NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.

Establishment of Small Wind Turbine 

Regional Test Centers

Small and Community WINDPOWER Karin Sinclair

2011 Conference & Exhibition September 16, 2011

NREL/PR-5000-52614
NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY

NREL’s Regional Test Center Team

Trudy Forsyth

Tony Jimenez

Karin Sinclair

Arlinda Huskey

Ismael Mendoza

Joe Smith

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NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY

Presentation Overview

• Background – Why RTCs?

• Regional Test Center Project

• Status

• Lessons Learned

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NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY

Background – Why RTCs?

Questions

• How can consumers make an apples-toapples comparison between different small 

wind turbines (SWTs)?

• How can state incentive program managers 

objectively determine eligibility for incentive 

program funds?

NREL PIX #17523 – Gaia 11kW

NREL PIX #16391 –

Endurance 5kW

NREL PIX #15030 – Skystream 3.7

NREL PIX #13311 –

Jacobs 20kW

NREL PIX #12434 –

Bergey 10kW

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NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY

Background – Why RTCs?

Answer: Certification

Problems with certification in the 

U.S. prior to 2010

• Certification testing was time 

consuming and expensive

• Lack of U.S.-based SWT 

certification testing (basically 

limited to NREL’s Independent 

Testing project at the NWTC)

• Lack of a U.S.-based certification 

agent

• No real market pressure for 

certification testing Nikko 1kW installed at RTC (West Texas 

A&M/Alternative Energy Institute). NREL PIX #19540.

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NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY

Recent Developments

Within the past few years, DOE, NREL, and some states have worked with the 

North American SWT industry to create a SWT certification infrastructure with 

the goal of increasing the number of certified turbine models and gaining 

greater consumer confidence in SWT technology.

The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) released the AWEA Small Wind 

Turbine Performance and Safety Standard (AWEA Standard 9.1 – 2009) in 

December 2009. 

The Small Wind Certification Council (SWCC) and Intertek , North American 

certification bodies, began accepting applications for certification to the AWEA 

standard in 2010.

Numerous organizations begin to offer SWT field testing for certification in 

2010.

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NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY

RTC Project Background and Scope

Project Purpose: 

• Expand small wind turbine testing capability within the United States to 

allow cost effective performance testing of small wind turbines (rotor swept 

area < 200 m2)

Strategy

• Establish Regional Test Centers (RTCs) capable of testing small wind turbines 

to the IEC and AWEA standards

• NREL contributes funds and technical assistance (via a subcontract) to RTCs 

to conduct an initial round of turbine testing. RTCs were selected via 

competitive solicitation.

Scope

• Establish four Regional Test Centers (RTCs) capable of conducting small wind 

testing to the IEC standard, plus any additional AWEA tests that are not in the 

IEC standards

• Support the testing of a total of eight small wind turbines (two per RTC) to 

the AWEA (and IEC) standards.

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NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY

Regional Test Center Partners

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1. Intertek (Syracuse, NY)

http://www.intertek.com/wind/awea-standard/

2. Kansas State University/Colby Community College (Colby, KS)

http://www.ece.ksu.edu/psg/HighPlainsSWTC/index.html#

3. West Texas A&M/Alternative Energy Institute (Canyon, TX)

http://www.windtestcenter.org/

4. Windward Engineering (Spanish Fork, UT)

http://windwardengineering.com/our-work/projects-2/nrel

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NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY

RTC Project Overview

DOE/NREL

• Overall Project 

Management

RTC

• Set up test sites (facilities, staff, 

equipment)

• Install and commission the 

SWTs

• Conduct the testing

Small Wind Turbine 

Manufacturer

Certifying Body

• Funds

• Technical Assistance

• Test Results

• Turbine to be tested

• Assistance with turbine 

installation and 

maintenance

• Test Results

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NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY

RTC Certification Test - Duration

Duration (IEC 61400-2): 

• Investigates structural integrity and material degradation 

(corrosion, cracks, deformations); quality of environmental 

protection of the wind turbine; and the dynamic behavior of 

the turbine

• “Turbines must achieve an operational time fraction of at least 

90% over a minimum of 2,500 operating hours and six months 

(over a range of wind speeds) with no major failures, 

significant degradation of wind turbine components, or 

degradation in power production at comparable wind speeds.”

IEC 61400-2 Ed.2 Design requirements for small wind turbines, 

Section 9.4 (Page 99)

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NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY

RTC Certification Test – Power Performance

Power Performance 

(IEC 61400-12-1):

• Measures output of the 

turbine vs. wind speed

• Estimates the turbine’s 

annual energy 

production

• Provides an 

independent check of 

the manufacturers’ 

claimed performance. Windward Engineering RTC; site of future Windspire 1.2kW 

turbine pad. NREL PIX #19541.

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NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY

RTC Certification Test – Safety and Function

Safety and Function (IEC 61400-2): 

Verifies that the wind turbine displays the behavior predicted in 

the design and that provisions relating to personnel safety are 

properly implemented.

IEC 61400-2 Ed.2 Design requirements for small wind turbines, 

Section 9.6 (Page 107)

Kansas State University/Colby Community College RTC: Site Development in Progress. NREL PIX #19580 and #19581.

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NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY

RTC Certification Test – Acoustic Noise

Acoustic Noise Emissions (IEC 61400-11): 

• Determines the turbine’s noise-emission characteristics

• Is mandatory under the AWEA standard. If not testing to 

the AWEA standard, may or may not be required 

depending on the certification body.

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NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY

NREL Support

• Site visits (confirm 

general readiness, 

commissioning)

• Technical assistance 

for the Data 

Acquisition System

• Review test plans

• Review of data

• Review of draft test 

reports

• NREL staff available for informal 

consultation & technical assistance

• Annual SWT Testing Workshop

Potencia Hummingbird (10 kW) 

wind turbine installed at RTC (West 

Texas A&M/Alternative Energy 

Institute). NREL PIX #19571.

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NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY

Time Line

Date 

Scheduled

Task Lead

2012 Testing completed

Test reports completed and posted 

on Web

RTCs

Feb 2011 Initial testing begins RTCs

Jan 2011 First RTC turbine installed RTCs, manufacturers

Jul-Aug 2010 Subcontracts with RTCs finalized NREL/RTCs

Feb 2010 RTC partners selected NREL

Dec 2009 RTC RFP closes NREL

Oct 2009 RTC RFP released NREL

May 2009 Sources Sought notice closes NREL

Apr 2009 Sources Sought notice released NREL

Nov 2008 Project begins NREL

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NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY

Status of RTC Turbine Testing

RTC/Turbine Status

Intertek

– Fortis Montana 5kW

– Jacobs 31-20 (20kW)

All test plans completed; commissioning report 

completed; testing completed; site calibration pending

Installation underway; turbine commissioning tentatively 

scheduled for early fall 2011

Kansas State University/Colby 

Community College

– 1Sky Energy 7.5kW

– under discussion

Site development in progress; no site calibration needed

Installation delayed pending resolution of manufacturer 

problem with a component supplier

West Texas A&M/Alternative Energy 

Institute

– Potencia Hummingbird (10kW)

– Nikko 1kW

Turbine installed; testing pending

Turbine installed and commissioned; testing started

Windward Engineering

– Endurance S-343 (5kW)

– Windspire 1.2kW

Testing underway

Testing underway

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NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY

Lessons Learned

Lesson Learned Discussion

Test location site selection Wind resource

Terrain (flat site preferred)

Construction access

Low background noise 

Length of time to set up a 

site

For a green field site plan, at least a year from initial 

discussions to turbine installation

Premature certification 

testing

Manufacturers should not take shortcuts in turbine 

development

Involve the certification 

body early

This will prevent problems later.

Mandatory, if testing is conducted by an unaccredited test 

organization

Carefully study and 

understand the standard

Participation in round robin testing helps develop a 

consistent interpretation of standards among different 

organizations

NEPA (For federally funded 

projects)

NEPA approval is not necessarily quick and easy. NEPA 

approvals for the RTCs took 4-8 months.

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NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY

Questions?

Email: tony.jimenez@nrel.gov

http://www.nrel.gov/wind/smallwind/regional_test_centers.html

http://www.nrel.gov/wind/smallwind/independent_testing.html

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