Wind Speed

Finding the right spot for your turbine will help in increasing its yield.

As the energy comes from the wind, the wind speed at your location is the most important factor to start with. Wind energy is not a linear function of the speed of the wind. For example, an increase in wind speed from 5 m/s to 6 m/s results in an increase in the yield of a turbine of not 20% but actually of 45%! The higher the wind speed in your area, the more you will profit.

The best way to determine the wind speed at your location would be to measure it. But this is a long and expensive process, and there are alternatives that can be found on the internet. Please note the height above ground level at which the wind speed is specified. In our calculations we use the wind speed at 10 m. If you specify a longer pole, the calculation model will adjust automatically.

This table can be used to convert wind speeds at different heights:

		Height
	10m	25m	50m
Wind Speed [m/s]	4	4.8	5.5
	5	6.0	6.9
	6	7.2	8.3
	7	8.4	9.7

Not only the average wind speed at a certain location determines the energy output. Also the roughness of the terrain. As you can imagine, a wind turbine that is surrounded by trees will have less output than one standing in an open field. There are different ‘roughness’ scales that can assist for determining the actual wind speed.