The Development of National and International Standards for Distributed Wind

From space heaters to space rockets, standards have been developed by global experts to define the technical design requirements and testing procedures that will ensure the safe and reliable operation of products. Distributed wind turbines are no exception. National and international standards for wind turbines used in distributed applications establish the framework for conformity assessment, or certification, where a third party attests that turbine systems and components meet the established criteria in industry standards. This certification provides consumer protection, helps prevent unethical marketing and false claims, allows manufacturers to demonstrate that their turbine systems comply with performance and quality standards, and provides funding agencies and utilities greater confidence that wind turbines installed with public incentive funds have been thoroughly evaluated and tested for safety, function, performance and durability. Designing an electromechanical device that autonomously interacts with wind and weather and converting the kinetic energy of the wind into rotational energy then into a usable flow of electricity is a challenging engineering task. The expert knowledge collected in these standards for distributed wind turbines, including inflow conditions that the turbine will experience; drag coefficients for turbine components; methods for calculating fatigue loads; stress calculations for the turbine components in the load path; standardised test procedures; electrical considerations; environmental effects on materials; and data processing guidance, form a complete package of engineering resources. Without this assembled, wind turbine-specific information, designers would be forced to scour books and publications on fluid dynamics, aerodynamics and mechanical engineering to find the tools needed to design a reliable, efficient wind turbine. The clear requirements set forth in the standards provide a path for third-party certification bodies to perform conformity assessment, attesting that the wind turbine design and testing complies with the requirements in the standards. Ultimately, the impact of standards can be seen in reduced uncertainty for everyone involved. Manufacturers know what to do and people that purchase, finance and insure turbines understand how they were designed and how they perform.