One of the finalist teams in the Wave Energy Prize challenge, AquaHarmonics, is testing its wave energy converter (WEC) at the US Navy’s maneuvering and seakeeping basin (MASK) in Carderock this week.
The AquaHarmonics team arrived in Carderock last week and carried out setup works prior to putting the device to test, including instrumentation checks and a leak check of the device.
The two-member team is developing a point absorber wave energy device, comprising a power take-off (PTO) system mounted in a cylinder-shaped hull with a single mooring line that has a power cable at its core.
The team conducted preliminary testing of their 1:20 scale device, which is using a phase control strategy developed by AquaHarmonics team to maximize energy capture from irregular waves, at the O.H. Hindsdale Wave Research Laboratory at Oregon State University in June this year.
After all of the 9 Wave Energy Prize finalist teams have tested their WECs at MASK Basin, the winner(s) will be announced on November 16, 2016.