Effect of Rotor Solidity on the Tip Losses from Wind Turbine Rotor Blades

This paper discusses about the effect of rotor solidity on the tip loss occurring from blades of a turbine. The rotation of 3 bladed turbines commonly produces helical wake behind the rotor and subjected to several types of losses. One of the factors involved is loss arising from the blade tip and hub root. The performance of a wind turbine is also dependent upon the no of blades and rotor solidity which is function of blade chord. The number of blades increases the rotor solidity as well as tip loss as predicted by Prandtl. Aspects related to aerodynamic theory that proved power coefficient and tip losses are influenced by the solidity parameter. Comparisons of power coefficient using the different rotor lift to drag ratios are evaluated in order to verify the turbine efficiency range at different tip speed ratios.