Presentation of Wind Data

 The wind energy that is available at a specific

site is usually presented on an annual basis.
 There are several methods by which this data
can be presented.
– Some of these methods carry the identical
information, presented from slightly different
viewpoints.
 The goal is to evaluate the energy that can be
produced from the wind at a site.
 Presentation of Wind Data
 Wind data is usually summarized by annual averages
and totals.
– This can be a bit misleading, since seasonal variations are
significant.
 In some cases, monthly averages are also presented.
– For non-grid-connected turbines, the annual peak winds
may not correspond to the peak electrical energy
demands.
 Typical plots that describe annual wind data are
shown on the next several slides.
 Wind Speed Frequency Distribution Plots
 One method of presenting wind speed data is to produce a
histogram of the number of hours each year that the wind speed
is within a certain band.

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Power (kW)

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0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Wind Speed (m/sec)
 Normalized Wind Speed Frequency Diagrams
Rather than report the total time the wind is within a certain band,
sometimes the data is normalized by dividing by the total number
of hours.
The result is a probability vs. wind speed histogram.
14.00%

12.00%

10.00%
Probability (%)

8.00%

6.00%

4.00%

2.00%

0.00%
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Wind Speed (m/sec)
 The Weibull Distribution
 Most wind data is modeled analytically by assuming it follows a Weibull
probability distribution function.
– If P(V) is the probability of the wind being at speed V, then the Weibull
distribution is given by:
  V k 
k 1   
k V
P V    e   C  

C C
– The parameters k and C are called the scale and shape parameters,
respectively, and are chosen to fit the data.
– C has dimensions of velocity, and k is dimensionless.
 It is convenient to work with an equation rather than discrete data.
 The Wind Rose
• Wind speed frequency diagrams do not provide
information on the direction that the wind is
blowing.
• This is often done by a graph called a “wind rose.”
• A wind rose is a polar plot giving the direction,
magnitude, and cube of the magnitude of the wind.
– The data is usually averaged over a year.
– In some cases, shorter time periods, such as months, may
be appropriate.
 Description of the Wind Rose Plot
• The polar plot is usually broken up into 12 30° sectors, and
average data is presented over each sector.
• The first rose “petal” in a given direction is the fraction of the
time, normalized to 100%, that the wind is blowing from that
direction.
• The second petal is the fraction of time wind blows from a
particular direction multiplied by the average wind speed in
that direction, and normalized to 100%.
• The second petal is the fraction of time wind blows from a
particular direction multiplied by the average cube of the
wind speed from that direction, and normalized to 100%.
• The last two petals give information about how “useful” the
wind is from a given direction.
Wind Rose Examples
Direction
Speed
Energy
 Use of the Wind Rose
• The wind rose gives a graphical interpretation of
much of the data that is considered when evaluating
a wind power site.
• The second plot (previous slide) shows the wind and
most of the wind energy comes from a prevailing
direction.
– In this case, the site can be designed with this in mind, and
turbine technology with limited ability to rotate into the
wind can be considered.
 Wind Speed Power Curves

 Wind speed power curves, when considered

with wind speed frequency diagrams, allow
the calculation of the total power that can be
produced at a site.
 This allows the designer to choose turbine
technology appropriate for a given situation.
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1400

1200

Power (kW)
1000

800

600

400

Cut in speed Shut Down speed

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0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Wind Speed (m/sec)
 Measurement of Wind Conditions
• Knowledge required for the design of wind turbines
includes:
– Wind speed and direction
– Inclination to the ground
– Turbulence levels
– General weather conditions
• Temperature
• Pressure
• Humidity
 Measurement of Wind Speed
• Wind speed is the magnitude of the wind velocity
vector.
– The wind velocity is a vector, which includes both speed
and direction.
• Wind Speed is measured with a device called a wind
anemometer.
– The term “anemometer” strictly refers to a general fluid
speed measuring device.
• For example “hot wire anemometers” are used to measure
turbulence levels in fluid flows.
• In general conversation, when we say “anemometer,” most people
assume we are talking about a wind speed measuring device.
 Importance of Accurate Wind Speed
Measurements
• Remember – the power obtained from the wind goes
with the cube of the wind speed.
• A small error in the measurement results in a much
larger error in the predicted wind power.
• For example, a 5% error at a wind speed of 10
meters/sec leads to a more than16% error in
predicted wind power.
– 10% anemometer error leads to more than 37% errors in
power prediction.
• This could be disastrous if you are monitoring a site for feasibility
of wind power development!
– This also leads to large errors in efficiency calculations,
loads predictions, and so on.
 Perspective – Why are We Measuring the
Wind Speed?
• In the wind energy field, there are two primary
reasons we might want to measure wind speed.
1. To determine feasibility of wind power development at a
site.
2. As part of a wind turbine control system.
• Essentially, to answer the question: “Is it worthwhile to turn the
turbine into the wind and start it?”
• The accuracy needed for application 1 is much
greater than that needed for application 2.
 Wind Anemometers
• The most common wind speed measurement device is the
cup anemometer.

• This anemometer is heated to prevent ice buildup.

 Anemometers (continued)
• Many cup anemometers have a vane attached
to measure wind direction.
 A few Advantages of Cup Anemometers

• Low price
• Flexible
– Designs have been developed for all climates.
• Simple Installation.
• Common instrument, most technicians understand
operating principles and necessary connections
• Accuracies of 1% can be achieved with calibration of
higher quality devices.
• They remain accurate when the wind has a
significant vertical component, even up to 30°.
A few Disadvantages of Cup Anemometers

• Moving parts wear out.

• Cheap versions are not very accurate.
• Electronic output requires a motor generator, or
some type of counting circuit.
– This isn’t very expensive anymore.
• Without provisions for heating, they don’t work well
in snow or freezing rain.
• They don’t work well in rapidly fluctuating winds.
– On the other hand, neither do wind turbines.
 Other Types of Anemometers
• Non-mechanical Anemometers
– Hot Wire Anemometers
– Ultrasonic Anemometers
– Laser/Doppler Anemometers
• Propeller type anemometers:

• Turbulence Measuring Anemometers:

 Output from Anemometers
• Signal conditioning is usually done within the instrument.
• The output can be an electrical signal to a data logger or
readout device:
– Pulse signal
– Voltage signal
• For example, 0-10 V corresponds to the velocity measurement range of
the instrument.
– Current signal
• Typically, 4-20 mA corresponding to the instrument range.
• Eliminates voltage drop when the signal is transmitted over larger
distances.
• In addition, the output can be internally digitized and directly
sent to a digital data acquisition system.
Measurement and Specification of Wind Direction,
with respect to a horizontal plane
• Wind direction can vary both with respect to the
horizontal plane and the vertical direction.
– For example, on top of the windward side of an abrupt hill
there is usually a significant upward component to the wind
velocity.
– In tall-tower installations, the turbine is often high enough
to be in nearly-horizontal wind.
• The most common way to measure wind direction is with
a vane or sock attached to a pivot.
– The vane or sock is forced downstream by the drag force,
thus rotating the pivot.
– Large orange socks, supposedly visible to pilots, are used at
airports.
– A wind from the north is at 0° (or 360°), from the East is at
90°, and so on.
 Measurement of the Absolute Wind
Direction
• Measurement of both horizontal and vertical
components of the wind velocity vector is much
more complicated than measuring just the horizontal
component.
• In theory, two vanes, one pivoted about the vertical
axis and an attached vane pivoted about the local
(rotated) horizontal axis could do the job.
• Several instruments have been developed that can
do the job.
– An example is given on the next page.
A Complete Weather Station

1. Temperature Sensor.
2. Humidity Sensor.
3. Atmospheric Pressure
Sensor
4. Wind Speed Sensors
Students are requested to
write a presentation about

Non-mechanical
Anemometers
1- Hot Wire Anemometers
2- Ultrasonic Anemometers
3-Laser/Doppler Anemometers
 1-Hot wire anemometer is based on a
heated element from which heat is extracted
by the colder impact airflow. The temperature
of the hot wire is kept constant via a regulating
switch, and the current (amp draw measured
internally) is directly proportional to the air
velocity.
The Hot-Wire Anemometer is the most well
known thermal anemometer, and measures a
fluid velocity by noting the heat convected
away by the fluid. The core of the anemometer
is an exposed hot wire either heated up by a
constant current or maintained at a constant
temperature (refer to the schematic below). In
either case, the heat lost to fluid convection is
a function of the fluid velocity.

Typically, the anemometer wire is made of platinum or

tungsten and is 4 ~ 10 µm (158 ~ 393 µin) in diameter and
1 mm (0.04 in) in length.
2-Ultrasonic Anemometer measures
the time taken for an ultrasonic pulse of sound
to travel from the North transducer to the
South transducer, and compares it with the
time for a pulse to travel from S to N
transducer.

Likewise times are compared between West

and East, and East and West transducers.

If, for example, a North wind is blowing, then

the time taken for the pulse to travel from N to
S will be less than from S to N, whereas the W
to E, and E to W times will be the same. The
wind speed and direction can then be
calculated from the differences in the times of
flight on each axis. This calculation is
independent of factors such as temperature.
3-Laser Doppler Anemometry (LDA), also
known as Laser Doppler Velocimetry (LDV), is
an optical technique ideal for non-intrusive 1D,
2D and 3D point measurement of velocity and
turbulence distribution in both free flows and
internal flows