No Fear: Trusting remote sensors in wind farm prospecting

摘要

OUR INDUSTRY IS PRETTY RISK-AVERSE. Some of us like to take things very slowly when it comes to embracing change in the wind farm development sector. For others, it's all about change and innovation. Bigger and more efficient wind turbines added to our landscape every day harvest about 40 percent of the renewable energy used to create electricity in the U.S. However, when it comes to using remote sensors (e.g., lidar, which stands for light detection and ranging) to measure wind for future wind farms, we've been slow to adopt. We fear the lack of data quality, or that the assessment from financial institutions might not be bankable. When it comes down to it, we fear dealing with a devil we don't know. As the rest of the industry continues to grow, however, being comfortable with the status quo is no longer an option.