Friday 17 June 2011

Wind Turbine Information Pack

Since having the wind turbine installed on our farm as part of our remote power supply scheme we've been disappointed with its output and general performance. In the past few days we have had ideal conditions to see what it could do; with very strong and steady winds from the south to southeast. The data from our inverter shows that the peak power output from the turbine was consistent at various points in time with the maximum rating of the turbine (from the product manual) ... which is pleasing.
This morning I came across this Wind Turbine Information Pack on the Central West Solar website. What is particularly interesting and relevant for us is the diagram on Page 2 referring to 'Flagging' or vegetation deformation as a consequence of consistently strong winds. In our case NONE of the trees or vegetation here on Ochre Arch are in any way deformed due to the impact of wind. So the 'bottom line' for us is that where we live is simply not suitable to installing wind turbines. Such is life, and to be honest we are not sure that we'd actually want to live in a location that had ideal wind turbine conditions!