Device Determines How Well Wind Turbines Operate

DOE/Sandia National Laboratories Press Release, 26 Jul 2006 In West Texas, New Mexico, and other places around the world, wind turbines are used to generate electricity. But how can engineers determine their efficiency and health? Sandia's Wind Energy Technology Department has developed a device, the Accurate Time Linked data Acquisition System, which answers that question and can provide all of the information necessary to understand how well a machine is performing. Housed in an environmentally protected aluminum box, ATLAS II is capable of sampling a large number of signals at once to characterize the inflow, the operational state, and the structural response of a wind turbine. Read more