Synopses & Reviews
Small wind turbines provide an increasingly popular way for individual businesses, farms, and homes to generate their own electricity, potentially cutting their energy bills drastically, while generating power in an environmentally sound manner.
The challenges facing the engineers who are tasked with planning and developing these small wind systems are multifaceted, from choosing the best site and accurately estimating likely power output, to obtaining proper permitting and troubleshooting operational inefficiencies. Simply utilizing the processes followed in the creation of large-scale wind farms will lead to certain failure; optimization of project development for small wind applications is a necessity. In all phases of the process, there are key concerns to undertake and guidelines to follow, that if properly taken into account, can literally save project planners and managers tens of thousands of dollars and untold months of potential development delays.
This book provides a cohesive guide to achieving sucessful small wind installations. It is a comprehensive information resource from one of the world’s most experienced small wind professionals, covering all the key issues for small wind system development, from site and machine selection to international standards compliance.
- Establishes technical guidelines for the growing number of engineers called upon to plan and develop small wind projects who do not yet have real-world experience.
- Identifies and explains the critical issues for small wind installations, including siting, turbine choice, applications & permitting, economics, load management, grid integration, etc.
- Case studies from real projects demonstrate key considerations for success, complete with template spreadsheets and measurements needed to support project planning efforts
Synopsis
Small wind turbines utilize wind energy to produce power with rated capacities of 100 kilowatts or less. With this increasingly popular technology, individual businesses, farms, and homes can generate their own electricity and cut their energy bills, while generating power in an environmentally sound manner. The challenges facing the engineers who are tasked with planning and developing these small wind systems are multifaceted, from choosing the best site and accurately estimating power output, to obtaining proper permitting and troubleshooting operational inefficiencies. Optimization of project development for small wind applications is a necessity. Small Wind: Planning and Building Successful Installations provides a cohesive guide to achieving successful small wind installations from an informed expert. It is a comprehensive information resource from one of the world's most experienced small wind professionals, covering all the key issues for small wind system development, from site and machine selection to international standards compliance.
- Establishes technical guidelines for the growing number of engineers called upon to plan small wind projects
- Identifies and explains the critical issues for small wind installations, including siting, turbine choice, applications and permitting, economics, load management, and grid integration
- Examples from real projects demonstrate key considerations for success, complete with template spreadsheets and measurements needed to support project planning efforts
- Includes reports on the most commonly used turbines and designs and synthesizes and clarifies relevant wind industry documentation, saving readers endless hours of research
About the Author
Nolan Clark is a wind power pioneer who began working in the area of wind energy for rural applications in the mid '70s. He was Laboratory Director at the USDA Conservation and Production Research Laboratory in Bushland, Texas, acting as Program Leader for the DOE & USDA interagency wind research program from 1980-2009. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the DOE’s Wind Energy Pioneer Award, AWEA’s Outstanding Contributions Award, and the Wind Powering America Program’s 2009 Small Wind Advocate Award in recognition of leadership, dedication, and numerous contributions to the advancement of small wind turbine applications. Dr. Clark has published numerous book chapters, magazine and journal articles, and has acted as Program Chair for AWEA’s Windpower, the largest wind energy conference in North America. He is a fellow of the ASABE, (American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers), and a member of AWEA, ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) and SWCS (Soil and Water Conservation Society). He has served on many DOE technical review panels, examining wind power related research grant proposals, and has worked directly with over 100 wind energy producers to implement small wind installations in schools, farms and businesses throughout the American South and Midwest.In his current position on AWEA’s Small Wind Certification Committee, Dr. Clark acts as one of a three review board commissioners, conducting technical evaluations of projects under consideration for AWEAs Small Wind Certification. He is one of three American representatives who wrote the current AWEA standards for small wind machines, which are now being adopted internationally.
Certifying Commissioner, American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), Amarillo, Texas, USA
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Small Wind- When, Why, What, Where, How?
Chapter 2 Site Evaluation
Chapter 3 Needs Evaluation
Chapter 4 Machine Selection
Chapter 5 Economic Considerations
Chapter 6 Permitting
Chapter 7 Installation
Chapter 8 Grid Integration
Chapter 9 Transmission
Chapter 10 Operational Troubleshooting
Chapter 11 Managing Community Expectations (NIMBY issues)
Chapter 12 Community Wind vs. Small Wind
Chapter 13 Future Directions