You can view or specify the properties of the wind turbines in the Wind Turbines Library under the Components Library. You can create a new wind turbine from scratch or by copying an existing one. After making a copy of a wind turbine, change the properties as required and give the new wind turbine a unique name to distinguish it from the others. HOMER adds this new wind turbine to your component library when you click OK. The new wind turbine is then included in the list of available wind turbine types on the Wind Turbine page.
Variable |
Description |
Name |
A unique name used to identify this type of wind turbine. |
Abbreviation |
A short, distinctive name to identify this wind turbine on the schematic and in the results. There is no specific limit on the abbreviation length, but long abbreviated names do not fit well on the schematic or results. |
Manufacturer |
An optional field used to specify the manufacturer of the wind turbine. |
Website |
An optional field to hold the website of the manufacturer. |
Url |
The actual web address of the link defined in the "Website" input. |
Weight |
Used if "Weight minimization" mode is selected. |
Footprint |
An optional field for reference. |
Notes |
An optional field used to specify manufacturer contact information, prices, or anything noteworthy. |
Electrical Bus |
The type of electricity produced by the wind turbine, either direct current (DC) or alternating current (AC). |
Rated power |
The nominal power output (nameplate capacity) of the turbine. For reference only. |
The power curve is the most important property of the wind turbine. It describes the amount of power the turbine produces for a given wind speed at hub height.
Enter as many points on the power curve as you have available. HOMER uses linear interpolation to calculate the output of the wind turbine at intervening points. At wind speeds outside the range defined in the power curve, the turbine output is zero. HOMER assumes that the turbine shuts down for wind speeds slower than the minimum or faster than the maximum.
The Losses tab allows you to derate the turbine performance with several different factors. The "Overall loss factor" is calculated multiplicatively as in the following equation:
In this equation, each loss percentage is an Li , from L1 (availability losses) to L7 (other losses). The turbine power output is then scaled down by the resulting factor.
In the Maintenance tab, check the "Consider maintenance schedule" box to include a maintenance schedule with the wind turbine model. You can enter a procedure in a row of the maintenance table to represent a scheduled maintenance event. For more instructions and important details, see the Maintenance subtopic of the Wind Turbine Menu in the Design View.