International Conference on Sustainable Energy Technologies, İstanbul, Turkey, 4 - 07 September 2011, pp.1-6
The importance of renewable energy sources has increased rapidly due to run out of fossil fuels and environmental effects of conventional energy production systems. As one of the renewable energy sources, wind energy has considered to be a leading alternative energy source by reason of vast energy potential of wind. Due to random characteristics of wind speed, electric generation reliability of wind energy system is affected considerably both in stand-alone and grid connected configurations. The disadvantage could be minimized by making use of the additional wind energy potential. For this purpose, there are three basic methods i.e. increasing the hub height, rotor diameter and generator rated power, which can be utilized. In this study, reliability indices are calculated based on the measured field wind and load data for Bandırma, Turkey. As a result, the effects of hub heights for different types of wind turbines on reliability are examined. Eventually, the most appropriate options for the Bandırma region are presented.