Fundamentals of Wind Turbines - 03

Wind turbines have reached dimensions that were unimaginable just a couple of decades ago and are now the biggest rotating machines that have ever been built by humans. The motivations beyond this trend of bigger size, are related to installation costs per power produced, which are becoming unbearable. Thus, the recovering of the initial capital investments in reasonable time, seems only feasible by increasing the amount of energy production per single units.

Although it is expected a plateau in the next decade or so in the run to develop bigger machines, the current size of wind turbine creates already some of the most difficult engineering challenges ever faced. These challenges require an in-depth understanding of the technology and perhaps a radical rethinking of the technological solutions adopted so far. 

The aim of this course is to introduce the students to the fundamentals of these machines and explore more in-depth the technological limits reached, addressing areas where rethinking is possible or, perhaps, necessary.

Basic Enrollment Requirements: Unofficial Transcript – Bachelor’s Degree or progress towards a Bachelor’s Degree + 3.0 GPA. 

Refund Policy: The refund policy for Courses at Tufts offerings is dependent on the course length. Please refer to the section details to confirm any exceptions to the standard refund policy. The refund policies are viewable here: https://universitycollege.tufts.edu/policies#Refunds 

Remission Eligible: Yes; all university policies apply. 

In Person: This is an in-person course that follows the published schedule of course meetings and requires attendance at all sessions. Tufts courses are designed to provide high-quality and interactive courses to Tufts and visiting students. For more information about course policies and expectations, please visit https://universitycollege.tufts.edu/policies#University-Policies