Advanced Data-Acquisition System for Wind Energy Projects

NREL has subcontracted with Zond Systems, Inc. to develop an advanced data-acquisition system (ADAS) for wind energy projects. The ADAS can be used to simplify the process of making accurate measurements and analyzing data from wind turbines and meteorological towers. The system utilizes state-of-the-art electronics and telemetry to provide distributed multi-source, multi-channel data acquisition. Local stand-alone microprocessor-based data acquisition modules (DAMs) can be located near sources of measurement. These allow analog data values to be digitized close to the measurement source, thus eliminating the need for long data runs and slip rings. Signals from digital sensors and transducers can also be directly input to the local DAMs. A PC-based ground station is used to coordinatedata transmission to and from all remote DAMs, display real-time values, archive data sets, and process and analyze results. The system is capable of acquiring synchronized time-series data from sensors and transducers under a variety of test configurations in an operational wind-park environment. Data acquisition needs of the wind industry differ significantly from those of most othertechnologies. Most conventional system designs do not handle data coming from multiple distributed sources, nor do they provide telemetry or the ability to mesh multiple incoming digital data streams. This paper describes the capabilities of the ADAS, and how its design and cost objectives are geared to meet anticipated US wind industry needs.