Edinburgh Napier University

  This thesis investigates the potential of using wind turbine to offset electricity
demand for dwellings or public building. This work involves onshore small and
large wind turbine implementation considering the suitability of the location to
machine size, starting with wind resource assessment of a candidate site
depending on reliable wind data. The present research can be divided into three
main parts: modelling and monitoring of small wind turbine performance in built
environment using detailed data which was measured on site, measuring longterm
hourly data for the design of wind energy systems, and then comparing
that annual energy output against four-second and minute by minute data. The
third 'part presents a novel statistical tool developed to evaluate relative
performance and overall accuracy of wind speed frequency distribution
functions.
An exploration of the potential for using hourly- as opposed to minute-by-minute
data for the utilization of large wind turbines was undertaken as the former set is
much more widely available for a larger number of locations within the
developing world. It was found that the difference between the annual energy
outputs from the latter two data sets was in close agreement with only small
differences. The results thus obtained can have significant effect. on the capital
cost related to purchase of data, since minute by minute data may be up to 60
times more expensive than hourly data.
Actual power curve was experimentally obtained for Zephyr Dolphin micro wind
turbine, which was then compared to manufacturer's reported performance; this
was done by using four-second data for two complete years. Significant
differences were found between the two curves. On-site measured performance
of mentioned wind turbine was found to be similar for other reported urban
locations. In each case the measured output was only a sixth of the acclaimed
output of 2 MWh/annum.Urban wind energy potential for Merchiston site in
Edinburgh was investigated. The results are presented in the form of average
wind speed, wind roses, and density distribution functions. The effect of
sampling interval on wind energy production was also analysed. Finally local
spatial variations of wind speed were also studied for the City of Edinburgh.