Wind Turbine Data Acquisition and Control

A research wind turbine is connected to the grid and we are able to remotely control and monitor its behaviour. A complete monitoring package was designed and implemented within the research group and an example computer screen is shown below. These projects are sponsored in part by Ontario Centres of Excellence.

Data acquisition:

The above is a LabView program written to monitor all the data being collected at the turbine.

Control:

This is an example of the grid connection and performance of the turbine that is also monitored. The wind turbine is connected to the electrical grid and is monitored and controlled at the University. The turbine is heavily instrumented with data logging of many aspects of the turbine performance. Wind speed, turbine output, blade angle, stall level, yaw, etc... Research is underway on optimum performance, blade design, aeroacoustic measurements, more innovative blade design and ways to increase the performance of the turbine.

The turbine is fully instrumented and all data is logged.