The collaboration between AI design specialists EvoPhase and precision metal fabricators Kwik Fab is claimed to provide a solution to the design and production of small-scale, affordable, generators of clean wind energy.
EvoPhase used its AI-driven design process to generate and test designs for their efficiency at wind speeds found in Birmingham, which, at 3.6m/s are lower than the 10m/s rating for most turbines.
“We needed a turbine that could capture Birmingham’s relatively low wind speeds while managing turbulence caused by surrounding buildings,” Leonard Nicusan, chief technology officer of EvoPhase, said in a statement. “The design also had to be compact and lightweight to suit rooftop installations."
MORE FROM ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
EvoPhase found the optimal design for curved blades which spin around a central point and confirmed that it will be up to seven times more efficient than existing designs used in the Birmingham area.
“Using AI was essential for breaking free from the long-standing biases that have influenced turbine designs for the past century,” said Nicusan. “AI allowed us to explore design possibilities beyond the scope of traditional human experimentation. We were able to generate, test, and refine over 2,000 wind turbine designs in just a few weeks, significantly accelerating our development process and achieving what would have taken years and millions of pounds through conventional methods. The final design is not just a prototype — it is a predictive solution that is ready for real-world use.”
Developed by a research group led by Dr Kit Windows-Yule at Birmingham University, EvoPhase’s AI-led evolutionary design process mimics natural selection, an approach that allows for simultaneous optimisation of many different parameters, avoiding traditional trade-offs between performance factors.
Kwik Fab produced the first iteration of the Birmingham Blade to demonstrate the feasibility of manufacturing the design. An aluminium version will be sited on a roof in Birmingham for evaluation and testing, and the final product is expected to be available by late 2025.
The EvoPhase – Kwik Fab collaboration is now working on another design for the very different conditions in Edinburgh.
Kwik Fab’s Paul Jarvis said: “We can take a complex design, and manufacture and ship a prototype for testing within weeks. We’d like to work with organisations that want to make the most of wind power, a source of sustainable energy that is free, and present in every country.”
EV targets set to cost UK auto makers billions
The UK car ´parc´ (technical term) in 2023 was 36 million, UK car sales in 2023 just under 2 million and as the report above says 363,000 EV sales,...