After a site assessment collects sufficient and bankable wind data, a project closes on financing and allays wildlife concerns. Other than the upcoming site construction, there seems little else to worry about. But as wind farms become more numerous, one concern not often discussed in the industry is the potential for wind-farm interference with TVs,…
Sodar sensing for hub-height wind used more widely
Remote wind sensing is winning broader acceptance as wind farm developers use it to measure wind characteristics such as in-flow angle and turbulence. Investors are also putting confidence in remote sensing data. This message emerged from the annual Triton User Group sponsored by wind technology company and sodar manufacturer Second Wind. Independent engineers, consultants, and…
How much will that 2 MW turbine really produce?
Recent estimates for a 2.0 MW turbine intended for an 80-m tower provide an example of the uncertainty in power predictions based on data from short (60m) met towers. The plots below were calculated from several wind shear models (in the box). Wind shear is a way of estimating higher level winds from lower-level measurements.…