
180 Principles of Sustainable Energy Systems
© 2008 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
Wind power classication
Wind
power
class
a
Wind speeds are based on a Weibull k value of 2.0.
3
4
5
6
7
14.3–15.7
15.7–16.8
16.8–17.9
17.9–19.7
19.7–24.8
6.4–7.0
7.0–7.5
7.5–8.0
8.0–8.8
8.8–11.1
300–400
400–500
500–600
600–800
800–1800
Fair
Good
Excellent
Outstanding
Superb
Wind power
density at 50 m
W/m
2
Wind speed
a
at 50 m
m/s
Wind speed
a
at 50 m
mph
Resource
potential
FIGURE 3.32
Wind resource map of the United States. This map shows the annual average wind power estimates at a height of 50 m. It is a combination of high-resolution and
low-resolution datasets produced by NREL and other organizations. The ...