14 DAY TRIAL // Working together with experts at leading wind turbine manufacturer Vestas, scientists at the Sandia National Laboratories’ Scaled Wind Farm Technology facility (SWIFT) decided to extend the installation by adding three experimental wind turbines.
The two SNL V27 turbines will be joined by a third experimental V27 turbine, produced by Vestas. This small extension to SWIFT is being put together in order to study turbine-to-turbine interactions, and how they influence the efficiency of energy generation.
Innovative rotor technologies will represent another point of interest for the study, alongside in-depth research into aero-acoustics and structural health monitoring. For the third objective, scientists at both organizations will have to develop embeddable sensor networks for the three turbines.
Data collected during this experiment will enable Vestas to bring its newest turbine designs to the market a lot faster than otherwise possible. The increased efficiency will translate into more savings, especially in terms of energy and maintenance costs.