Wind Energy Handbook

As environmental concerns have focused attention on the generation of electricity from clean and renewable sources wind energy has become the world's fastest growing energy source. The Wind Energy Handbook draws on the authors' collective industrial and academic experience to highlight the interdisciplinary nature of wind energy research and provide a comprehensive treatment of wind energy for electricity generation. Features include: – An authoritative overview of wind turbine technology and wind farm design and development – In-depth examination of the aerodynamics and performance of land-based horizontal axis wind turbines – A survey of alternative machine architectures and an introduction to the design of the key components – Description of the wind resource in terms of wind speed frequency distribution and the structure of turbulence – Coverage of site wind speed prediction techniques – Discussions of wind farm siting constraints and the assessment of environmental impact – The integration of wind farms into the electrical power system, including power quality and system stability – Functions of wind turbine controllers and design and analysis techniques With coverage ranging from practical concerns about component design to the economic importance of sustainable power sources, the Wind Energy Handbook will be an asset to engineers, turbine designers, wind energy consultants and graduate engineering students.