Variations and relations of meteorological parameters between upwind and downwind small-scale wind turbine rotor area

Abstract

Renewable energy sources are becoming increasingly important due to climate change and the energy crisis. Wind energy projects and applications in particular have been growing recently. Meteorological parameters such as wind speed, ambient temperature, relative humidity, and air pressure directly affect wind turbine electricity generation. Understanding the relationships among these parameters is necessary to determine wind energy potential and to predict electricity generation. The current work is based on data obtained from a 1.5 kW wind turbine constructed in Istanbul Technical University's meteorological park in Turkey. A one minute time interval was used in the data analysis. In this study, upwind/downwind meteorological variables of the wind turbine rotor area were investigated and analyzed in detail. It was observed that the turbine used in this study performs better under low wind speed conditions than under high wind speed conditions. The difference in relative humidity between the upwind and downwind rotor area reached 4%. It is also important to note that, depending on wind speed, temperature differences between the upwind and downwind rotor area reached 5%. Equations for upwind/downwind variables were obtained for each meteorological parameter.