Wind Energy Research Reaps Rewards

It never crossed Larry Viterna’s mind to type his own name into a search engine until late last year. An accomplished NASA engineer and manager with a Ph.D., he could expect to find plenty of entries. But when Viterna finally Googled himself, he could hardly believe the results: hundreds of references to an analytical model he developed in 1981 to predict the power generated by wind turbines during high winds.

At the time of publication, wind energy experts had dismissed his theory. “It was quite controversial because it contradicted existing theories,” Viterna said. “I was known around the world as a bit of a quack.”

Viterna and NASA got involved in wind energy during the energy crisis of the 1970s. Increased consumption and an oil embargo against the United States and other western countries had contributed to record-high gas prices and lines at the pump. In response, President Richard Nixon set up a federal task force to explore renewable energy sources, such as solar panels, hydrogen and wind turbines.

From 1974 to 1981, NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, led the U.S. Wind Energy Program for large horizontal-axis wind turbines — the most popular systems used today. The center’s mission was to develop the technology and transfer it to private industry.

NASA