Wireless Position Sensor to Determine the Wind Turbine Blade Tip Clearance for Higher Efficiency and New Wind Turbines

Inhalt:
In this paper, a wireless sensor system is presented that can determine its own position with high accuracy. With this sensor, e.g., placed near the rotor blade tips and in the tower of the wind turbine, operational safety of the turbine can be enhanced. By processing and subsequent use of this sensor data, existing wind turbines can be operated closer to their limits, e.g., to increase power output. Furthermore, for new wind turbine designs, longer and more slender rotor blades can be installed in order to make regions with low wind speed much more economic for harvesting wind energy.