Vertical-Axis Wind Turbines for Powering Cellular Communication Towers

Cellular communications are rapidly penetrating markets across the entire globe. Very rapid adoption is occurring in developing countries such as China, India, and Brazil. In many cases, wired communication is being bypassed. The electronic equipment which is housed on communication towers requires large amounts of reliable electricity for their operation. On the other hand, in some regions of the world, continuous supply of electricity is not available. In these cases, auxiliary power is supplied by diesel generation which is polluting and expensive. In other cases where grid-connected electricity is not available, the entirety of power is provided by diesel generation. To alleviate the issues related to power availability, a novel, vertical-axis wind turbine has been designed, constructed, and implemented to power communication towers. The turbine is specifically designed to attach to communication towers without interfering with the existing electronics. Results show that the proposed design is capable of providing for the electrical requirements of a typical communication tower.