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Wind Power Curve ISM

A second way to measure peak performance includes air density. Density (p) is the mass
(m) per volume (Vol) of a substance, and is written in equation form as follows:
m Equation 7-2
P = Vol

where

p is the density in kg/m3 m is the mass in kg

Vol is the volume in m3
Air density (p a) is a measure of how much mass is contained in a specific volume of air. The amount of moisture (humidity) in the air, the air
pressure, and the temperature all affect the air density. Air is denser when it is cooled; it also changes with humidity. When the air is dense, the output
of the wind turbine increases.

Application of Wind Power Curves

The wind power curve indicates how much power a wind turbine should produce at any given wind speed. The maximum value from the wind power
curve may be used in marketing wind turbines and for comparisons between competing models, so the values are some times higher than the actual output.
If you are using power curves as part of a purchasing decision, you may want to request actual performance data from several installed wind turbines.
Some manufacturers use projections and calculations to determine the values on the wind power curve, which may make their projections higher than the
output is in real-world applications.

The rated power is used to compare similar wind turbines under standard conditions. Peak power is the amount of electrical power the wind
turbine can produce at the highest rated wind speed. The wind turbine may not be able to produce power on a continual basis at the peak power rating
because wind speeds that high do not normally occur on a continual basis, and the wind turbine generator and gearbox may not able to handle that
exceptional load for any sustained period of time.

Testing by Independent Laboratories

Power curve testing should be done by independent testing laboratories as well as by manufacturers. If the data is aWind Turbine Testing
set of testing criteria, the same type of data must be collected for different models. Testing agencies are set up
throughout the world for these tests. In the United States, one government agency that performs testing is the
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) of the US Department of Energy (DOE).
NREL provides tests in conjunction with other agencies such as the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA). NASA has a large wind tunnel located at Moffett Field in California. A wind tunnel
is a testing laboratory designed specifically to create large wind flows under controlled conditions.
Originally, wind tunnels were used to test aircraft wings and aircraft stability under operating conditions. The
wind tunnel is a large dome filled with compressed air; the air is slowly released to pass through a tunnel
where the wind turbine blades and rotor are positioned. The release of the air into the wind tunnel creates a
realistic simulation of wind blowing at the height and level where a wind turbine would normally be located
on top of its tower. Because the wind turbine is mounted near the ground in the tunnel, it can easily have a
large number of sensors connected to it to provide vast amounts of data when it is under load. The wind
tunnel at Moffett Field is 24.4 m X 36.6 m (80 ft X 120 ft) in area, and it can produce low- and medium-
wind speeds to test wind turbines. The data from these tests is very important because it is collected by a
scientific laboratory that is entirely independent from any manufacturer. (Source: Photo courtesy of US
Department of Energy.)
In 2008, NREL begin testing small wind turbines with outputs of less than 100 kW. Mostly small
companies manufacture these wind turbines, and comprehensive testing is NASA used funding from the
National Science Foundation
(NSF) and the Energy Research
and Development Administration
(ERDA) to test a wind turbine for
wake turbulence. The test in the
photo used smoke from the tip of
the turbine to study wake turbu-
lence downwind from the blades.

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