Wind Power CD [RE-wrenches]

Joel Davidson joeldavidson at earthlink.net
Sat Feb 22 14:00:54 PST 2003


Wind Energy and Wind Turbines CD
by Vaughn Nelson
$20 postage included
from Alternative Energy Institute
West Texas A&M University
Box 60248, WTAMU
Canyon, TX 79016-0001

I think the CD is worth the money. Here's Paul Gipe's review.

----
Disclosure: Paul Gipe taught at AEI under Vaughn Nelson in 1979 and
AEI's
Ken Starcher has provided many hours of technical assistance to Gipe in
preparation of his next book.
----

"Wind Energy and Wind Turbines" is a CD-ROM produced by the
Alternative Energy Institute at West Texas A&M University in 2001. The
CD-ROM is part of an introductory college-level course offered by the
university.

The CD-ROM was written by the institute's director, Vaughn Nelson, a
distinguished professor of physics at what was formerly called West
Texas
State University, and by the institute's assistant director, Ken
Starcher, a
veritable font of information on the technology.

AEI's CD-ROM grew out of a course on wind energy that Nelson has taught
for more than two decades. And the CD-ROM accurately conveys Nelson's
trademark spare, straight-talking style.

The materials are primarily US-centric, though there are numerous
examples of Nelson's work in China, South America and Mexico.
Interestingly, the focus on the United States allows inclusion of
historical
information that many in today's wind industry may not know. For
example,
few today know or remember that the U.S. Department of Energy spent
$350 million from 1973 through 1990 on the development of large wind
turbines--fully half of all research funds for wind energy in the United

States--and that the program was "largely a failure".

The CD-ROM also reflects Nelson's and AEI's long association with small
wind turbines and wind pumping. Unlike other reference works that often
ignore or gloss over these machines, AEI's CD-ROM includes them, right
alongside the more prominent commercial-scale turbines. To Nelson,
commercial wind turbines, farm windmills, and small wind turbines are
all
wind machines and all worthy of note.

Nelson has a strong background in wind resource assessment,
wind-assisted irrigation, and small turbine testing. It is this breadth
of
experience that makes AEI's CD-ROM so useful.

I found the CD-ROM extremely handy while updating one of my books. The
CD-ROM included some useful details on wind resource characteristics
that
were not readily apparent in several reference books on the subject.
Possibly Nelson's many years mapping the Texas wind resource or years
as a physics lecturer enabled him to present the material in a slightly
different manner than others, so that the subtle detail I sought stood
out. I felt
like crying "Eureka! That explains it," when I found what I was looking
for
after a long search through my library.

Potential users should not let the homespun style of the CD-ROM deter
them. AEI's CD-ROM is not whiz-bang or highly polished like slick
products
from wind turbine manufacturers or their trade associations, but what it
lacks
in glitz, it makes up for in substance.

There are valuable nuggets of hard-to-find information on the CD-ROM. In

the chapter on economics, there are two examples of wind farm lease
payments. Wind developers and land speculators guard this data as though

it were gold at Fort Knox--proprietary, private, confidential and top
secret.
But there it is in AEI's CD-ROM, the lease terms for two wind projects
and
the state of Texas: Indian Mesa I, and Woodward Mountain. For the Indian

Mesa project of 51 Vestas V47s, the royalty paid to the state was 4%
during
the first ten years, 6% during the second decade, and 8% in the third
decade. Every landowner with wind prospectors knocking at the door
should
have a copy of this CD-ROM in their hand.

AEI's CD-ROM also contains more than 100 photographs and figures. Many
of the photographs are of rare, experimental, or no longer manufactured
wind turbines that in themselves provide a modern history of the
technology's development.

There is a fascinating chapter entitled "Innovative Turbines," in which
the
AEI crew takes a visual tour to some of the more outlandish wind turbine

designs they've come across. Some of these you just have to see to
believe.

Taking advantage of the CD-ROM's multimedia capabilities, there are
three
video clips: 1.3 MW Bonus turbines near McCamey, in southwest Texas;
raising of a 1 MW Mitsubishi turbine on the Llano Estacado project near
White Deer, in the Texas panhandle; and an overview of the same project.

The CD-ROM alone can be purchased for $15. [plus $5 postage] Or the
CD-ROM can be
purchased as part of an online class without academic credit for $400.
The
class can also be taken for continuing education credits equivalent to a

three-hour college-level class at a cost of $500. To sign up for the
online
course, send a message to aeimail at mail.wtamu.edu or telephone +1 806
651 2295. Your username and password will be issued after the course fee

has been paid.

AEI's Wind Course CD-ROM: "Wind Energy and Wind Turbines," by
Vaughn Nelson and the AEI staff, is available for $15 [plus $5 postage]
from the Alternative
Energy Institute, West Texas A&M University, Box 60248, Canyon, Texas
79016; phone: 806 651 2295; fax: 806 651 2733;
aeimail at mail.wtamu.edu; www.windenergy.org.

AEI's Wind Course CD-ROM Contents
1. Introduction
1.1 Dutch Windmill
1.2 Farm Windmill
1.3 Wind Chargers
1.4 Generation of Electricity for Utilities
References
2. Energy
2.1 Philosophy
2.1.1 Advantages/Disadvantages of Renewable Energy
2.1.2 Economics
2.2 Definition of Energy and Power
2.3 Fundamentals Concerning Energy
2.4 Energy Dilemma in Light of Laws of Thermodynamics
2.4.1 Conservation
2.4.2 Efficiency
2.5 Exponential Growth
2.6 Use of Fossil Fuels
2.7 Nuclear
2.8 Mathematics of Exponential Growth
2.9 Lifetime of a Finite Resource
2.10 Summary
References
Problems
3. Wind Characteristics
3.1 Global Circulation
3.2 Extractable Limits of Wind Power
3.3 Power in the Wind
3.4 Change in Windspeed with Height
3.5 Wind Direction
3.6 Wind Power Potential
3.7 Wind Maps
3.8 Variations in Power
3.9 Windspeed Histograms
3.10 Duration Curve
3.11 Windspeed Distributions
3.12 General Comments
References
Problems
4. Instrumentation and Measurement
4.1 Instrumentation
4.2 Characteristics of Instruments
4.3 Measurements
4.4 Vegetation Indicators
4.5 Data Loggers
References
Problems
5. Wind Turbines
5.1 Drag Device
5.2 Lift Device
5.3 Orientation of Rotor Axis
5.4 Description of System
5.5 Aerodynamics
5.6 Control
5.7 Energy Production
5.8 Calculated Annual Energy
5.9 Innovative Wind Systems
5.10 Applications
5.11 Storage
References
6. Design of Wind Turbines
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Aerodynamics
6.3 Mathematical Terms
6.4 Analysis of Extractable Power
6.5 Drag Device
6.6 Lift Device
6.6.1 Maximum Theoretical Power
6.6.2 Rotation
6.7 Aerodynamic Performance Prediction
6.8 Measured Power and Power Coefficient
References
Problems
7. Electrical Aspects
7.1 Fundamentals
7.1.1 Faraday's Law of Electromagnetic Induction
7.1.2 Phase Angle and Power Factor
7.2 Generators
7.3 Induction Generators
7.4 Examples
References
Problems
8. System Performance
8.1 Performance
8.2 Measures of Performance
8.3 Performance Reports
8.3.1 California
8.3.2 Windstats
8.4 Performance of Enertech 44
8.5 Performance of Bergey Excel
8.6 Water Pumping
8.6.1 Farm Windmill
8.6.2 Electric to Electric System
8.7 Hybrid
8.7.1 Village Systems
8.7.2 Wind Diesel
8.8 Comments
References
Problems
9. Siting
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Long Term Reference Stations
9.3 Site Evaluation For Wind Farms
9.4 Wake and Array Losses
9.5 Digital Maps
9.6 Geographic Information Systems
9.7 Wind Resource Screening
9.8 Wind Power Production
9.8.1 Wind Power for Texas Panhandle
9.8.2 Wind Power for Texas
9.9 Numerical Models
9.10 Micrositing
9.11 Summary
References
Geographic Information Systems
Problems
10. Wind Industry
10.1 Introduction
10.2 New Wind Industry
10.2.1 Wind Industry  1970 - 1980
10.2.2 Wind Industry  1980 - 1990
10.2.3 Wind Industry  1990 - 2000
10.2.4 Wind Industry  2000 - 2010
10.2.5  Comments
10.3 Large Wind Turbines
10.4 Small Wind Turbines
References
Problems
11. Institutional Issues
11.1 Introduction
11.2 Avoided Costs
11.3 Utility Concerns
11.3.1 Safety
11.3.2 Quality Of Power
11.3.3 Connection To The Utility
11.4 Regulations On Installation And Operation
11.5 Environmental
11.6 Politics
11.7 Incentives
11.7.1 United States
11.7.2 Other Countries
References
Problems
12. Economics
12.1 Introduction
12.2 Factors Affecting Economics
12.3 General Comments
12.4 Economic Analysis
12.4.1  Simple Payback
12.4.2  Cost of Energy
12.4.3 Value of Energy
12.5 Life Cycle Costs
12.6 Present Worth and Levelized Costs
12.7 Externalities
12.8 Wind Project Development
12.8.1 Land Owner Considerations
12.8.2 COE Estimation for a Wind Farm
12.9 Summary
References
Problems
USDA Tour
Innovative Turbines
                              -30-
Paul Gipe
208 S. Green St., #5; Tehachapi CA 93561-1741 USA; +661 822 9150; fax:
+661
822 8452; pgipe at igc.org. Wind Power for Home & Business, Wind Energy
Comes
of Age, Wind Energy Basics, Energía Eólica Práctica, Elettricità dal
vento, and
Wind Power in View: Energy Landscapes in a Crowded World.
Wind Energy: http://www.chelseagreen.com/Wind/PaulGipe.htm.
Electricity Feed Laws:
http://invisibleuniverse.com/Juice/Wind/feedlaw.htm.

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