International Small Wind Turbine Contest (ISWTC)

The International Small Wind Turbine Contest (ISWTC) is an annual contest in which University student teams from different countries can compete in designing and building a Small Wind Turbine. The contest was first organised by NHL University of Applied Sciences in 2013. Since 2018 the Hanze University of Applied Sciences (Hanze UAS) has been organising the contest.

The goal of The ISWTC is to build the most efficient wind turbine with the highest energy yield. The contest consists of two parts. In the first part, the student teams write both a design and sustainability report. In the design report they describe their technical design choices, based on theoretical research, and outline the construction of their turbine. The sustainability report covers aspects of the turbine such that it is suitable for developing regions (i.e. a life cycle assessment, embeddedness, maintainability, materials choice). The second part is the actual build part. The teams will realise their designs. In June/July a test week is organised in the open jet wind tunnel at the Technical University of Delft where teams will test their small wind turbines. The turbines will first be inspected on electronics safety and mechanical safety systems, then the turbines will be tested in the wind tunnel. The power output of the turbines is measured and the goal is to get the best power production.

Symposium

On the last day of the contest week the teams which have tested their turbines in Delft will move to the Hanze UAS for a final symposium. Here they will present their turbine and results to each other and a general audience. A jury of wind energy experts (also present in Delft) will assess the presentations. Together with the performance in the tunnel and the design/sustainability reports the jury will conclude the winners of the contest.