Best practice guidelines for tank testing of wave energy converters

Experimental tank testing is a key aspect of wave energy conversion research. The performance of designs can be assessed in an accessible and controlled environment and at a fraction of the cost of sea trials. Wave energy converter (WEC) tank testing is complex and has its own specificities compared with model testing of ships and offshore structures. This largely reflects the fact that the main quantity of interest is wave energy: how much is available and how much is harvested by the model. This paper provides an extensive overview of the various aspects of WEC tank testing. These are divided into three categories: physical model, measurements, and wave generation. For each of them, current best practice guidelines are given.