Wind Speed

pdmac

is there any way to measure the wind speed in a place near you that you dont read off a map..

Carlow52

what have you in mind for the data pls?
the answer depends on the requirement: eg kit flying versus wind turbine, versus exposure for building products/methods

bladespin

Anemometer but for a true reflection it would need to be left up for a few years.

BryanF

bladespin wrote: »

but for a true reflection it would need to be left up for a few years.

can someone recommend an Anemometer that would be placed on a pole to test domestic wind turbine suitability. are they expensive? is this adequate...

Carlow52

BryanF wrote: »

can someone recommend an Anemometer that would be placed on a pole to test domestic wind turbine suitability. are they expensive? is this adequate...

I dont think so, some of the lads on here have their own weather station rigs and I think the item u link to is for those types of setups

Getting them at the right height is the usual problem and then collecting or and storing data at a remote site.

The other problem these days is theft of anything from remote sites

bladespin

BryanF wrote: »

can someone recommend an Anemometer that would be placed on a pole to test domestic wind turbine suitability. are they expensive? is this adequate...

That would be fine but, as mentioned, it would need to be mounted at approximately the same height as the turbine would stand, there are plenty of cheap data- loggers out there that can store the information from the unit to the likes of SD chips or USB sticks, just make sure they're stored in a fairly waterproof box that's out of the reach of playful animals and others.

abyss

Now is a almost one year since I start logging weather data at my location. My unit* register wind speed, direction, pressure, temperature and humidity. Measurement are registered every 10 minutes and transmitted to my computer every few days (when I need) - so I have full full wind history.

* It's popular, wireless WH1081 weather station - you can found specification and software in Internet. Bought in Maplin, but they are available in many places with differnet names. WH1081 and WH1080 are almost same - at the second one is radio controlled clock fitted. If anyone have any additional questions PM me.

just do it

abyss wrote: »

Now is a almost one year since I start logging weather data at my location. My unit* register wind speed, direction, pressure, temperature and humidity. Measurement are registered every 10 minutes and transmitted to my computer every few days (when I need) - so I have full full wind history.

* It's popular, wireless WH1081 weather station - you can found specification and software in Internet. Bought in Maplin, but they are available in many places with differnet names. WH1081 and WH1080 are almost same - at the second one is radio controlled clock fitted. If anyone have any additional questions PM me.

Pray tell, what was your average wind speed? And how much electricity could you have produced from a turbine size of your choice?

abyss

Not good enough to use - in shortest words.
Average from 2011-02-10 to 2011-9-15 was 4.57km/h (1.27m/s), max - 42.8km/h (11.89m/s). Very poor. If you browse through Wind Turbine Generator charts (for example 1kW - http://www.speakerfactory.net/PowerCurve10feet1Lcropped.jpg ) you can recon with speed 4.57km/h wind turbine will be not working - as wind is too slow. No energy production at all.

I'm living in suburb-type area and anemometer was located just top of the roof:

There are some high trees around (see picture - back of the house is one of them) and winds from the Ocean is blocked by hill as well.
Only way to got energy is good place - as for example tower top of the hill beside west coast.

BTW. Anyone from LK want to chat about renewable energy? ---> PM please

quentingargan

There is something that many people miss also about relying on anemometers. That is that anemometers will capture wind regardless of its turbulence, non-horizontal wind etc., all of which have little effect on the RPM of an anemometer, but decimate the output of a wind turbine.

Paul Gipe in his book suggest that if you want to assess wind speed, the most accurate representation would be to put up a small turbine. That might be going a bit far for most, but you need to measure the wind speed and then discount for obstacles that would cause turbulence or non-horizontal winds.

nogoodnamesleft

Well the cheapest way to gather wind data is by interpreting weather data. Most commercial wind farm sites use wind prediction software in order to first identify potential sites.

Next stage is to use anemometers over at least a year at hub height of the planned wind turbine. Two reasons for this is 1) wind speed is variable proportional to height and 2) the density of wind changes proportional to height.

As quentingargan stated in his post you havent factored in turbulence into you calculation either. There is a grading scheme which takes into account terrain types, vegetation etc. Urban areas are among the worst for turbulence.

The IET have some decent books regards the engineering behind wind turbine technology.

abyss

nogoodnamesleft wrote: »

Well the cheapest way to gather wind data is by interpreting weather data. Most commercial wind farm sites use wind prediction software in order to first identify potential sites.

Few months ago, near my hom elocation, less than half an mile - appear weather station based on same model as mine WH 1080/1081. I notice BIG difference in measurement - up to 2 times! (my buildings are slightly "shadowed" from wind by big trees - other one is on almost open field). So use particular place and measurement equipement to do tests...