of the windmill blades. At the same time, VTG™ generators adjust the ampacity and resistance of the stator coils to convert the torque/RPM generated by the wind to electricity at maximum efficiency. 

On land, the average capacity factor of existing wind turbines is between 20% and 40%.1 With VTG™ technology, the average capacity factor increases considerably. Typical modern wind turbines begin generating electricity at wind speeds of 7 mph2. However, they do not start performing efficiently until wind speeds reach 30 mph. VTG™ equipped wind turbines can convert typical windmill rotor speed and torque to electric power efficiently at lower generator speeds and torque than current technology and will maintain a high level of efficiency throughout its entire range of operating speeds, not just at wind speeds above 30mph. Due to internal monitoring of the many variables and preprogramed electronic control of the magnetic field and stator coils, electric power generation using a VTG™ generator can begin at wind speeds that are lower than 6 mph and continue, while maintaining high efficiency, through wind speeds greater than 55 mph.  

Additionally, high wind speed failures and excessive maintenance are often caused by failures in the transmission gearbox.  VTG™ facilitates the use of direct drive systems. Thus, windmills employing VTG™ technology can be produced without transmission systems, allowing the wind turbine to start generating power at lower wind speeds and to continue power generation efficiently at higher wind speeds than possible before, significantly increasing the total power produced by a single wind turbine over a year period. The elimination of a transmission in a wind turbine is a significant reduction in total turbine weight, reducing installation costs as well as maintenance costs. 

Efforts for an increase in sustainable energy infrastructure gain traction locally and globally. It is not possible to immediately terminate our dependence on fossil fuels, especially when improvements in renewable energy technology are still needed in order to compensate for their lower efficiency and capacity factors. Interest in innovation and technology is another way of taking action and investing in our planet. Falcon Power’s investment in innovation may serve as an important steppingstone in the ever-spanning road towards a sustainable future. 

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