# The Latest Advances in Wireless Communication in Aviation, Wind Turbines and Bridges
## 4 WSN Systems in Different Applications: Aerospace, Bridge Structures, and Wind Turbines
### WSN in Wind Turbines
#### 4.3.6 Small and Micro Wind Turbine Market  
There are no specific standards followed by turbine users in small and micro wind turbine (WT) sectors. There is also no need to implement small wind turbine farms because it is possible to implement a single larger wind turbine, reducing construction and maintenance costs. In small wind turbine applications, one deals with a single or very few turbines. The necessity of WSN application for small wind turbines is closely related to the purpose of wind turbine installation. One has to consider that, in such small applications, the wireless transmission structure may be costly. One should distinguish here between the off-grid and on-grid implementations. The first one does not request the permanent availability of information on produced energy. One can look up the information from the control panel of the turbine on request. The on-grid installation usually puts more complex demands on the turbine operation. Sometimes, two-way energy counter information may be sufficient for the WT owner. Mostly, however, an online monitoring system is requested [93; 94]. Wireless transmission is beneficial for the turbine's remote control and very practical in transmitting information about the alarm situations. The choice of hardware platform depends on many conditions, such as:  
\(\circ\) necessary reliability and integrity of transmitted data;  
\(\circ\) the distance on which transmission takes place;  
\(\circ\) the expected amount of data which is to be transmitted;  
\(\circ\) the acceptable delay time of data delivery;  
\(\circ\) the necessity of the data transmission in two directions, to control the turbine performance, to stop the turbine, or to modify the generator loading algorithm. Once the wind turbine's monitoring platform has been developed and the data are generated, any of the mentioned wireless systems may be used. We have already tested our prototypes:  
\(\circ\) LTE, 4G;  
\(\circ\) Radio link of short-range with FSK (Frequency Shift Keying) modulation;  
\(\circ\) Wi-Fi connection. The selection of the wireless transmission system depends on the particular implementation, which has to be treated individually. In the case of the small-size WT monitoring and control system, it is mostly applied with the use of wireless transmission network technologies. Sensors are installed in order to measure required quantities and send the WT status [93] over wireless connection. In order to receive a control message for specific operation, a control device needs to be installed. The monitoring and control software for the WT is managed by a control centre often by the application of a graphic user interface (GUI). In addition, smart devices are used to enable remote monitoring of the WT even though operators are not present in the control room. A WT monitoring system is often focused on failure detection. Therefore, it is important for the control room to be supplied with a fast transmission of data, requesting an immediate response to counteract the threat. There are many applications in this direction [94], and the solution has to take into account all existing constraints and availabilities. The knowledge discussed here will be utilised in the new wind power plant constructed in the project: 3 PioWiat project: POIR.04.01.04-00-0031/18-00, financed by the European Fund for Regional Development. In this project, a 15 kW power plant is being designed and constructed which consists of three wind turbines with vertical rotors of an innovative concept, presented in Figure 14. The wind turbine must include special control systems containing characteristics of the rotors. As this is an innovative wind turbine concept, the characteristics controlling produce power have to be very flexible. Therefore, they must have the possibility to upload them through the wireless systems. Many different control algorithms will be uploaded and tested. The wind turbine as a prototype is expected to deliver a lot of information concerning monitoring and production.