Wind/data looking equipment question

[George Flickinger]

Not sure if this is the correct forum for this question. Mods, feel free to relocate this if needed.

Here's a question from a viewer.

"I live on a hill southwest of xxxxx and I need to determine the wind speed throughout the day and over a period of days so that I can evaluate whether a wind-powered system would prove to be more economical than the local utility."


He will do the calculations, but needs wind and data logging equipment. He's considering below from www.pro-measure.com


l. Handheld and 2. Data loggers.
A midrange price for handheld was model ATH-855-ProPack, $99.90.
Under data loggers, were two models,
AVM-07 $249.00 and
YK-2005AM $299.00.



Anyone have any experience with these, and would these be good enough for measuring wind turbine requirements?

Thanks, George Flickinger

 

[Dennis Sherrod]

George,
Take a look at this unit from Tycon Power. They are a new company out of Utah that is going to be specializing in Wind, Solar, and Renewable Energy Powered Equipment and Products. Scott Parsons owns this company and is very accessible to answer questions and support. Their unit is made and aimed toward the Wind Turbine Industry. This unit's main controller will hold 4080 readings in it's built-in memory or unlimited if connected directly to a PC. It updates every 2 seconds and its sample rate is adjustable from 5 minutes to 240 minutes. At the 5 minute sample rate, the controller will hold 14 days worth of readings in its memory before needing to be downloaded to a computer.
The anemometer will provide the speed, direction, average and gust. What is nice is the included software is good and then can be converted to an Excel Spreadsheet for analysis.
Obviously, I am an fan of these and I have one. They are wireless and have really great range. Mine is mounted approximately 180 feet away from the controller and is being read through several walls of the house.
http://www.proweatherstation.com/
If you have any questions, let me know.

 

[Michael P. Morris]

If he is really serious about this, you might want to have him take measurements for more than a couple of days, and as close to the hub height of the turbine as possible. For a home-powered unit, it would be best if he could maybe mount it on a lightning rod or something on top of his house. Standard measurement campaigns for commercial wind installations last at least one year, and in most cases 2+.

A lot of information about "small wind" systems is posted here, including info about potential permitting issues, measurement campaigns, and and interconnect requirements.
http://www.awea.org/smallwind/

 

[George Flickinger]

Thank you for the info. I have forwarded it to the gentleman who asked. GF

 

[Darren Addy]

Assuming you are talking "small wind", site surveys (as your viewer wants to do) are mostly worthless IMHO. Most states already have decent wind maps down to 30 meter heights that average the data over far longer period of time than a site survey will be run. Also, as was mentioned, if you don't put the anemometer at the hub height your calculations won't be precise - even if you could replicate the length of a longer test. A lot of people don't understand the importance of putting the wind generator (or the test equipment) in an area as relatively free of turbulence as possible (for example higher than surrounding trees and buildings).

I guarantee that wind power will be cheaper than the local utility - the only question is how long will it take for the savings amount to pay for the equipment outlay (and any needed maintenance). If your State has good net metering laws that will be significantly sooner than later. However, it will take several small wind turbines to meet the total needs of a single home's electrical needs.