Towards enhancing the wind energy potential at the built environment: Geometry effects of two adjacent buildings

Abstract Previous studies have revealed that orienting two buildings to create a diverging passage in-between, results in a high wind velocity region for mounting the wind turbines. In this study, geometry modifications are proposed to two adjacent buildings with a diverging passage in-between to enhance the available wind energy potential. The simulations are performed for two building heights at a constant diverging angle of 45°. Results showed that adding the properly designed segments can enhance the maximum over-speed ratio from 1.49 to 1.62 at H = 30 m and from 1.66 to 1.83 at H = 60 m. The effects of adding the segments are also analyzed in the presence of a typical wind turbine, the NREL Phase VI turbine, between the two buildings. It is found that for the incident wind velocities of 5–10 m/s, the average captured wind power will increase 8% and 22% for H = 30 m and H = 60 m, respectively (in comparison to the buildings without the added segments). In comparison with a bare wind turbine, the captured wind energy with the added segments shows an increment of 31% and 83% for H = 30 m and H = 60 m, respectively.