Design, Build and Testing of a Hydrokinetic H-Darrieus Turbine for Developing Countries Forest Tanier-Gesner, Chad Stillinger, Alex Bond, Student Member, IEEE, Patrick Egan, Josh Perry Abstract—Hydrokinetic turbines can provide a source of electricity for remote areas located near a river or stream. The objective of this paper is to describe the design, simulation, build, and testing of a novel hydrokinetic turbine. The main components of the system are a permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG), a machined H-Darrieus rotor, an embedded controls system, and a cataraft. The design and construction of this device was conducted at the Oregon Institute of Technology in Wilsonville, Oregon. Index Terms–Renewable energy, hydrokinetic turbine, H- Darrieus, power generation, permanent magnet synchronous generator. I. INTRODUCTION Hydrokinetic turbines have the potential to provide a low- cost, renewable source of energy to rural areas in developing countries and remote areas in developed countries that do not have access to electricity. While they are not suitable for providing electricity on a large scale, they are appropriate for small-scale applications. Hydrokinetic devices, like water wheels, have been around for centuries. Water wheels were the first type of hydrokinetic energy extraction devices, widely used to produce energy for grinding, sawing, or crushing various products in mills [1]. These were placed in a river or other moving water source and could be used to power a watermill. As power plants were constructed, hydrokinetic devices became less popular and energy demand was satisfied by distributed electricity. Recently, however, the consequences of increasing carbon emissions have become evident, and interest in small-scale renewable energy production has increased. Over the last decade hydrokinetic turbines have experienced a surge in popularity. The first river-current turbine, field tested and documented in literature, was designed by Peter Garman in 1978 and used a submerged vertical axis turbine [2]. Today, there are multiple companies producing these turbines, and improvements in technology continue to be developed. One major advantage of hydrokinetic turbines is that there is no need for construction at the site to harness the kinetic energy of the river. The hydrokinetic device needs only to be anchored in the moving water. By avoiding construction and allowing water to flow in its natural path, the environmental footprint of a hydrokinetic turbine is kept to a minimum. Furthermore, there are many available types of turbines that can be used for small-scale hydrokinetic applications. Most of these turbines can be broken up into either axial flow (horizontal) turbines or vertical turbines. Axial flow turbines have propeller type rotors with a rotational axis that is parallel to the flow of water. These turbines can have a straight or inclined axis and can have submerged or non-submerged generators. Vertical axis turbines have an axis of rotation for the rotor that is perpendicular to the flow of water [3]. II. Conceptual Design Many rural areas in developing countries have no access to electricity while others use expensive and polluting power sources such as diesel generators. Refrigeration is necessary for storage of vaccines and food, and lighting is essential for safety and comfort. Providing a low-cost, pollution free source of electricity to these areas is crucial to their development and improved well-being. Each year a group of students from the Oregon Institute of Technology travel to Tanzania to install photovoltaic systems that provide electricity to rural communities that typically use 12 V automotive batteries to run their small community electrical loads. This program, known as Solar Hope, has allowed students to recognize the opportunity that designing and installing a small-scale hydrokinetic turbine could have on these communities. While Tanzania has a great solar resource, photovoltaic systems only generate electricity for part of the day. Hydrokinetic turbines produce inexpensive energy that has a minimal effect on the environment and can generate electricity 24 hours per day. The idea is that people of the village would essentially exchange their depleted 12 V batteries for charged batteries at a river bank “charging station,” located next to the hydrokinetic turbine. This would provide a way for these communities to charge their 12 V batteries with an independent, renewable power source (other than Solar) which would benefit their health, comfort, and economies, while diversifying their energy portfolio. Fig. 1 shows the basic design concept of the rural hydrokinetic battery charging system. Fig. 1. Basic block diagram of the rural hydrokinetic battery charging system. 978-1-4799-6415-4/14/$31.00 ©2014 IEEE