In this study a 3kW straight–bladed Darrieus type Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) is investigated numerically using OpenFOAM computational fluid dynamic package. The newly proposed J-Shaped airfoil is used as the blade airfoil in the simulation. This airfoil is designed by means of eliminating the pressure side of Du 06-W-200 airfoil from the maximum thickness. The main purpose of this investigation is the improvement of both starting torque and power curves of the VAWT using J-Shaped airfoil. The power curves for both conventional and J-shaped profiles are calculated and the torque variation is obtained at differences azimuth angles. In addition, the vorticity and pressure field surrounding the wind turbine is presented. The results obtained indicate that the wind turbine performance is improved at the optimal tip speed ratio and the starting torque of wind turbine is magnified using J-Shaped profile.

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