Trends in wind farm networks

摘要

Condition monitoring is the discipline of keeping tabs on the machinery in a nacelle, but getting data to the trending software and people who need it is the duty of IT technicians. The timely receipt of such performance data keeps wind farms properly maintained and profitable. Ethernet on copper wires has been one way to get data from nacelle to ground, but that technology is good only for about 330 ft. before a switch (amplifier) is needed. Networks based on fiber-optic cable have become the preferred method for transmitting turbine data, and is easily implemented with Ethernet-to-fiber media converters in the nacelle. Fiber is good for transmitting data many miles without amplifiers, plus there is no worry about grounding issues or lightning strikes.