Cs290-2008-fall

CS290 - Wind Electrical System Lab

Introduction

In this lab you will research and design a wind electrical system for a particular location. The dynamic model you design and build will support the adjustment of the relevant parameters. The write-up will fully describe your system's design, the data and equations, and your model.

Details

General

• Use the field bounded by Abington Pike and Test Road towards the South end of Earlham's campus. The coordinates of the center of the field are approximately N39.811854° W-84.914100°
• The College owns the land, the cost of the lost leasing revenue is negligible.
• Ignore the cost of insurance.
• Ignore the cost of hiring a consultant to advise the College on mitigating avian damage and environmental issues generally.
• Ignore the cost of design and construction for the education center.

Wind

• Document, and use in the model, worst, average, and best case wind availability.

Generators

• Document, and use in the model, the expected life-span of the units you specify.
• Consider the trade-offs between fewer larger turbines and more smaller units.

Grid-Tie

• Assume that the grid-tie is made at the corner of Abington Pike and Test Road, unless after your research you have a better suggestion.
• Document, and use in the model, the expected life-span of the units you specify.
• Don't assume that RP&L is the only utility we could sell power to, at this quantity we could probably find other buyers to consider.

Installation

• Assume that the labor to install the system will be 25% of the cost of the materials, unless after your research you have a better suggestion.

Maintenance

• Assume that the annual maintenance for the system will be 5% of the cost of the materials, unless after your research you have a better suggestion.

First Pass, Due Wednesday December 10th at 12p EST

Turn-in a back-of-the-napkin calculation showing annualized values for:

• How much electrical power could be produced with wind generators using the space available.
• How much electrical power the College currently consumes.

Second Pass, Due Friday December 12th

Write-up and model which fully describe a wind electrical system for the location at hand. Required elements of the write-up include:

• Analysis of the problem
• Model design
• Model solution and data
• Results and conclusions

See Shiflet, Module 1.2, for a detailed list of what should be covered under each of these headings.

Required elements of the model include:

• Wind energy input (worst, average, and best cases)
• Electrical energy output in Watts (gross, from generators)
• Electrical energy output in Watts and currency (net, from grid-tie)
• Electrical energy consumed by the College in Watts and currency
• Startup costs (e.g. materials and labor)
• Payback period for the startup costs in years
• On-going costs (e.g. maintenance, replacement)
• On-going savings/loss to the College

Use annualized values for all your calculations.

Neatness and organization count, heavily. Copyedit your work closely. Think about any opportunities you might have for using a well thought-out images, diagrams and/or visualizations to convey information. You can produce the write-up using a word processor, LaTeX, or a wiki page. A spreadsheet is probably the correct tool for the model although it could also be done with either NetLogo's systems dynamics module or VenSim. All values must be appropriately sourced.

Third Pass, TBD

Address all the feedback you received on your first write-up and model.