This handbook was written to serve as a siting guide for individuals wishing to install small wind energy conversion systems (WECS); that is, machines having a rated capacity of less than 100 kilowatts. It incorporates half a century of siting experience gained by WECS owners and manufacturers, as well as recently developed siting techniques. The user needs no technical background in meteorology or engineering to understand and apply the siting principles discussed; he needs only a knowledge of basic arithmetic and the ability to understand simple graphs and tables. By properly using the siting techniques, an owner can select a site that will yield the most power at the least installation cost, the least maintenance cost, and the least risk of damage or accidental injury.

Wind energy’s bestselling textbook- fully revised. This must-have second edition includes up-to-date data, diagrams, illustrations and thorough new material on: the fundamentals of wind turbine aerodynamics; wind turbine testing and modelling; wind turbine design standards; offshore wind energy; special purpose applications, such as energy storage and fuel production. Fifty additional homework problems and a new appendix on data processing make this comprehensive edition perfect for engineering students. This book offers a complete examination of one of the most promising sources of renewable energy and is a great introduction to this cross-disciplinary field for practising engineers. “provides a wealth of information and is an excellent reference book for people interested in the subject of wind energy.” (IEEE Power & Energy Magazine, November/December 2003) “deserves a place in the library of every university and college where renewable energy is taught.” (The International Journal of Electrical Engineering Education, Vol.41, No.2 April 2004) “a very comprehensive and well-organized treatment of the current status of wind power.” (Choice, Vol. 40, No. 4, December 2002)

This handbook surveys the range of methods and fuel types used in generating energy for industry, transportation, and heating and cooling of buildings. Solar, wind, biomass, nuclear, geothermal, ocean and fossil fuels are discussed and compared, and the thermodynamics of energy conversion is explained. Appendices are provided with fully updated data. Thoroughly revised, this second edition surveys the latest advances in energy conversion from a wide variety of currently available energy sources. It describes energy sources such as fossil fuels, biomass (including refuse-derived biomass fuels), nuclear, solar radiation, wind, geothermal, and ocean, then provides the terminology and units used for each energy resource and their equivalence. It includes an overview of the steam power cycles, gas turbines, internal combustion engines, hydraulic turbines, Stirling engines, advanced fossil fuel power systems, and combined-cycle power plants. It outlines the development, current use, and future of nuclear power.

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.