The Wind Iris TC Lidar has been successfully validated by DNV GL – Energy Renewables Certification, and is set to be integrated as a component of advanced wind turbines with respect to Type Certification.

Leosphere’s Wind Iris TC measures the horizontal wind speed and direction at hub height ahead of a wind turbine, and generates accurate data to optimize a turbine’s performance.
Thanks to the extensive review of all necessary features — including design for successful operations, advanced wind measurements capabilities, and system reliability, lifetime, and services — Leosphere’s Wind Iris TC has proven suitable for wind-turbine integration. According to DNV GL, it fully meets all of the rigorous wind-industry standards.
“Wind Iris TC has a high level of maturity and is well prepared for an integration into a wind turbine with respect to Type Certification,” said Steffen Haupt, Head of Department Loads, Sie Conditions & Electrical Engineering. “A subsequent Type Certification process of the newly combined system will be initiated by the wind turbine manufacturer.”
Validating the Wind Iris Turbine Control Lidar enables the acceleration of the development and further commercialization of Lidar-assisted Control technology. This means the industry can rely on an approved standard product for future validations, enabling faster, cheaper and low risk Lidar Assisted Control development and secure Type Certification of new wind turbines incorporating the Wind Iris TC.
“It has been both challenging and a pleasure to work with DNVGL,” said Matthieu Boquet, Product line Manager for the Wind Iris TC. “The validation of Lidar as a turbine component clearly marks a milestone for this technology and the beginning of real commercialization. It’s a great day for us.”
Lidar-assisted turbine control
Lidar-assisted turbine control technology essentially enables a turbine to see a few seconds into the future. The Lidar, combined with advanced data analysis, control algorithms, and accurate capture of multi-dimensional wind information, was found to significantly reduce fatigue and peak loads.
Leosphere’s system uses four beams to capture all relevant events and provide the most representative wind information. By using 10 simultaneous measurements at a frequency of 4Hz across the 200m range, the Wind Iris TC captures events several seconds before they reach the rotor plane and tracks them as they evolve. This provides a complete characterization of the wind field. Early perception of the inflow of wind information enables manufacturers/operators to significantly achieve typical loads reduction between 10 to 20%.
When installed as a part of a turbine construction, Lidar-assisted turbine control technology can redefine turbine design limits by mitigating extreme events, increasing energy capture and reducing loads. For specific projects, turbines can be equipped with larger rotors enabling significant reduction of Cost-of-Energy and lighter towers for overall reduction of wind turbine cost improving power generation and project ROI.
After integration of the Wind Iris TC into a wind turbine, the manufacturer evaluates if all interfaces between the Wind Iris TC and the turbine are designed appropriately to implement LAC as a feature into the wind turbine. To achieve a Type Certification, the newly combined wind turbine system is assessed as a whole. This may result in further questions and comments for certification.
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