Wind Project Dynamics

Impact of variability and uncertainty of wind resources on the grid
July 3, 2009

What happens when wind is strong (high supply) and there is low demand on the grid? What happens when there is no wind (low supply) and demand is high on the grid? Before answering these questions let me present the background. For simplicity there are three types of generators in a grid: Base load generators, spinning reserve and non-spinning reserves. Read More

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Will your small wind investment pay off?

Items to consider before diving into a small wind project
June 5, 2009

Small wind turbines – those with power ratings of less than 100 kW – are being installed at a rapid pace.  Unfortunately, a large fraction of these projects produce less energy than advertised as a result of insufficient upfront planning and analysis.

WECC's "Common Mistakes to Avoid in Your Small Wind Project" provides simple steps that can be taken to ensure a more viable project from the performance and financial perspectives. Have you done your homework?…Learn more about how to realize a positive economic return from your small wind project. 

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Use of Wind Turbines to Capture Energy from Air Exhaust
May 21, 2009

There are several air exhaust applications where large volume of air is pumped externally continuously. Examples are: Coal mines; covered parking lots; and, industrial air handling systems. The first two applications extract contaminated air necessary to maintain satisfactory air quality, and the third application is to use air to transport materials, remove moisture, etc.

Using the above examples, a natural assumption is that the exhaust emissions can be captured and converted into useable energy. Read More

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IEC Classification of Turbines: Selecting the right turbine for the site based on wind data
May 13, 2009

The International Electro technical Commission (IEC) creates and publishes standards for wind turbines among other electrical and electronics equipments. The IEC 61400 deals with wind turbine generators (WTG). This blog entry will explain turbine classes. Turbine classes are determined by three parameters the average wind speed, extreme 50-year gust, and turbulence. The following table explains the classifications. Read More

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Wind Energy from Rooftop Turbines—Does it make sense?
May 12, 2009

There is immense interest in capturing wind energy with turbines installed on rooftops. This blog entry and the associated whitepaper will answer the questions: Does it make sense to place a wind turbine generator on a roof?

Examples of prominent rooftop installs include: Twenty 1KW Aerovironment turbines at Boston's Logan Airport, the Brooklyn Naval Shipyard, and on top of comedian Jay Leno's garage. Read More

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Dr. Pramod Jain set to speak at WINDPOWER 2009 Conference and Exhibition

Chicago, Illinois
May 7, 2009

WECC's Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Pramod Jain, will present "Met-tower and SODAR Hybrid: Reducing Cost and Improving Accuracy of Wind Measurements" during Wind Power's scientific session. WINDPOWER 2009 Conference and Exhibition is the largest annual wind conference and exhibition in the world featuring over 13,000 attendees and over 776 exhibitors. Each year, wind energy professionals gather at this event to learn about the latest industry developments and technologies, review new products and services, and network with leading industry decision makers. Read More

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WECC answers questions about LEED building

LEED building with or without renewable energy?
April 30, 2009

Often when a "design and build" company evaluates alternative design options in order to reach a LEED certification goal, renewable energy components drop out because they are too costly.  However, upon completion of a more sophisticated financial analysis, a LEED design with renewable energy can be less costly in the long run.

WECC's "Renewable Energy and LEED Certification" describes the connection between renewable energy and LEED points and describes ways to finance a renewable energy project that does not impact the cost...Learn more about incorporating clean, renewable energy into your LEED design.

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Increasing the accuracy of your wind studies during prospecting

WECC explains the benefits of using SODAR (Sonic Detection and Ranging) to gather wind data
April 29, 2009

When prospecting for sites that are suitable for a wind farm, a developer must evaluate a large number of sites and narrow them down to ones that have the highest potential. WECC's "SODAR for Wind Projects" explains that with SODAR based measurements, a developer is able to evaluate multiple sites with an order of magnitude higher accuracy compared to traditional methods.

Although SODAR may seem like an expensive option, it is not only cost effective in the prospecting phase; it also provides the basis for layout of turbines that can yield higher energy production over the entire lifetime of a wind farm...Learn the other benefits of using SODAR; an innovative, economical, and flexible solution.

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Should you believe what the manufacturer is telling you?

WECC explores how to verify claims of turbine manufacturers
April 28, 2009

A growing number of business owners, school administrators and civic leaders are seeking to develop wind energy projects of various sizes. Among the challenges in piecing together a wind project is the selection of a wind turbine. There are several factors used to determine the appropriate wind turbine for each project. Primary among these is using the manufacturer’s rated capacity to estimate energy production. However, some turbine manufacturers claim higher energy production than what a customer will realize.

WECC's "Truth in Rate Capacity of Turbine" is a concise analysis of what a turbine’s rated capacity means, how the rated capacity is determined, and how to quickly verify a manufacturer’s power rating and power curve...Learn how to verify if a turbine's actual production will ever measure up to its claim.

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Renewable Energy and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certification
April 28, 2009

In the recent years there has been a big push toward attaining LEED certification of buildings. In this entry I will describe the connection between renewable energy and LEED points, and describe ways to finance a renewable energy project that does not impact the cost.

When a "Design and Build" company proposes a LEED design to a developer, it chooses the most cost effective components of the design such that the points add up to the desired LEED level. For instance, if a designer wants to achieve a Gold level of LEED certification, then it needs 39 to 51 points. Inserting renewable energy generation into a project is a very expensive way to achieve this Gold target. There are several other significantly less expensive design options to accomplish the same goal. Read More

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SODAR based Wind Measurements for Prospecting
April 28, 2009

Sonic Detection and Ranging (SODAR) is a ground based remote sensing technique for measuring wind speed in the three directions. It is based on Doppler shift in the frequency of the sound waves that are backscattered by temperature fluctuations in the atmosphere.

As the hub heights and blade lengths of turbines have increased, met-tower based measurements at 40, 50 and 60 meters, or sometimes 80 meters height are inadequate to provide an accurate estimate for wind speed at the hub height, let alone over the entire turbine rotor. With both hub heights and rotor diameter above 85m, met-towers of height 150m or more would be required to measure the wind speed over the entire turbine rotor. This would be cost prohibitive. SODAR provides an economical method to measure wind speed in this range of heights. Read More

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Truth in Rated Capacity and Power Curve of Turbines
April 27, 2009

Among the challenges in piecing together a wind project is the selection of a wind turbine. Several factors are used to determine the appropriate wind turbine for each project. Primary among these is using the manufacturer's rated capacity to estimate energy production.

Some turbine manufacturers claim higher turbine name-plate capacity and therefore higher energy production than what a customer will realize. We have observed this most frequently in smaller vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT) and less frequently in horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWT). This is a particular problem if power ratings and power curves are not certified by an independent agency. Read More

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Dr. Pramod Jain chosen to present at LAWEA workshop

Huatulco, Oaxaca
March 26-27, 2009

Dr. Pramod Jain, WECC's chief technology officer, will present "Locale Specific Parameters in Financial Modeling of Wind Projects" at LAWEA's first technical workshop in Huatulco, Oaxaca.   The goal of the workshop is to explore development of a wind farm, from its analysis, evaluation and study, to its implementation, operation and maintenance.  Each topic is discussed by leaders of wind development in Latin America. Read More

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A few common questions about wind projects, from the Technical Side
March 26, 2009

In this blog I will list common questions that we have encountered from organizations that are considering adding wind energy to their portfolio of energy resources.  In subsequent blogs I will answer the questions in some detail and point you to resources that will help you to answer the question.  As with any endeavor like this, answers are not always crisp and precise; the answer usually starts with “It depends.” In my answers I will help you to understand: A) What the answer depends on?  B) Why does the answer depend on it?  and C) Any other the issues related to the answer. Read More

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