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Somerville, MA, December 2, 2009 — As part
of continuing scientific research on understanding wind resources,
the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National
Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Second Wind Inc. have announced a partnership
to characterize the performance of Second Wind's Triton™ Sonic
Wind Profiler.
Under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA),
NREL and Second Wind will conduct research correlating the Triton
measurements with measurements gathered from a meteorological
tower,
and will later include Triton measurements in the development of
a new Wind Instrument Characterization System (WICS) at the National
Wind Technology Center (NWTC) near Boulder, Colorado. The agreement
is worth over $100,000 over the next three years.
Second Wind develops resource assessment technology for the global
wind industry. Second Wind’s Triton is an advanced, portable
sodar (sonic detection and ranging) system that bounces sound waves
off the atmosphere and analyzes characteristics of the return signal
to calculate wind speed and direction up to 200 meters high. Replacing
a 60- or 80-meter meteorological tower and providing
much more data, the Triton is changing the way the wind industry
does site assessments.
NREL and Second Wind will analyze data gathered from a Triton Sonic
Wind Profiler and a nearby meteorological tower during a 6-month
correlation study completed in 2008-2009. The analysis, expected
to be completed in the near term, will characterize the measurement
performance of Triton. Next, a Triton will be deployed at the National
Wind Technology Center (NWTC) to collect long-term measurements and
compare them to wind resource data being collected from NWTC tall
towers.
As part of the CRADA, measurements from the Triton will also be
included in the development of a new Wind Instrument Characterization
System (WICS) at NWTC.
This research will lead to improvements in wind resource assessment
and more accurate project energy estimates.
"This CRADA will give NREL additional experience with the
latest tools being used by the industry for wind measurement," said
Dennis Elliott, principal scientist in wind resource assessment at
NREL. "This research is vital as the industry moves towards
requiring hub height and higher data to reduce uncertainty in the
wind resource and turbine performance."
"We are excited to be collaborating with NREL on this project
as it is a great opportunity to work with internationally respected
wind experts," Walter Sass, CEO of Second Wind, said. "We
are looking forward to working with NREL on an in-depth review of
the Triton technology performance, and to making a contribution to
NREL’s scientific research on wind instrument characterization."
About NREL
NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy's primary national laboratory
for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development.
NREL is operated for DOE by The Alliance for Sustainable Energy,
LLC.
About Second Wind Inc.
Second Wind Inc. has long been acknowledged as a leader in wind technology
innovation. Founded in 1980, Second Wind advances the use of wind
data to make wind energy more profitable for owners, painless for
operators and practical for consumers. Key products include: Nomad® wind
data logger and tower systems; Triton™ sodar systems; and
SkyServe® satellite wind data service. Second Wind is headquartered
in Somerville, Massachusetts, USA, and is privately held. For more
information on the Triton sonic wind profiler and Second Wind’s
other products, visit www.secondwind.com.
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