Turbine Placement

Selection of site for turbine placement is critical. Aside from availability of wind itself include the availability of transmission lines, value of energy to be produced, cost of land acquisition, land use consideration and environment impact of construction and operations. Off-shore locations cost higher for construction and placement.

Power of wind can be calculated by using wind power density. A map with the distribution of wind power density must be identified first.

Turbines will typically be placed in rows perpendicular to the prevailing wind direction. Space provided between a row of turbines must be two to four times the diameter of the rotor if the wind blows perpendicular to the row almost all the time. If the wind speed strikes a second turbine before the wind speed has been restored from striking an earlier turbine, the energy production from the second turbine will be decreased relative to the unshielded production. The amount of decrease is a function of wind shear, the turbulence in the wind, the turbulence added by the turbines and the terrain. This can easily be in the range of five to ten percent for downwind spacings of around ten rotor diameters. Spacing the turbines further apart will produce more power, but at the expense of more land, more roads and more electrical wire.

RSS Posted by Krasugir & Co at 10:19 AM