Economic Design of Wind Electric Systems

Long term wind records are used to select the rated wind speed for wind electric generators. The wind is characterized by a Weibull dencity function. Detailed results are presented for western Kansas. Graphs are presented which can be used to design a wind system for maximum specific output for a specified load factor at a given site. It is shown that a wind turbine rated at a wind speed of 9 m/s has a specific output within 80% of the maximum for a wide range of wind conditions.