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How To Monitor Wind Speed

There are several options for monitoring wind speed at a potential site for a small wind turbine system. The least expensive is using a weather anemometer to record observations regularly, but this requires diligent data collection. More accurate options include installing an automated data collection system connected to a computer or purchasing a dedicated wind monitoring system, which range from $200-300 for a basic model to thousands for a more sophisticated professional system. To determine the long term wind resource, data should be collected for at least 3-12 months. Short term data can also provide an estimate when correlated with existing nearby data.

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Robert Galarza
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45 views

How To Monitor Wind Speed

There are several options for monitoring wind speed at a potential site for a small wind turbine system. The least expensive is using a weather anemometer to record observations regularly, but this requires diligent data collection. More accurate options include installing an automated data collection system connected to a computer or purchasing a dedicated wind monitoring system, which range from $200-300 for a basic model to thousands for a more sophisticated professional system. To determine the long term wind resource, data should be collected for at least 3-12 months. Short term data can also provide an estimate when correlated with existing nearby data.

Uploaded by

Robert Galarza
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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How to Monitor Wind Speed?

http://electrical- engineering- portal.com/how- to- monitor- wind- speed February 21, 2013

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Wind

How to monitor wind speed? (Photo by: Andy @ Flickr)

Speed Mistery Or Not?


When considering wind power, most people ask what the average annual wind speed is and how to get that number. The usual response is that you must monitor the wind speed at your site for at least 12 months, preferably longer, to determine whether a wind generator will work for you. Sounds too long? Well, yes and no For a home system, this isnt necessary. The costs involved in collecting wind data may not be justified when compared to the total cost of a small wind machine. There is no economic formula to determine this, but it doesnt make much sense to spend $1,200 on instrumentation if your wind machine costs only $3,000. You can get close to the actual number by making an educated guess using the empirical methods.

Options For Monitoring The Wind Speed


If you decide to monitor wind speeds, you have several options.

1 The first is to buy a weather anemometer and record observations on a regular basis. This is the least expensive way to collect wind data, but it has disadvantages. For the data to be valid, you must be methodical in collecting it.

Recording one instantaneous wind speed per day wont do. If you cant record multiple wind speeds throughout a day, the quality of your data is questionable. 2 A second option is to automate data collection by installing a data collection board in a personal computer. This method works, but the computer must stay on all the time, and there are additional costs. Since these are not plug-and-play components, some computer hardware and software knowledge is necessary. 3 A third option is to invest in an anemometer system specifically designed for collecting wind data. The least expensive systems simply average the wind speed over time and cost $200 to $300. These systems usually are sold without towers. While

Weather anemometer

While the

T he wind power monitoring system architecture

average wind speed is a useful measurement, it also is important to know the wind speed distribution. More sophisticated systems usually consist of: 1. A portable tower, 2. Instrumentation and 3. Data logger. These systems are reliable and accurate, but they are expensive. After collecting data, you have equipment that may or may not be useful to you. The secondary market for used towers and data loggers is limited. If you buy a used system, consider new instrumentation. This will help ensure quality data. Usually the system has an anemometer and a wind vane. The anemometer measures wind velocity, while the wind vane registers direction. Both instruments should be mounted on a wind pole or tower that is as close as possible to the height at which your wind machine will be mounted. If your anemometer is mounted too low, it will underestimate the actual wind resource available.

It is

Endurance E-3120 50kW Wind T urbine Specif ication

generally recommended that the hub height for small machines between 60 feet and 120 feet. Your anemometer also should be within this range. To generate data for all seasons, average wind speeds along with distribution and peak gust information should be recorded for a minimum of three months, but ideally for a full year. Wind speed data can then be used with performance data for various wind machines to determine the expected output for each machine at your site. If you collect data for a short time, it can be correlated with existing data to produce a model of the wind speeds at the potential site. To do this, you need to develop a correction factor. For example, assume you have collected average wind speeds of 12.8 mph, 10.8 mph and 10.4 mph for the last three months, and the published data from a nearby site for the same three months is 10.9, 10.2 and 9.5. Dividing your data by the published data will give you the following deviation factors: 1.174, 1.059 and 1.095. Averaging these results in a correction factor of 1.109. You can multiply the remaining published data by this correction factor to estimate wind speeds at your site. This method involves a fair amount of interpretation, and some sites do not correlate well. If you are considering a large project, on-site data is a necessity. These systems require taller towers 40 or 50 meters. They include multiple levels of instrumentation and data loggers that can be accessed remotely. Assessing a sites potential for utilityscale wind development is an expensive undertaking that requires committing significant financial resources.

Wind Turbines How does it actually work? Investment?


Cant see this video? Click here to watch it on Youtube. America used 3,200 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 1998. The Energy Information Agency predicts that consumption will increase to 4,400 billion kilowatthours in 2020. No single energy source can deliver all the electricity we need to fuel our economy. What do you think about this? Resource: Montana Wind Power A Consumers Guide to Harnessing the Wind

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