Weather station (home)

[Shox Dr]

Moving on from the thread I started about fitting some sort of eco power be it Solar Voltaic Panels or a Small Wind turbine. I have decided I need to collect some data on the average wind speed for my House; currently the only data available is from web sites and I don't believe it to be correct. <4kmh

I live in Goole East Yorks, it's as flat as a fart around here, with a big demand for large scale wind turbine complexes applying for planning. So the average wind speed most be high, and having lived in the area for the last 44yrs I can agree. It is sunny here, but it get more wind

So I been looking at weather stations that would collect wind speed data to a PC so I can see if the average wind speed is sufficient to power a small (<2kw) wind turbine. I might look into fitting SV panels at a later date.

Has anyone any experience of these lost cost (£100ish) systems. What do I need to look out for pro's con's

cheers guys.

 

[Rudi McAnichal]

There is a database of wind speeds for each 1km x 1km grid square throughout UK. These are CALCULATED AVERAGES, based on measurements from a fairly small number of met stations and modified to account for topography. There can be a lot of variation within a grid square and wind whistling down a passageway between buildings might regularly blow your hat off, even if the database says you are in a low wind speed area.

Wind speeds in East Yorks are certainly not very high, but it’s not all bad news. I suspect the speed you were quoted should actually have been 4m/s (=14.4 km/h).

For grid square SE7624 (around the middle of Goole) the average wind speed at 10m above ground level is given as 5.1m/s. Wind speed is usually lower near the ground, and a common rule of thumb is that speed will be roughly proportional to (height)^(1/7), so an average speed of 5.1m/s at 10m height would come down to about 4.8m/s at a height of 6.5m. These heights apply to open land, without surrounding trees or buildings.

You would need to collect data for several months in order to get meaningful information, and the anemometer would have to be at a height similar to that of the proposed turbine. You would need to check with local authority planning officials about putting up a tall anemometer mast. Power companies spend a lot of money collecting data for large scale wind farms, but I think you may find that most people contemplating a 2kW turbine would just consult the database.

I did calculations 12 years ago and found that a 2.2kW Proven turbine (generally reckoned one of the best in its size range) on a 6.5m mast with an average wind speed of 4.8m/s would yield just over 3900kWh/year. It is about 10 years since I was last involved in this topic, and there may have been some improvement in turbine efficiency in recent years, but I doubt whether the figures will have changed a great deal.

 

[cutter]

Hi I suggest you take a look at http://Sandaysoft.com/forum for information.
I have a WH1090 wireless weatherstation I bought from signatrol-ltd for £79.99.
Alan
PS do not buy the earlier version WH1080 the Wh1090 is an improved model