SAB North America’s tray cables and flexible motor supply cables achieve UL WTTC approval
March 11, 2010 by WindPower Engineering
Filed under Electrical Systems
Excerpt: SAB North America’s TR 600 Cable Tray Cables and Flexible Motor Supply Cables have achieved key UL WTTC standard for use in the design of Wind Turbines. The TR 600 series cable earned approval in accordance with UL subject 2277. SAB North America announced that its full line of tray cables and …
Overview of wind power storage media
March 2, 2010 by WindPower Engineering
Filed under Power storage
Excerpt: Wind power storage development is essential for renewable energy technologies to become economically feasible. There are many different ways in which one can store electrical energy, the following outlines the various media used to store grid-ready energy produced by wind turbines. For more on appli …
Solving the use-it-or-lose-it wind energy problem
February 24, 2010 by WindPower Engineering
Filed under Power storage
Excerpt: Examine a utility’s load curve over the course of a week and the trace looks like a roller-coaster. Demand for electric power peaks about 5 pm each day and declines to a low at about 2 am. Look closer and you see demand changing almost by the second. So there are two problems here that befuddle el …
Lithium battery could store wind generated power
January 29, 2010 by Paul Dvorak
Filed under Power storage
Excerpt: Toshiba International Corp. says it has established a U.S.-based sales and support for its recent Super Charge Ion Battery, SCiB. This nano-based lithium technology is noteworthy for a rapid-charging capability of 90% in less than 5 min., according to the company, a life of more than 1 …
Small power transformers handle 5 to 15 MVA
January 29, 2010 by Paul Dvorak
Filed under Utility Grid, Wind Watch
Excerpt: The recent line of small power transformers is customized for use in municipal power substations. The utility-focused smaller power transformers, from Pacific Crest Transformers, Medford, Oregon, are rated from 5 to 15 megavolt-amperes. They are ruggedly built, using disk-wound coils with cruciform …
Slip rings ready for demanding apps
January 5, 2010 by Paul Dvorak
Filed under Electrical Systems, Slip rings
Excerpt: Slip rings for a wide variety of industrial applications come from Deublin Co., Waukegan, Ill. The devices are easily configured for both power connections and signal connections. The signal portion of the slip rings is compatible with Ethernet, Profinet, RS-232, RS-485, RS-422, CAN as well as gener …
Wind-to-H2 plant more efficiency with multilingual controls
December 18, 2009 by Paul Dvorak
Filed under Power storage, Wind Turbine Controls
Excerpt: In large facilities such as water treatment and power plants, it’s common to find many different control systems on a range of equipment. The simple programmable logic controllers frequently encountered can operate the equipment, but offer little additional capability. Most vendors pay little a …
Variable Transformer Frequency Connects Unruly Grids
December 7, 2009 by WindPower Engineering
Filed under Utility Grid
Excerpt: Four separate electrical grids cover the U.S. and Canada. Most are synchronous (same frequency and phase) so they can be connected by direct transmission lines. They are all busy places but the Eastern Seaboard is perhaps more so because of large population concentrations, such as New York City. …
Encoders Give Turbine Controls More Data
December 5, 2009 by WindPower Engineering
Filed under Wind Turbine Controls
Excerpt: To improve the efficiency of large turbines, many operators have turned to a rather small, 58-mm dia. absolute encoder from Denmark’s Leine&Linde. The Model 500 series of Incremental and absolute encoders provide speed and positioning feedback to controls in nacelles. Siemens wind turbines, …
28-port Ethernet switch configures in the field
December 2, 2009 by Paul Dvorak
Filed under Electrical Systems, Wind Turbine Controls, Wind Turbine Installation
Excerpt: A manufacturer of industrial and commercial machine-to-machine networking equipment has released an industrial managed Ethernet switch platform. The EL228, a 28-port switch from Sixnet Inc, Ballston Lake, N.Y., combines the reliability and redundancy required of demanding industrial environments …

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