Subject: max wind speed for turbines

From: mmalcolm Crawford <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 3 Apr 1995 19:33:11 GMT

Are there any turbines yet developed which will cope (i.e. generate
electricity) in wind speeds of, say, 70-100 mph?  A colleague from
California lives in an area where when they get wind, they really get
wind...

Email responses appreciated, as would be pointers to information sources
(though I've browsed many of the relevant WWW sites).

Have fun,

mmalc.

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From: Paul Gipe <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 5 Apr 1995 14:50:21 GMT

mmalcolm Crawford writes

>California lives in an area where when they get wind, they really get

Most wind turbines stop operating in winds above 30 m/s (65 mph). The
Carter wind turbine is the only one that I know of that does not have a
cutout wind speed. However, the Carter turbine is notoriously unreliable
and this may be one reason. Some small wind turbines use furling to control
rotor speed and thrust. Though the rotor continues to spin in high winds
the rotor is nearly parallel with the wind stream and power falls
dramatically, which is the intent. These turbines continue to operate, but
produce little power in high winds. There is little to be gained by
operating wind turbines in winds above 35 m/s.

Paul Gipe
Paul Gipe & Assoc.; 208 S. Green St., #5; Tehachapi, CA 93561;
ph: +805 822 9150; fax: +805 822 8452; [email-masked]/[email-masked]

Author of "Wind Power for Home & Business" (Post Mills VT: Chelsea Green
Publishing, June, 1993), and "Wind Energy Comes of Age" (New York: John
Wiley & Sons, March, 1995).

Re: max wind speed for turbines