Abstract
The United States’ Department of Energy’s Wave Energy Prize contest encouraged the development of innovative deep-water wave energy technologies that at least double device performance above the state-of-the-art. The Prize was comprised of three phases that progressively evaluated each team’s technology [1]. The first phase evaluated the wave energy converter (WEC) concepts using the technology performance level (TPL) methodology and 20 teams qualified to proceed to phase II. In Phase II, each team used numerical simulations to estimate their WEC performance. Each team then developed 1:50 scale physical prototypes that were tested at various smaller wave tank facilities. The nine teams that had the best combination of 1) agreement between model results and test results and 2) energy capture proceeded to phase III. The nine finalists each built and tested a 1:20 scale physical prototype at the NSWC-CD’s Maneuvering and Seakeeping Basin (MASK). Data from the 1:20 scale testing, in combination with a first-order capital expenditure estimate for the WECs, were used to determine the winners. This paper discusses the testing and analysis methods for the 1:50 and the 1:20 testing.