The Whisper 500 turbine has been on-site at the Sustainability Experience Center since the early days of site under the Center for Sustainability, as it was installed to help support energy needs of an off-grid homestead. This is a two-bladed, horizontal axis, upwind machine with a rated capacity of 3 kW and a 15 ft rotor diameter. The Aerospace Engineering Department got involved with research at the site around 2010. Dr. Dennis McLaughlin ran a Wind Energy Engineering and Projects Course for several years before his retirement that involved refurbishing the Whisper turbine and several M.S. and Ph.D. student research projects. In order to support ongoing research, a need was identified for a structure to house the necessary data acquisition and power conversion equipment for long term data collection campaigns using the off-grid turbine. A structure was designed and constructed by Architecture students, using reclaimed materials, for this purpose under the leadership of Dr. James Kalsbeek. The Whisper turbine is a great site for studying the integration of energy storage and renewables in an off-grid setting. Mr. Rick Auhl, Assistant Research Professor in Aerospace Engineering, oversees the site today.
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