110 Energy Harvesting: Solar, Wind, and Ocean Energy Conversion Systems

Cut-in Nominal Cut-out

wind speed wind speed wind speed

Maximum rotor Nominal power of

efficiency wind turbine
1.0
Power (p.u.)

0.5

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Speed (m/s)

FIGURE 2.7 Power curve characteristics.

design) and to generate output power. Usually it is 3 m/s for smaller turbines and 5–6 m/s
for bigger ones.
The “cut-out” wind speed represents the speed point where the turbine should stop
rotating due to the potential damage that can be done if the wind speed increases more
than that.
The power curve can be divided into a few regions. These regions are presented in
Figure 2.7 and are separated by cut-in, nominal, and cut-out speeds. Once the rotor of
the turbine starts spinning, it can be assumed that the amount of produced output power
is linearly increasing with the speed.
After the wind speed reaches nominal speed (for which the turbine is designed), the out-
put power remains relatively constant; however, an increase in output power above the
nominal value might damage the system. Therefore, despite increasing the wind speed, the
speed of the turbine should be controlled to be constant. This is achievable using several
controlling techniques, such as pitch angle control or controlling the load of the turbine.
After the wind reaches the cut-out speed, in order to protect the system from any kind of
damage, the turbine should be stopped by setting the pitch angle such that it does not face
the upcoming wind. Usually, at very high speeds, the stability of the blades and cables is
weak; thus the system should immediately stop.

2.4.2.3 Power Coefficient

The power coefficient is the ratio of the electrical output power of the wind turbine to the
total (potential) wind power, which depends on the wind speed. The power coefficient
curve of a wind turbine is shown in Figure 2.8. It can be observed from Figures 2.8 and 2.9
that both curves have a maximum for the same wind speeds. Hence, the power coefficient
curve always has a maximum point for maximum possible turbine power, which is usually
for the most frequent wind speeds.
The power that can be captured from the wind with πR2 effective area of the blades is
given by

1
Ptotal = ρcp R2 πvb3 . (2.14)
2

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