Towards finding an optimum wind turbine height for residential and business use

Energy production from naturally replenished resources such as solar and wind has been predicted to meet the requirement of increasing energy demands in the world; thereby decreasing the need for fossil fuels. Wind energy has long-term potential of 40 times the current worldwide electricity needs. Apart from large wind generation farms, there is also a significant growth in small and medium wind turbine installations for personal use in businesses and wind turbine height is an important factor in the design of wind turbines, especially at a chosen site as the speed of wind generally increases at a higher level on the surface of the earth. This project is designed to study the wind characteristics and wind power generation of a selected wind turbine model-Proven 6 in an industrial area in Wellington, New Zealand. Wind data at the selected site was collected and analyzed. This paper discusses the power potential and economic feasibility in relation to optimum height of a small size wind turbine for industrial and residential application.