12.0 Wind Energy, Part 1
Wind Resources
Frank R. Leslie,
B. S. E. E., M. S. Space Technology, LS IEEE
2/23/2010, Rev. 2.0.3
fleslie @fit.edu; (321) 674-7377
www.fit.edu/~fleslie
In Other News . . .
 Pres. Obama gives $8 billion in loan guarantees to Burke
County GA nuclear plant to start
 Norway experimenting with Statkraft osmotic pressure
hydro plant at Tofte producing 4 kW
 http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18204-first-osmosis-power-plant-goes-on-stream-innorway.html
 Florida Flywheelers show on Saturday, 2/25/10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myu2Dmv1mOQ
Between Ft. Meade and Frostproof, FL
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12 Overview: Wind Resources
 Class Wind Sessions:
Wind Resources, Part 1
Wind Energy Theory, Part 2
Wind Turbine Theory, Part 1
Wind Turbine Practice, Part 2
Hybrid Wind Systems
 Wind resources are distributed unevenly around the
World
 Wind “Prospecting” shows where higher (economically
useful) winds are located
 Wind passage is measured in miles (or km) of wind per
hour or per day; divide to get miles per hour average
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12.0 About This Presentation
 12.0.1 Wind Resources
 12.0.2 US State Wind Maps
 12.0.3 European Wind Maps
 12.0.4.1 Other Areas: India
 12.0.5.1 Wind Statistics
 12.0.6.1 Wind Analysis
 12.0 Conclusion
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12.0.2 Wind Resources (a larger view)
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12.0.2.1 Idaho
Commercial wind mappers have
extended the definition of windmaps
using topographic information
12.0.2.1 Idaho Wind Speed and Power Maps
http://www.windpowermaps.org/windmaps/IDwindpower50_big.htm
12.0.2.2 Washington
http://www.windpowermaps.org/windmaps/states.asp
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12.0.2.3 Oregon
http://www.windpowermaps.org/windmaps/states.asp
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12.0.2.5 Montana
http://www.windpowermaps.org/windmaps/states.asp
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12.0.2.6 Northeast United States
 The Cape Wind Project is
planned for the red area
near Nantucket MA
 Wind power density is
shown rather than wind
speed
 The strong red density
shows high power that is
economical
12.0.2.7 New York (Lake Effect Example)
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http://www.awstruewind.com/inner/windmaps/maps/NorthAmerica/UnitedStates
12.0.2.8 South Carolina (Ocean Example)
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http://www.awstruewind.com/inner/windmaps/maps/NorthAmerica/UnitedStates
12.0.2.9 Wyoming
http://www.windpowermaps.org/windmaps/states.asp
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12.0.2.10 Wind Energy in Texas
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AEI
12.0.2.11.1 Florida Has Marginal Wind Energy
 These wind energy maps are
available for each state and for
the World
 Coastal Florida is Class 2 with
seabreeze and storm front
passages
 Summer ground heating
results in ~10 mph seabreezes
and storms
 Winter is calmer, with frontal
storm passages averaging
every four days
From the PNNL Wind Energy Atlas
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12.0.3.1 Europe Wind Resource
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http://www.windpower.dk/tour/wres/euromap.htm
12.0.4.1 India
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http://www.windpowerindia.com/statwind.asp
12.0.5.1 Wind Statistics and Assessment
 Wind speed and direction are measured by an
anemometer
Speed is derived from rotating cups or a spinning
propeller driving an interrupter device or a small
electric generator
Data are logged electronically for later processing
The mean (average) and peak (gust) speeds are
of the greatest importance
 Turbulence may affect turbine efficiency, but yawing
points the turbine into the average wind
Ten-minute averages are used for power assessment,
while gust studies may require two to ten points per
second
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12.0.6.1 A Sample Day’s Sea Breeze Wind Profile From the FSEC
MET System in Cocoa, FL
Effective wind
is from 9 a.m.
to ~5 p.m.
Ref.: FSEC
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12.0.6.1 Roberts Hall 103 ft Wind Gusts 2/13/08
 Wind gusts
reached 32
mph at 103 ft
during a storm
passage
 Gust
measured as
highest onesecond value
in a minute
 Data logged
each second
and averages
created for
each minute
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12.0.5.2 Wind Statistics and Assessment
 Dataloggers have a limit to storage, and more points per
second means storage fills faster
 The memory can be filled and stop recording, or better,
the memory can over-write the earliest data
If a major storm passes, the data may be
downloaded shortly thereafter
 Dataloggers write and store data in a compressed
format that is often proprietary
 A proprietary program is then used to export the data
on a serial link as a text file that can later be interpreted
by other programs, like MS Excel
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12.0.5.2.1 Serial Data Stream at 9600 bps
Roberts Hall Data ID Year DOY HHMM Speed Gust Drct Solar Temp Rain test PV_V Ipv Iwt Pwt 24VBat
Ibat 12VBat Relay Clip CMIN CMAX 24Min 24Max 24Sd EST
mph mph deg W/m2 degC inch mV V A A W V A V 0_26 V V V V V V
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[ID Year DOY HHMM Speed Gust Drct Solar Temp Rain]
103 2006 43 1449 11.63 14.94 290.8 796 12.01 0 13.59 43.79 8.69 .889 24.68 27.77 -.185 13.73 27.43
5.004 6.593 4.971 27.68 27.81 .026
103 2006 43 1450 11.42 14.94 294.9 753 12.12 0 13.52 43.64 -6999 .881 24.36 27.66 -.651 13.68 27.34
4.978 4.992 4.971 26.64 27.73 .14
103 2006 43 1451 17.86 29.25 301.2 464.4 12.16 0 13.39 46.19 3.39 19.02 581.6 27.46 -3.561 13.58 27.12
4.977 4.986 4.971 25.27 32.36 2.018
Latest observations from Roberts Hall Roof (~102 ft)
Time
(UTC)
Wind
Speed
(mph)
Windgust
(mph)
Wind
Direction
(deg)
20:00 12.9 14.9 286.2
19:45 18.4 25.7 291.7
Temp.
(deg F)
Precip*
(mm)
Turbine
Power
(watts)
53
53
0.34
0.34
23
25
PV Power
(watts)
Solar
Radiation
(w/m^2)
208.78 676.9
239.91 756.0
12.0.5.3 Wind Statistics and Assessment
 Once the data are in the processing format, they must
be screened to detect missing or bad data to prevent
contamination of the results
 These series strings of data may then be processed to
determine key statistics:
Highest speeds, averages, medians, modes,
histograms, exceedance curves, etc.
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12.0.5.4 Statistical Exceedance Curves
 Accumulated data can be
sorted by value to gain an
understanding of the
statistical distribution
 No distribution must
be assumed --known as
nonparametric
statistics
 Compute the percentile
exceeded for each value
and plot the values vs. the
percentiles from 0% to
100%
 Determine the minimum,
maximum, median, 10%tile, and 90%-tile values
 A Weibull curve may be fit
to the data to suggest a
distribution
Enlarged Plot follows
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12.0.5.4.1 Statistical Exceedance Curves
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12.0.6.2 Sample of Roberts Hall Seabreeze Winds
Roberts Hall Wind 031110
Seabreeze: 9 am to 1 pm
y = -0.0623x + 17.318
2
R = 0.1188
25.0
Speed, mph
20.0
15.0
10.0
5.0
0.0
0
20
40
60
80
Direction, degrees
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100
120
140
12.0.6.3 Roberts Hall: 13 Days of Winds 030903
Wind Speed vs Direction
50
Speed, mph
40
30
20
10
0
0
60
120
180
240
Wind Direction, degrees
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300
360
12.0.6.4 Predominant Wind Energy Direction
Determines the Site Selected
0
 The energy rose is the cube of
the wind speed (flower-like)
rose
 In Palm Bay, Florida, this oneday wind data sample shows
the main wind direction at 150
degrees azimuth
 An FPL WindLogics report
shows Ft. Pierce FL annual
estimates for 80 meters
 Several years of data are
averaged to get a useful
sample; 30 years desirable
 In obstructed areas, the site
selection is critical to obtain
the maximum wind energy
090805
http://www.fpl.com/news/pdf/Windlogics_Results.pdf
20000
338
N
23
15000
315
Available Relative Wind Energy
45
10000
293
68
5000
270
0
90
248
113
225
135
203
S
180
158
12.0 Conclusion: Wind Resources 1
 Wind resources vary greatly with latitude, season, and
surrounding terrain
 Extensive data and wind maps exist for wind prospecting
 At the mesoscale level, topographic information is being
used to create predictions of wind speed from scattered
real data
 Anemometers can be erected to obtain wind speeds in a
likely locale for comparison to NWS long-term records
 An alternative is to erect a small wind turbine to sample
the energy and help determine where a large turbine
should be placed
 Wind resources may be excellent, but there is much more
to installing a turbine
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Olin Engineering Complex 4.7 kW Solar PV Roof Array
Questions?
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References: Books
 Brower, Michael. Cool Energy. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press, 1992. 0-262-02349-0,
TJ807.9.U6B76, 333.79’4’0973.
 Gipe, Paul. Wind Energy for Home & Business. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea
Green Pub. Co., 1993. 0-930031-64-4, TJ820.G57, 621.4’5
 Patel, Mukund R. Wind and Solar Power Systems. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 1999, 351
pp. ISBN 0-8493-1605-7, TK1541.P38 1999, 621.31’2136
 Sørensen, Bent. Renewable Energy, Second Edition. San Diego: Academic Press,
2000, 911 pp. ISBN 0-12-656152-4.
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References: Websites, etc.
http://www.idwr.state.id.us/energy/wind/wind_speed_map.pdf
http://www.windpower.org/index.htm
awea-windnet@yahoogroups.com. Wind Energy elist
awea-wind-home@yahoogroups.com. Wind energy home powersite elist
geothermal.marin.org/ on geothermal energy
mailto:energyresources@egroups.com
rredc.nrel.gov/wind/pubs/atlas/maps/chap2/2-01m.html PNNL wind energy map of
CONUS windenergyexperimenter@yahoogroups.com. Elist for wind energy
experimenters
www.dieoff.org. Site devoted to the decline of energy and effects upon population
www.ferc.gov/ Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
www.hawaii.gov/dbedt/ert/otec_hi.html#anchor349152 on OTEC systems
telosnet.com/wind/20th.html
www.google.com/search?q=%22renewable+energy+course%22
solstice.crest.org/
dataweb.usbr.gov/html/powerplant_selection.html
www.homepower.com/files/windsiteanalysis.pdf
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