Developments in the Built Environment 4 (2020) 100033

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Developments in the Built Environment

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An analytical review on the evaluation of wind resource and wind turbine

for urban application: Prospect and challenges
Zinat Tasneem a, *, Abdullah Al Noman a, Sajal K. Das a, Dip K. Saha a, Md. Robiul Islam a,
Md. Firoj Ali a, Md. Faisal R Badal a, Md. Hafiz Ahamed a, Sumaya I. Moyeen a, Firoz Alam b
a
Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology, Rajshahi, Bangladesh
b
School of Engineering (Aerospace, Mechanical and Manufacturing), RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Wind energy is a promising scheme in the power generation sector due to pollution-free power production and
Urban wind resources’ sufficiency worldwide. Installing wind turbines in all the possible extents can mitigate the rising
Wind resources energy demand. Built-up areas possess high potential for wind energy, including the rooftop of high-rise build-
HAWT
ings, railway track, the region between or around multistoried buildings, and city roads. Harnessing wind energy
VAWT
from these areas is quite challenging since it has dramatic nature and turbulence for higher roughness on urban
Savonius
Darrieus surfaces. This review paper endeavors to highlight the present status of urban wind farm technology and its
commercial and environmental aspects. Observations and upcoming research trends have been presented based
on up-to-the-minute information. It is concluded that further investigation of wind mapping and the suitable
design of turbines is essential to make the urban wind farm a reliable and feasible option for decentralized power
generation.

(GWEC) expects that a new of almost 355 GW of capacity will be added in

1. Introduction
The conventional energy resources of the world are limited. If we use
fossil fuel at the present rate, natural oil will run out in 35 years, natural
gas in 37 and coal in 107 years; hence, our fossil fuel will run out in about
100 years (Shafiee and Topal, 2009). With the development of modern
technology, an additional energy source is necessary to meet the
shortage. Besides, fossil fuel emits a massive amount of carbon dioxide,
which causes global warming. The amount of carbon dioxide in our at-
mosphere is increasing at an alarming rate (Woodwell, 1978). Hence, to
meet the energy shortage, utilizing renewable energy sources in every
possible sector is a crying need. Renewable energy is
environment-friendly, and we get plenty of renewable fuel from our at-
mosphere. There are many renewable energy sources, such as sunlight,
wind energy, geothermal energy, and wave kinetic energy. The wind is
an auspicious source of renewable energy (Roy and Das, 2018).
The world is becoming familiar with wind turbines for power gen-
eration. They can produce electrical energy without releasing carbon
dioxide, acid rain, smog, or radioactive pollutants (Grieser et al., 2015).
Up to 2019, there were wind towers available with the production ca-
pacity of nearly 650 GW of power, and the global wind energy council
the year 2020–2024 (Global Wind Report, 2019). Most of these projects
were based on onshore and offshore wind turbines with the MW range’s
production capability. Conventionally, coastal and rural areas were
thought to be the best sites for installing these large-scale wind turbines.
However, recent research shows that urban areas possess a considerable
prospect for wind power generation (Stathopoulos et al., 2018) (Toja
Silva et al., 2013). This concept is known as an urban or micro wind farm.
The city highways, the rooftop of high-rise buildings, roof ventilators,
rail-tracks, places between or around multistoried buildings have po-
tential wind energy to produce power (Toja Silva et al., 2013) (Statho-
poulos et al., 2018). Hence urban wind farm technology can be the escape
route for the present energy crisis. This type of micro wind turbines is
sometimes integrated into the grid, thereby; the cost of power trans-
mission reduces significantly (Toja Silva et al., 2013).However, the wind
of urban areas is more chaotic and full of turbulence in nature (Ishugah
et al., 2014) (Su and Janajreh, 2012). Urban infrastructure plays a crucial
role in controlling its wind flow pattern (Pandit et al., 2017). Researches
are still going on to use the urban wind resource efficiently (Stathopoulos
et al., 2018).Wind mapping is one of the significant issues for micro-wind
farms. The wind farm output depends on the accurate assessment of the
wind pattern of the selected places. The exact amount of wind energy

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: zinattasneem@mte.ruet.ac.bd (Z. Tasneem).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dibe.2020.100033
Received 28 August 2020; Received in revised form 8 October 2020; Accepted 9 October 2020
Available online 14 October 2020
2666-1659/© 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-
nc-nd/4.0/).
Z. Tasneem et al. Developments in the Built Environment 4 (2020) 100033

Nomenclature MWT Micro Wind Turbine

NIBMY Not-In-My-Back-Yard
2D Two Dimensional ODGV Omni-Direction-Guide-Vane
3D Three Dimensional PAGV Power-Augmentation-Guide-Vane
ABL Atmospheric Boundary Layer RANS Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes
BAWTs Building Augmented Wind Turbines RWTs Radial Wind Turbines
BEM Blade Element Momentum SB- VAWT Straight-Bladed Vertical Axis Wind Turbine
BIWECS Building Integrated Wind Energy Conversion System SPIV Stereo Particle Image Velocimetry
c/R Chord to Radius Ratio SST Shear Stress Transport
CFD Computational Fluid Dynamics SSWT Small Scale Wind Turbine
CIP Competitiveness Improvement Project TC Tip-Clearance
CP Output Power Coefficient TSR Tip Speed Ratio
DAWTs Diffuser-Augmented Wind Turbines UBL Urban Boundary Layer
DFE Direct Finite Element UCL Urban Canopy Layer
DMS Double Multiple Stream tube URANS Unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes
DOE Department of Energies UWTs Urban Wind Turbines
DWTs Ducted Wind Turbines VAWTs Vertical Axis Wind Turbines
EFD Experimental Fluid Dynamics VI Virtual Incidence
FEM Finite Element Momentum WEA Wind Energy Assessment
FSI Fluid–Structure Interaction WGD Wind Gathering Device
GIS Geographic Information System WTs Wind Turbines
GWEC Global Wind Energy Council WWEA World Wind Energy Association
HAWTs Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines

available in an urban area is adamant about determining since the
traditional way to measure the wind flow characteristics does not work
well in urban areas (Ishugah et al., 2014). Moreover, traditional wind
turbines are not suitable for the urban environment.
Again, urban areas do not have enough space to build such a vast
wind turbine. Conventional HAWTs are not that effective in urban areas
for some of its difficulties. Controlling the yawing action of HAWT in
urban wind farms is very complicated. The blades are required to always
be in the wind direction, which is not efficient in an urban area. More-
over, the residents disapprove of installing large-sized turbines due to
noise and other safety concerns (Johari et al., 2018).
On the other hand, VAWT shows excellent potential for power gen-
eration in urban areas (Frunzulica et al., 2016). It can be fitted in the
smallest place, such as between two buildings and rooftop. It has moti-
vated the researchers to develop new and useful wind turbines in mu-
nicipalities (Stathopoulos et al., 2018) (Toja Silva et al., 2013).
Additionally, VAWTs are less sensitive to the rapid change of urban wind
direction since they do not require any yawing action. Though wind
energy in the urban area shows a promising sign, effectively harnessing
the wind energy is still quite tricky. Researches are being carried out in
wind energy assessment, developing proper wind mapping tools, design
of the turbine, blade materials, aerodynamic model, airfoil design, etc.
(Toja Silva et al., 2013). Recent studies involve both simulation models
and experimental data (Wang and Chang, 2004). (Ishugah et al., 2014)
review the potential of urban wind energy and various wind technology
issues. (Kumar et al., 2018) discloses the potential, development, and
limitations of VAWT technology for urban application and emphasized
the importance of further studies for its betterment. The review article by
(Murthy and Rahi, 2017) highlights the significance of precise informa-
tion, techniques, methodologies, and challenges concerning wind re-
sources assessment. (Wong et al., 2017) describes current augmentation
techniques based on various flow augmentation systems and discusses
the strategies used to increase upwind velocity on the turbine. This paper
presents an overall review of urban wind farm, its potential, and chal-
lenges. It focuses on the recent advancements of wind resource utilization
and the turbine technology of urban wind farms. The present state of the
commercial application and economic features of micro-wind farms are
also depicted along with the environmental consequences. Required data
were obtained from various published research works, governmental and
non-governmental project reports, and manufacture’s documents.
Observation and discussion of future research directions are also
included. It was pointed out that, though domestic wind farm has enor-
mous prospects, its’ output can never be equal to the commercial onshore
or offshore based wind farms due to the unpredictable nature of city
wind. Instead, urban wind farms can be an additional option to enhance
the amount of produced electrical energy in that region. Hence, to utilize
the highly potential urban wind energy for decentralized power gener-
ation, further investigation of wind mapping infrastructure and appro-
priate turbine technology is necessary.
2. Wind resources in urban areas
In the current stage of the world’s energy crisis, the urban environ-
ment can play an essential role as it is affordable, safe, and available
(Ishugah et al., 2014). Though wind is an unlimited, free, and renewable
energy source, it is impossible to have the same wind pattern with the
appreciable wind speed and direction in an entire urban area (Wind
Energy Advantages, 2020) . There is a sufficient volume of wind coming
from many resources in municipal areas. Physical wind with the power
generating potential is blown in highway, rail track, between/around the
high-rise buildings, etc. (Shah et al., 2018). However, this wind is un-
predictable with direction and does not blow smoothly all around as the
urban areas and cities are aerodynamically irregular and heterogeneous.
Therefore forecasting about the wind behavior in these areas becomes
tremendously complicated, resulting in either over or underestimating
wind resources (Kumar et al., 2018). Traditional wind mapping tech-
nologies often fail to imitate the original wind conditions of urban areas.
The variation between the projected and practical wind energy produc-
tion can be up to 40% because of the turbulence effect, and frequency of
wind data measurement (Erdik and Law, 2012). Precise assessment of
urban wind fields and loading the turbine components necessitate
detailed categorization of wind data along with instrumented Small Scale
Wind Turbines (SSWTs) (KC et al., 2019). However, the city’s wind re-
sources are being influenced dramatically by high-rise buildings and
traditional structures (“Wind Assessment for Urba, 2020) (Loganathan
et al., 2017b). Developers are still working on the effects of varying
surface roughness on the wind field around the buildings (Sunderland
et al., 2013). Therefore, the selection of the site for wind turbine

2
Z. Tasneem et al.
installation is critical. Wind turbines’ best outcome is possible by only
placing the turbine in its favorable conditions to ensure better and rela-
tively consistent wind speed and location’s degree of urbanization
(Grieser et al., 2015). Arnfield et al. (Arnfield, 2003) provided an in-
clusive review of this field with significant references to show different
flows and turbulence found in the urban environment. Importance was
given on the research works of Urban Canopy Layer (UCL) and the Urban
Boundary Layer (UBL). UCL is defined as the distance from the ground to
approximately the roof level, and UBL is the section, from roof level and
above, affected by the turbulence of the urban wind (Guinot et al., 2006)
(Micallef and van Bussel, 2018). Fig. 1 depicts the wind profile in the
urban area, including UBL and UCL. Both of these topics are relevant for
wind energy harvesting. The review article by (Mills, 2014) stated some
historical perspectives on this issue.
After considering some noise and visual impact issues, developers
proposed the high-rise buildings’ rooftop as a possible place to mount or
install micro-wind turbines (Bahaj et al., 2007). It is proposed to install
the wind energy plant in the urban areas’ boundary and into the building
design by Zeng et al. (Zeng, 2020). Since the urban wind is not sustain-
able with place and time; hence, the wind near the surface of the rooftop
height cannot be accurately predicted for the turbines (Sunderland et al.,
2013). However, wind power generation’s problem regarding average
wind speed and proper positioning of the turbine can be settled down by
captivating the advantages of urban low and turbulent wind properties
(Ishugah et al., 2014). (Abohela et al., 2013) have worked on roof shape
on the wind flow and its consequences in the energy yield from
roof-mounted wind turbines. Several roof shapes, including flat, domed,
gabled, pyramidal, vaulted, and wedged roofs, were investigated in this
study. It concluded that the vaulted roof could increase the energy yield
of 56.1% at the center of the roof. The small-scale VAWTs (less than 10
KW) have become popular nowadays and installed on the resident
house’s rooftop and high rising buildings (Salameh and Nandu, 2020).
The free-spinning ventilators customarily used to provide clean air
around the living areas can also be addressed as VAWTs and produce
electricity with additional functions (Ishugah et al., 2014). Usually,
rooftop ventilators are placed on the top of the roof for leading wind
speed that makes it rotate in its perpendicular axis to produce rotational
and mechanical energy from which one can get the desirable electricity.
The vertical axis turbines with a small DC fan powered by the solar cell
can also enhance the ventilation rate at low wind speed (Lai, 2006).
Additionally, urban wind turbines can be positioned by the side of the
highways. Highway wind turbines are installed over and across the
highways. (Ishugah et al., 2014) proposed the installation of highway
turbines for the very first time. Highway wind turbines are the best way
to capture the energy expended by the high speedy vehicles on urban
highways. A highway turbine is designed with the air turbulence concept
generated by the high speedy vehicles and heavily loaded trucks. There
Fig. 1. Wind profile in the urban area; UBL and UCL.
3
Developments in the Built Environment 4 (2020) 100033
are several busiest cities where a fixed volume of traffic can always be
found that contains a steady airflow over the day. In this situation, hor-
izontal wind turbines can be installed over the highways, operated by the
air generated via the moving high speedy traffics (Ishugah et al., 2014).
This type of wind turbines can even feed into the grid (Ishugah et al.,
2014) (Van Haaren, Fthenakis, 2011).
At present, the researchers and developers are using computational
fluid dynamics (CFD) model to determine the potentials of building-
mounted turbines in urban areas. They have found a dramatic influ-
ence on the urban wind farm’s performance for a little change in the
high-rise buildings’ position and height (Heath et al., 2007). Though it
was observed in a limited range, it can be used for wind resource esti-
mation in the municipal areas (Sim~ oes and Estanqueiro, 2016) (Yang
et al., 2016). Geographic Information System (GIS) can be used in com-
bination with CFD. In (Gagliano et al., 2012), CFD simulations were
applied for decision making through GIS. This simulation technique
provides specific conclusions about urban wind turbines’ placement to
ensure the expected power production. Nevertheless, the prediction ac-
curacy can be hampered by the limitations of the CFD model. In CFD
models of wind flows in a city environment, the boundary conditions for
the inlet wind speed to the domain, the mean wind speed profile, tur-
bulent kinetic energy, and the turbulent dissipation rate, etc. follows a
relationship proposed by (Micallef and van Bussel, 2018) (Richards and
Hoxey, 1993)(Computational modelling, 1989) (Wind Engineering in
the, 1981).


ux z1 þ z0
UðwÞ ¼ ln : (1)
kx z0
u2x
KðwÞ ¼ pffiffiffiffiffi
ffi: (2)
Cμ
u3x
2ðwÞ ¼ : (3)
kx ðz1 þ z0 Þ
Where ux is the wall friction velocity, and Cμ is a turbulence model
constant. The wall functions require the specification of the sand grain
roughness height ks and the roughness constant Cs. According to Blocken
(Blocken et al., 2007), Cs can be considered as 0.50 in the absence of
proper guidelines. In (Blocken et al., 2007), the sand grain roughness
height ks is defined as
9:793z0
Ks ¼ : (4)
Cs
z0 is the aerodynamic roughness height. Modified equations for k and ε
are proposed in (Yang et al., 2009) to ensure better homogeneity.
Z. Tasneem et al.
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi

 ffi
u2x z1 þ z0
KðwÞ ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffi C1 ln þ C2 :
Cμ z0
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ffi the height. The turbulent speed can be double of the obstacle’s height


u3x z1 þ z0
2ðwÞ ¼ C1 ln þ C2 :
kx ðz1 þ z0 Þ z0
The value of C1 and C2 were taken as 0.17 and 1.62, respectively.
These values were found through data fitting with wind tunnel
measurements.
2.1. Wind flow characteristics
The urban areas follow the dramatic nature of the microclimates. That
is the reason why urban wind flow always fluctuates. Urban Wind pos-
sesses turbulence as well. However, it is imperative to deal with the
dynamics of the urban wind (“The urban wind island ef, 2020) (Droste
et al., 2020). For a wind farm, the wind characteristics are significant as
the power generation mostly depends on it. The wind’s average speed
can vary the power generation, and the average wind speed can be varied
with the height and temperature of the plant wind (Suvire, 2011).
In urban areas, wind speed varies for the turbulence and surface
roughness due to the high-rise buildings, as shown in Fig. 2. The height
and dimension of a building substantially affect the wind conditions
directly above the rooftop. Without a proper assessment, installing a
wind turbine in the most effective position becomes difficult (Deltenre
and Mark, 2018).
The urban wind hits high-rise buildings and creates a disturbance,
resulting in complex wind flow patterns. The intricate flow pattern of the
wind throughout the building is shown in Fig. 3 from where the variety of
wind flow patterns due to the height of the building can be realized. Wind
flow throughout a simple cubic building is quite complicated (Micallef
and van Bussel, 2018). A separation zone results across the sides of the
building, including the roof. A horseshoe vortex (apparent in Fig. 3) also
appears. An extremely turbulent wake with highly vertical structures can
be found on the sheltered side of the building. It causes wind speed
variation, which is responsible for turbulence as the turbulence intensity
depends on the height. In highly urbanized areas, the adjacent high-rise
buildings hamper the flow amplification (Micallef and van Bussel, 2018).
Such type of flow augmentation generally occurs over and above the roof
and side faces. There can be an increase in wind speed in any area where
the buildings are over-evaporated (Lu and Sun, 2014). Several studies
related to the experimental measurements based on wind tunnel testing
by hot-wire measurements for isolated buildings have been carried out in
(Kawamura et al., 1988; Murakami et al., 1979; Kamei and Maruta, 1979;
Livesey et al., 1990). Another exciting technique is to use Stereo Particle
Image Velocimetry (SPIV) to obtain 3D velocity field information over a
plane (Arroyo and Greated, 1991). It makes it easier to identify the flow
acceleration regions.
Fig. 2. Wind speed variation for surface roughness and turbulence in urban areas (adapted from (Ishugah et al., 2014)).
Developments in the Built Environment 4 (2020) 100033
As stated earlier, in urban areas, wind speed increases, and the tur-
(5) bulence decreases due to the surface roughness. Mostly, this happens
when the obstacle height is below 20 m. Turbulence intensity varies with
and cover the distance 20 times of its height. That means the effect of
(6)
turbulence is very acquitting in urban areas (Ishugah et al., 2014). As
high rise building causes turbulence, wind turbines need to place higher
to use the wind energy effectively (Aristodemou et al., 2018).
2.2. Factors affecting the wind speed in urban areas
Wind speed and its direction changes as the season changes in an
urban area. Several wind properties such as surface drag, vertical shear
profile, and turbulence intensity are influenced mostly by the roughness
length of the urban canopy (Millward-Hopkins et al., 2012). The vertical
profile of mean wind speed for the atmospheric boundary layer under
neutrally-stable conditions is defined as (Oke, 2002):


ux z1  d
UðwÞ ¼ ln : (7)
kx z0
Here, ux denotes friction velocity at the ground surface, kx as the von
Karman constant (~0.40), z1 as the height above the ground, z0 is the
height of the aerodynamic roughness, which depends on the ground’s
nature. Table 1 depicts the value of z0 for different terrains. Again,
d stands for the zero-plane displacement at which the wind velocity is 0
m/s. Below this displacement height, the flow is affected by obstacles like
buildings.
There are several methods of finding the surface roughness classifi-
cation of wind. One of them is the Davenport roughness classification
method (Tieleman, 2003). It is a surface type classification based on the
assorted surface roughness values that use high-quality observations. It
covers a wide range of surface types. Despite its popularity, this method is
not convenient in the urban permeability of highly-dense cities (Wier-
inga, 1992). Another two well-known means of finding the surface
roughness are micrometeorological and morphometric methods (Gupta
et al., 2017). These methods estimate the aerodynamic characteristics
using empirical equations (Gupta et al., 2017).
The wind flow characteristic depends on the region and heights of the
urban areas. It even fluctuates between different parts of the city. Some
area contains lots of multistoried buildings, while others may contain
highways or rail tracks. Therefore, turbulence is created in the urban
wind flow, which is useful for power generation. Fig. 4 shows the vari-
ation in yearly average wind speed and turbulence intensity concerning
height at Masdar city. According to the information revealed in the table,
the turbulence intensity has decreased with the increase of building
heights. The building’s altitude can also impact the mean wind speed,
which affects the turbine performance. (Walker, 2011) have presented
that the urban terrain roughness is high, and the urban street canyons
4
Z. Tasneem et al. Developments in the Built Environment 4 (2020) 100033

Fig. 3. A sequence of wind flow throughout a high-rise building (adapted from (Moonen et al., 2012)).

3. Wind resource assessment

Table 1
Roughness length of surfaces in different landscapes (adapted from (Burton et al.,
Micro wind turbines’ performance mostly depends on the amount of
2001) (Mortensen et al., 2013)).
wind, mean wind speed, and the turbulence pattern (Baniotopoulos et al.,
Terrain surface characteristics Roughness Length (m) 2015). As a result of this, it is vital to ensure the maximum optimization
Scattered Forest 1.5 of the wind resources in that area required for the selected wind turbine.
Town 1 The turbine can guarantee its best outcome only if the wind, its charac-
Compact forest 0.8
teristics of flow, and wind direction are measured accurately before
Residential area 0.5
Shelterbelts 0.4 installing the wind turbines. According to (Brower, 2012), the process of
Wooden Countryside 0.3 estimating the amount of wind energy in any plant is defined as wind
Many trees and/or bushes 0.2 energy assessment (WEA). It is a simple methodology for measuring the
Countryside with trees 0.1 sustainable urban wind potential, which is the critical element for further
Farmland with an open surface 0.05
Farmland with very few structures and trees 0.03
investigating the farm (Sim~ oes and Estanqueiro, 2016). The chances of
Airport areas with some structures and trees 0.02 success of the plant can be determined with WEA. Its main objective is to
Airport runway fields 0.01 select the location and wind turbine for the proposed wind farm
Mown grassland 0.008 regarding the characteristics and availability of wind for that specific
Uncovered soil (smooth) 0.005
farm.
Flat desert, rough seas 0.001
Sand surfaces (smooth) 0.0003 Wind resources in urban can also be estimated by using the traditional
Water regions (pools, fjords, open sea) 0.0002 CFD simulation anemometry at the site. CFD can be applied to the
buildings’ physical model and the surrounding areas (Gagliano et al.,
affect the wind flow. Sometimes the wind becomes speedy over the 2013). There are some significant steps for the evaluation of wind re-
rooftop, but it is only apparent at the single isolated buildings. However, sources in urban areas. The selection of the preliminary area is one of
the building’s structure and the wind turbine positioning relative to the them (Ahmed, 2015). In this process, a relatively large region is marked
flow direction can cause wind shadow. for useful wind resource plants regarding topology, flagged trees, and

Fig. 4. Annual mean wind speed and strength of the turbulence at various heights in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi (adapted from (Su and Janajreh, 2012)).

5
Z. Tasneem et al.
other indicators (Ahmed, 2015). The second step is wind estimating
programs to characterize a particular region’s resource considering wind
power development. The wind measurement scale aims to determine the
sufficient wind resource existence within the area that makes-sense for
further site-specific investigations (Ahmed, 2015). The wind measure-
ment scale also includes estimating the wind turbines’ performance and
economic feasibility to determine the potential installation sites. Thus,
the micro-sitting at the smallest scale of wind resource assessment
quantifies the wind resources’ small-scale variability across the area.
Methods like measurement (Pavageau and Schatzmann, 1999),
measure-correlate-predict (Hunt and Nason, 2001), Wind atlas data
(Starkov and Landberg, 2000), and measure-correlate-predict (Carta
et al., 2013) have been developed to measure data of a particular place
based on some established information (Schallenberg-Rodriguez, 2013)
(Walker, 2011). Besides, Weibull and Rayleigh frequency distribution
functions, in particular, have also been used to estimate wind energy
(Herbert et al., 2007; Eskin et al., 2008; Safari and Gasore, 2010). Wind
flow in urban areas varies very often. Building height, shape, and dis-
tance between buildings significantly impacts wind flow, as it can
severely affect the power generation. Researchers are developing
numerous designs and statistical analysis of airflow in buildings (Sharpe
and Proven, 2010). Various buildings’ free space has been studied to
understand airflow and develop small wind energy conversion systems
(Ofualagba and Ubeku, 2008). Patterns of wind flow in urban areas are
significant to justify which type of turbine is suitable for that place to
obtain the best performance (Stathopoulos et al., 1992).
4. Types of wind turbines used in urban areas
A wind turbine can be classified based on the axis of rotation and
power capacity of turbines. It can also be classified by the rotor diameter
(m) and power rating (KW). Fig. 5 represents the classification of wind
turbines. Based on the rotation of the axis, we can classify wind turbines
in two categories, VAWT and HAWT (Eriksson et al., 2008; Tummala
et al., 2016;Tjiu et al., 2015 ).
A horizontal axis wind turbine is one in which the rotational axis of
the rotor is parallel to the wind direction. Most of the HAWT are two or
Fig. 5. Classification of wind turbines.
6
Developments in the Built Environment 4 (2020) 100033
three-bladed, although more or fewer bladed wind turbines can be
possible. The rotor’s primary function is to transform the wind’s linear
motion into rotary motion to drive a generator (Johari et al., 2018). Since
a wind turbine’s blades are constrained to move in a plane with the hub
as its center, the lift force induces rotation about the hub. In addition to
the lift force, a drag force perpendicular to the lift force blocks the rotor’s
rotation. A prime objective of designing the blade of the turbine is to have
a comparatively high lift-to-drag ratio. This ratio can be altered along the
blade’s length to predict the turbine’s energy output at various wind
speeds (Rehman et al., 2018). Fig. 6 illustrates the schematic structure of
the HAWT.
On the other hand, in a vertical axis wind turbine, the main rotor shaft
is set transverse to the wind, and the main components are placed at the
base of the turbine. Gearbox, power generators are located closer to the
ground. These wind turbines do not need to point toward the wind’s
direction, so the wind sensing mechanism is not necessary for them
(Kumara et al., 2017). Based on aerodynamic forces, the VAWT can be
further classified into two other forms. One is a drag type turbine;
another one is lift-type turbine (Li, 2019). The savonius turbines (Shi-
getomi et al., 2011) are the practical example of drag type wind turbines.
These turbines consist of two or three scoops. The scoops experience
much drag force while operating with the wind than against the wind.
This differential drag force helps the savonius turbine to rotate (Jin et al.,
2015). The drag type devices harness less wind energy over the lift type
(Aslam Bhutta et al., 2012) (Islam et al., 2008). The most typical lift-type
turbines are the darrieus (Castelli et al., 2011) types that possess a higher
power co-efficient and comparatively simple operating principle (“Ver-
tical Axis Wind Turbi, 2020). However, its starting torque is low; hence it
needs an external energy source to begin rotating (Kumar et al., 2018).
H-rotors were developed in the UK to overcome the limitations of dar-
rieus wind turbines (Musgrove, 1985) (Musgrove, 1987). The H-blade’s
design and manufacturing method are relatively simple compared to the
curved blades, and its execution is much better than the regular turbines.
H-rotors can be further classified into articulating, tilted, and helical
H-rotor. A comparative analysis of HAWT, lift, and drag based VAWT and
H-rotor is depicted in Table 2. The schematic diagram of darrieus and
savonius VAWT and H-rotor turbines are shown in Fig. 7.
Z. Tasneem et al.
Fig. 6. Schematic structure of HAWT (adapted from (Stathopoulos et al., 2018)
(Boulouiha et al., 2017) (Okokpujie et al., 2018)).
The irregular and turbulent nature of urban wind hampers the power
production from wind energy as well as increases the turbine load. This
intermittent wind power output is transferred to the grid producing an
intensified intermittency, which hinders the synchronization (KC et al.,
2019). At present, modern wind energy technologies (Islam et al., 2013)
(Saidur et al., 2011) (Loganathan et al., 2017c) refer that the VAWT can
perform better than HAWT with the low speedy turbulent wind in urban
areas due to their relatively less space requirement and possibilities to
produce more energy than HAWT. The turbulence created in the urban
wind can impact HAWTs’ performance, whereas VAWTs are less sensi-
tive. They are not influenced by the change in wind direction as they do
not need any yawing action. On that account, VAWTs perform better over
HAWTs for power generation in urban areas.
5. The current research direction of urban wind turbines
The focus points of recent studies on micro wind turbines are turbine
aerodynamics, blade material, design methods, modeling, simulation
with faster and precise tools, experimental models, performance valida-
tion, and connecting to the grid. Table 3 represents the recent research
trends at a glance. Popular methods used for demonstrating the turbine
Table 2
Comparative analysis of urban wind turbines (Kumar et al., 2018) (Tjiu et al., 2015) (Cace et al., 2007) (Sahim et al., 2018) (Dilimulati et al., 2018).
HAWT
Advantages  Higher efficiency
 Most economical
 Widely used in onshore and offshore applications
Disadvantages Cannot perform well with:
 The unpredictable change in wind direction
 Low wind speed
 Turbulent wind flow
Developments in the Built Environment 4 (2020) 100033
models include Multiple stream tube modeling, Blade Element Mo-
mentum (BEM), CFD (2D/3D), Experimental Fluid Dynamics (EFD),
Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) model, Direct Finite Element
(DFE), etc. VAWT (darrieus/savonius/H-rotor) has dominated in most of
the recent research works. A few investigations have employed HAWT.
Features and findings of the research works are highlighted along with
the methods and publication year.
6. Commercial applications and economic viability
Installing wind turbines in cities can accomplish the energy demand
very smoothly. Currently, it is being used to feed the commercial grid
beside the local one. With the perspective of urban wind resources,
distributed power production has become a significant concern. It can
satisfy the demand for rural consumption (Al Karaghouli et al., 2009) as
well as can contribute to the smart grid (Palizban et al., 2014) (Kamel,
2014); Zhang et al., 2014). The acceptance of HAWTs and VAWTs has
increased in recent years, though the urban residents and rural people
were not interested in installing wind turbines for several issues. In the
last decade, there has been installed a large number of wind turbines
throughout the world. China and India have developed almost half of the
total turbine installed globally. However, almost all of these are for large
scale production (GWEC, 2020). As reported by the World Wind Energy
Association (WWEA) record 2017 (WWEA released, 2020), at the end of
2015, at least 990,000 small wind turbines were installed worldwide,
which increased 5% compared to the previous years. The installed small
wind turbines’ estimated capacity was mentioned more than 945 MW,
which augmented 14% compared to 2014.
Since the VAWTs are more reliable for decentralized energy pro-
duction, several manufactures and system integrators have found interest
in investing in this sector. Some of the suppliers of VAWTs and its
components are Global wing group, Astralux LTD, Urban green energy,
Wind side, McCamley UK, Arborwind, VBINE Energy, Venger wind,
Windspire, Cleanfield Energy, Gual Stato Eolien, Helix Wind, and Hi-
VAWT ("Manufacturers Verti, 2020). XCO2, Proven, Iskar, Gazelle,
Ampair, Eco-Energy, SET, Prowin, Venturi Wind Turbines, Tuli power,
etc. are some manufacturers and suppliers for the UK and the Netherlands
(Cace et al., 2007). The growth of acceptance of Urban wind turbines
(UWTs) is promising in the UK, according to (Cace et al., 2007). The local
authorities and municipal councilors are optimistic about power gener-
ation in this sector and planning for pilot UWTs projects as well. The UK
and the Netherlands have already started a couple of research focused on
some significant technical issues like-efficiency, urban wind potential,
flowing wind characteristics around the buildings, and optimization of
UWTs. Several states of the Netherlands have proposed some of the UWT
projects in collaboration with the Dutch governmental agency (Cace
et al., 2007). They estimated 22 UWTs along the countryside, industrial
areas, and residential areas in the urban built environment. However,
they became able to install 15 UWTs through the lengthy processes of the
allowance. However, a smaller number of installations gathered a posi-
tive impact for the UWTs market to provide better performance than the
available UWTs on the Dutch market. The city of The Hague has pre-
served € 200,000 ($ 235790) to install 30 to 50 UWTs in the year of 2007.
VAWT (Lift based) VAWT (Drag type) H-Rotor
 Less noise  Low cut-in wind speed  Better efficiency
 High CP  Self-starting
 Less sensitive to turbulence  Reduced vibration and noise
 Lower bending stress  Reduced tower height
 High reliability
 Low starting torque  Poor efficiency  High starting torque
 High production cost  Torque varies with blade angle  Expensive to manufacture
 Needs external power source
7
Z. Tasneem et al.
Fig. 7. Diagrammatic representation of a) Darrieus VAWT, b) Savonius VAWT, c) H-Rotor (Stathopoulos et al., 2018) (Eriksson et al., 2008) (Islam et al., 2008)
(Kumar et al., 2019).
The EU is also found interested in WTs installation in urban environ-
ments. They funded the development and installation of a rooftop VAWT
specially designed to perform well under the turbulent and low speedy
wind in urban ("Wind turbine for city ro, 2020). In Europe ("Wind turbine
for city ro, 2020), an advanced VAWT is developed and mounted on a
building rooftop as an EU funded Horizon 2020 EOLIFPS project. This
VAWT is designed specially to work under the turbulent and low speedy
wind condition. The project coordinator Sergio Pedrosa declared that the
VAWT is designed for the urban environment and is safe, cost-effective,
noiseless, and vibration-less. Pedrosa also added that the installed
VAWT could produce 1000 W at only 6 m/s of wind speed with a
maximum output power of 2500 W. One notable feature of permanent
magnet generator technology is that it can produce electricity only at 2
m/s of wind speed. According to Pedrosa, this VAWT is more economical.
It consumes only € 0.05 per 1 kWh power production, which offers the
European to save almost € 1102.50 per year (for the consumption of
9922 kWh per year) as they needed € 0.21 per kWh production in the
past. The EOLIFPS is also safe and friendly both for humans and birds due
to its protective cover.
Moreover, the US Department of Energy (DOE) disclosed (Wind
Works Ducted Turbi, 2020) their interest in working with the Ducted
Turbines as the Distributed Wind Competitiveness Improvement Project
(CIP) and granted a fund of $200,000 to ducted turbines of Potsdam in
2019. However, the ducted turbines do not provide the theoretical effi-
ciency in practical as they cannot extract a massive wind. Further
investigation is going on to improve their performance. Besides, several
projects on urban wind turbines have been proposed with DOE granted
funds. Clarkson University declared (Wind Works Ducted Turbi, 2020) to
work with the pre-prototype ducted 3 kW wind system designed by
Professor Ken Visser, installed on April 22, 2019. In the same year
(“Distributed Wind Competi, 2020), some other manufacturers also
worked with UWTs, like Westergaard Solution. It implemented an
innovative building-integrated wind system with DOE’s grant in the same
year. Sonsight wind optimized its 3.5 kW wind system focused on
improving power production, and Xflow Energy has worked with a 20
kW VAWT as a micro-grid application. Salameh et al. (Salameh and
Nandu, 2020) has developed several wind turbines in urban areas with
local government (Portugal, USA). A group of wind turbines is visible in
the Boston Logan airport buildings (Ishugah et al., 2014) shown in Fig. 8.
Some of the plants have already confirmed dealings for power supply
with the utility company. The farm also can generate power along with
several VAWTs (Dilimulati et al., 2018) shown in Fig. 9. The Bahrain
world trade center has placed a few wind turbines on the rooftop of
hotels, shopping malls, and some other infrastructures, shown in Fig. 10
(Max Bahrain world trade, 2020). The wind sources are kept strong with
8
Developments in the Built Environment 4 (2020) 100033
the ultimate design of the building angle (Bahrain World Trade Cent,
2020).Wind Works Ducted Turbi, 2020
In urban areas, the wind turbine ensures its best economic feasibility
if it can be appropriately located. Some issues need to be focused while
using wind turbines in these areas. The area intended for urban wind
farms needs a proper investigation of wind speed and flow patterns to
select the suitable turbine to bear the enormous installation expense.
However, after installation, the cost for maintenance and power gener-
ation becomes very low (Various Disadvantages of Wind Energy, 2020).
It turns out to be more challenging to predict the plants’ efficiency, as the
wind speed fluctuates every day in urban areas (Various Disadvantages of
Wind Energy, 2020). Therefore, wind turbines are often placed on top of
the high elevations. The building-integrated wind energy conversion
system (BIWECS) deals with building-mounted wind turbines for pro-
ducing power. It has several economic and environmental advantages,
such as reducing transmission and distribution losses, eliminating over-
head or underground cables, and providing higher efficiency as the loads
are significantly closer to its power providing source (Salameh and
Nandu, 2020).
7. Environmental effects
Harvesting wind energy is eco-friendly and also non-polluting.
However, wind turbines’ environmental concern promotes issues like
noise and vibration, visual impact, biodiversity, and shadow (Deltenre
and Mark, 2018).
7.1. Noise and vibration
The most common issue that affects urban residents is the noise
produced by wind turbines. SSWTs, are generally placed near to the load
or, in other words, close to the locality. It increases the chances of noise
pollution (Mollasalehi et al., 2013). This noise may be around 45 dB at a
residential distance of 300 m (980 ft) (“How Loud Is A Wind Turbi,
2020). (Mollasalehi et al., 2013) investigated the aspect of vibration and
noise emission from the wind tower. It specified that most of the vibra-
tions are below 10 Hz, and the overall noise figured out close to the tower
was less than 30 dB. However, the noise level is susceptible to the
tower-top loads. The sound produced by wind turbines can sometimes be
experienced from a long distance, which becomes intolerable (Doolan
et al., 2020). As a result, a particular group has formed in some countries
known as NIMBY (Not-In-My-Back-Yard). These crowds are running
against the installation of large wind turbines because of the intolerable
sound in the adjacent areas (Christidis and Lewis, 2017). The noise
produced from different parts of a wind turbine is described in Table 4.
Z. Tasneem et al. Developments in the Built Environment 4 (2020) 100033

Table 3
A glimpse of current research trends on UWTs.
Types of WT Method/Model Features Findings Year&
Ref.

VAWT RANS model  Investigating the influence of surrounding buildings  Wind simulation campaign accounting for the 2020 (Longo et al.,
(Savonius) on the performance of a roof-mounted, 2-bladed local ABL and orography features have been 2020)
turbine suggested to quantify the availability of wind
 accurately forecasting the energy production resources
VAWT URANS calculation  Investigating aerodynamic performance and dynamic  The number of blades affects the effectiveness 2019 (Bel Mabrouk
(Darrieus) vibration of Darrieus turbine geared transmission for and dynamic response of wind turbine gearing and El Hami, 2019)
different number of blades and TSR in non-stationary system in the non-stationary regime
operation
VAWT URANS with k-ω SST  Effects of twist angle, overlap ratio, endplates size  Twist angle of 45 , an overlapping ratio of 0, 2020 (Saad et al.,
(Twisted model ratio, and wind velocity on turbine performance and endplates size ratio of 1.1 achieves the 2020)
Savonius) highest net output power
 At wind velocity of 6 m/s, and 10 m/s,
maximum CP of 0.223 and 0.231 are obtained
 Enhanced self-starting ability
VAWT (H- URANS with k-ω SST  Explores passive flow control via leading-edge slats to  32% increase in maximum lift coefficient, CLMax 2020 (Ullah et al.,
Darrieus) model reduce the dynamic stall and blade-wake interaction  3 delay in stall angle of attack, αmax 2020)
 15% increase in CP
VAWT (H- 2D unsteady CFD  Effect of blade thickness on asymmetric NACA six  Optimum design for turbine provides t/c ¼ 0.3 2020 (Mazarbhuiya
Darrieus) series blades with maximum CP of 0.271 et al., 2020)
VAWT CFD  Performance analysis of a two-blade VAWT rotor for  The BEM code can predict the turbine behavior 2020 (Balduzzi et al.,
(Darrieus) different levels of turbulence intensity and length scale  Stated phenomena play a significant role in 2020)
by wind tunnel experiments defining the aerodynamic behavior and energy
conversion capability in turbulent flows.
VAWT CFD  Investigated c/R for a different angle of attack  VI increases with c/R 2016 (Bianchini
 With fixed VI, c/R increases with TSR et al., 2016)
VAWT CFD  Performance investigation of high aspect ratio VAWT  The mechanism model (CP of 16.2% with TSR of 2017 (Loganathan
by numerical method 0.3) offers better performance on harnessing et al., 2017a)
wind energy over the shape-design model
VAWT 3D CFD and EFD  Impact of ODGV on VAWT  Cp of the VAWT (with the ODGV angles) was 2016 (Shahizare
improved 40.9%, 36.5%, 35.3% and 33.2% et al., 2016)
with TSR 0.745, 1.091, 1.901 and 2.53
respectively.
VAWT DFE  Simulation of the turbulent flow past a VAWT with a  Simulation results were found stable according 2019 (Nguyen et al.,
certain range of rotating angle to the mesh refinement. 2019)
VAWT (H- Advanced Gain  Design of gain scheduled controller by solving Linear  The designed controller ensures quality 2020 (Bundi et al.,
Darrieus) Scheduling Techniques Matrix Inequalities (LMIs) for stability control in performance for the tracking of maximum 2020)
urban wind condition power point
 The proposed Pitch controller can minimize
actuator amplitude motion and frequency
 The systematic linear relationship among the
power coefficient and the pitch angle is needed
SB-VAWT Quadratic rotary  Wind Gathering Device (WGD) with curved-outline  Maximum of 14.8% increase in starting moment 2019 (Li et al., 2020)
orthogonal combination installed at the up and down of the rotor of SB-VAWT
design  Significant output power at a low rotational
speed
VAWT High-resolution  Effect of the winglet on the turbine aerodynamic  Winglets provide an increase of CP by 16–19% 2019 (Xu et al.,
numerical methods performance  Improvement in the blade aerodynamic 2020)
performance
 Optimization of winglet shape is needed
VAWT Flow augmentation  review of statistical methods on augmentation system  The augmentation device enhances and reduces 2017 (Wong et al.,
system for VAWT models with a possible analytic solution the positive and negative torque, respectively, 2017)
which acts in the counter direction for savonius
WTs.
 proper angle of attack of airfoil-shaped blade
produced a higher lift force to rotate the blade
DWTs DonQi®&  Aerodynamic and aero-acoustic analysis of DWTs in  An increase in CP is proportional to the increase 2020 (Dighe et al.,
DonQi D5 yawed inflow condition in duct thrust force coefficient 2020)
 DonQiD5 DWT model is less sensitive to yaw
angle at DWT yaw angle of 7.5
 For both in non-yawed and yawed condition,
broadband noise increases with the baseline
DonQi®
DAWT DonQi®  Lattice-Boltzmann Very-Large-Eddy Simulations of  Rotor thrust coefficient reduces for rotor with 2020 (Avallone
two DAWTs longer blades et al., 2020)
 13% reduction in axial velocity at the rotor
plane concerning the baseline case
 Far-field noise increased up to 10 dB in the axial
direction downstream of the rotor
SSWT BEM  Development and testing of three proposed airfoils  EYO7-8, EYO8-8, and EYO9-8 airfoils had 2020 (Osei et al.,
(EYO7-8, EYO8-8, and EYO9-8) maximum lift-to-drag ratios and maximum lift 2020)
coefficients of 134, 131, 127, and 1.77,
1.81,1.81
(continued on next page)

9
Z. Tasneem et al. Developments in the Built Environment 4 (2020) 100033

Table 3 (continued )
Types of WT Method/Model Features Findings Year&
Ref.

 The highest stall angle for EYO9-8, EYO8-8, and

EYO7-8 was 15 , 14 and 12
 EYO-Series airfoils found suitable for SSWT
blades
RWT CFD with Machine  Demonstration of competitive RWTs for urban wind  103% improvement achieved than the existing 2020 (Acarer et al.,
Learning Algorithm farms RWTs 2020)
 Maximum CP of 0.29 attained at ReC ¼ 1.7 
105
Small Fluid–Structure  Study of PA66 MO polyamide through FSI to examine  Strength analysis of non-orthodox materials and 2020 (Lipian et al.,
HAWT Interaction structural strength and blade deformation under estimation of the effect of blade deformation on 2020)
various operating conditions rotor performance is possible with FSI.
Small scale BEM  Effects of design parameters on the turbine for fixed  The maximum power coefficient was 0.5089 2017 (Hasan et al.,
HAWT pitch angle and variable wind speed with the TSR 6.5 (TSR range was 5.75–7.75) 2017)
HAWT FEM  A mini HAWT system with unique optimization on  Feasible for direct market purpose with a 2016 (Scappatici
model frequency promising modal frequency range et al., 2016)

Fig. 8. Boston Logan Airport building mounted wind turbines (adapted from (Ishugah et al., 2014)).

Fig. 9. Some examples of commercial VAWT (adapted from (Dilimulati et al., 2018)).

However, the issues regarding noise and vibrations caused by wind (Battisti et al., 2018). Some notable features, such as integrating power
turbines can be minimized by vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs). augmentation-guide-vane (PAGV) and Omni-direction-guide-vane
VAWTs reduce the intensive level of noise and vibration comparatively (ODGV) in the design of VAWTs, can enhance the reduction of noise
due to a lower peripheral velocity of rotor blades for a specified span (Chong et al., 2011) (Chong et al., 2013).

10
Z. Tasneem et al. Developments in the Built Environment 4 (2020) 100033

Fig. 10. Three wind turbines were placed in between two adjacent buildings in Bahrain (adapted from ("Max Bahrain world trade, 2020)).

Wind Energy, 2020). Micro wind turbines must not be installed near
Table 4
sensitive regions, like forests and wildlife sanctuaries (Deltenre and
Types of noise produced from a wind turbine during operation (adapted from
Mark, 2018).
(Mollasalehi et al., 2013) (Dahirul Islam et al., 2020)).
Noise Produced from Frequency/Features
7.4. Shadow problem
Tonal Fixed speed turbine blades Discrete
Broadband Blade’s trailing edge interaction with Above 100 Hz
turbulent wind The shadow of an operating wind turbine sometimes appears flick-
Infrasound/ Blade-tower irritation for downwind 20–100 Hz ering to an observer. Because of the rotor’s continuous revolution
Low rotors (typically three-bladed HAWTs), light from the sun is blocked periodi-
Impulsive Interaction between blades and Short acoustic impulses
cally, causing a flickering shadow. These types of shadows can be
disturbed airflow behind the tower of of varying amplitude
the downwind turbine annoying to the adjacent residences or workplaces (Deltenre and Mark,
2018). Therefore, an appropriate shadow flicker study is necessary to
reduce the shadow impact of a wind turbine.
7.2. Visual impact
8. Observation and future research trends
Nowadays, wind turbines are mounted on the rooftop, roof ventila-
tors of high-rise buildings, and beside highways in urban areas (Ishugah Progressive research and development in the arena of the urban wind
et al., 2014). Though the wind turbines have their beauty, people of the farm is an absolute necessity. It can be noted that the urban wind farm is
area generally do not like it because of its giant size. It also distracts not a substitute for commercial wind farms. The chaotic and turbulent
viewers from the beautiful surroundings triggering visual pollution nature of city wind limits the performance of urban wind farms. How-
(Szumilas-Kowalczyk et al., 2020). ever, the extraction of urban wind using the design and height of city
infrastructure to produce electricity can be a supplementary approach to
7.3. Effect on biodiversity mitigate the world’s energy crisis. There are many opportunities for
further improvement in this sector.
The size and structure of SSWTs can be harmful to birds and bats. It Optimum production of electrical energy from an urban wind farm
causes birds’ death while contacting with the blades (National Wind can be guaranteed by properly investigating wind resources and turbine
Coordinating Committee, 2020). It can cause loss of habitats in urban structure. Again, safety issues for humanity and other creations of nature
areas that can impact wildlife. The developers are trying to design a are a big concern. Characteristics of wind in the city and built-up areas
bladeless wind turbine for the populated place to reduce bird death, are quite different from that of the rural, semi-urban, or coastal zones. As
which is quite challenging (National Wind Coordinating Committee, discussed in section 2.1, the urban wind is turbulent and disorganized.
2020). The wind turbines need to dig deep into the earth that can be a The features of city wind mostly depend on urban architecture. Before
conflicting issue for the inhabitants. establishing a micro or urban wind farm, wind’s nature in that specific
Furthermore, the frequency of cyclones, tornadoes, and hurricanes place must be inspected precisely. The conventional methods used for the
has increased notably in recent years. These acute storms can cause assessment of urban wind, have several limitations. One of its major
massive damage to the turbines and become a safety hazard for the drawbacks is that it fails to accurately determine wind-energy potential
people working on these farms and residents (Various Disadvantages of in a comparatively complex urban location (Kumar et al., 2018). Without

11
Z. Tasneem et al.
a proper assessment of wind resources, small-scale wind plant projects
fail to attain a desirable outcome. Evaluation of turbulent and chaotic
wind resources is quite expensive and time-consuming, which sometimes
hinders the UWT projects from becoming profitable. Hence the ultimate
prerequisites for the augmentation of wind farms in municipalities are
suitable infrastructure besides precise and faster tools to appraise the
wind resources and analyze the 3D flow pattern. Therefore, wind map-
ping in possible city areas can be an exciting field of research shortly.
Furthermore, turbine construction is also a determining factor for the
success of UWT projects. As discussed in article 4, VAWT is the preferable
choice for micro-wind farms since they are environment-friendly and less
sensitive against the turbulent and fluctuating wind. Both savonius and
darrieus turbines have been used in small-scale wind projects so far.
Savonius turbines (drag based) possess low cut-in wind speed and ability
to get self-started, though their rotational performance and overall effi-
ciency is not satisfactory to some extent. On the other hand, lift based
darrieus turbines provide less sensitiveness to the turbulent wind and
higher efficiency. However, it requires an external power source due to
its low starting torque, and it is quite expensive because of its compli-
cated design. Hence, domestic wind turbine projects that prefer reli-
ability and low cost, rather than the co-efficient of power, can utilize
savonius turbines.
Conversely, darrieus turbines can ensure better efficiency for a do-
mestic wind farm. H-rotor turbines have been introduced to combine the
advantages of both darrieus and savonius turbines. The performance of
H-blade rotors is found better than that of the conventional designs.
Further research on blade configuration is still needed to make an effi-
cient design of UWTs. This upcoming research can be focused on blade
structure, blade material, blade overlap ratio, number of blades, cost-
effectiveness ($/kWh), reliability, etc. Again, the consent of residents is
an important issue. Reduction of noise, turbine aesthetics, ensuring the
safety of humankind, birds, and other creations can be an exciting point
of research in this regard.
9. Conclusion
In recent years, wind turbines have become a consistent power gen-
eration sector with a remarkable growth of acceptance in the present
world. Urban wind farms ensure reliability because they are sustainable
and have reduced dependency on grid power. Moreover, grid-connected
micro-wind farms are economical as they have less transmission and
distribution losses. This paper has reviewed the challenges and prospects
of Urban or Micro Wind Farms. The major conclusions drawn are:
 Micro-wind farm is a potential supplementary method for power
generation along with the commercial wind farms.
 Evaluation of the turbulent and disorganized urban wind is the main
challenge in this sector.
 Further research on smarter and faster wind mapping tools to analyze
the 3D flow pattern for city areas is necessary.
 In this case, VAWTs are preferable than HAWTs because they are less
sensitive to turbulent and fluctuating wind, cost-effective, and eco-
friendly.
 Savonius wind turbines are useful for low cost and highly reliable
projects, whereas darrieus turbines are preferred for relatively
expensive and efficient wind farm plants.
 Though H-rotors provide effectiveness in urban areas, they require
more research to be the unique UWT technology choice.
Finally, it is emphasized that distributed power producing units like
urban wind farms have enormous prospective to meet the current energy
demand. However, specific and thorough research on wind mapping and
turbine construction is necessary to make them an acceptable, feasible,
and reliable power production choice.
12
Developments in the Built Environment 4 (2020) 100033
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
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