Tower Design

From Wind wiki

The tower is a very important part of a wind turbine, particularly of the horizontal-axis turbine. The tower can be both advantageous and disadvantageous to the entirety of wind turbines. For one, it is expensive, as it costs about 20% of the total cost of the wind turbines. Another reason is difficulty it causes during transportation, assembly, and erection of materials. The higher the tower is, the more difficult it gets when installed.

However, with tower height comes the amount of energy you yield – higher wind turbines have the possibility of producing more energy. In larger turbines for example, construction expenses can trigger people to work and not waste their time.

Aside from the tower height, another thing given emphasis in designing the tower is its stiffness. Stiffness determines the material required for the turbine, and ultimately the cost of the construction. Generally, this simple rule is followed: a good tower design is achieved if the desired height of the tower and the required stiffness are met at the lowest possible cost.

Steel or concrete are the materials often used in the construction of wind turbine towers. Designs vary from lattice constructions to guyed or free-standing steel tubular towers up to massive concrete structures. As for technical requirements, it is necessary that the tower design matches appropriately to the set requirements because even though the tower seems like a conventional structure, it also requires knowledge of how the whole wind turbine system and all its application work.

Like the nacelle, the tower should not be overlooked as it also determines the physical appearance of wind turbines. Whether it is for functionality or for aesthetics, due attention should be given to it.