Barrier sensor based on plastic optical fiber to determine the wind speed at a wind generator

We have made use of the properties of plastic optical fibers (POFs) to develop a sensor for determining the wind speed in a wind generator. As POFs are easy to handle, flexible, economical, and immune to electromagnetic interference, we have utilized them to design an inexpensive sensor that is not affected by storms, which are one of the major problems in wind generators. Both theoretical and experimental results are presented. Specifically, we study the dynamic characteristics of the sensor by taking into account the light reflections on a mobile surface and by using two different theoretical approaches. The corresponding experimental results corroborate the validity of such approaches.