WindCube Nacelle LiDAR

The Vaisala WindCube Nacelle (Long range version) is a wind Lidar that can be mounted on the roof of a wind turbine nacelle. With 20 programmable range gates from 50 m to 700 m horizontally, the Lidar measures incoming wind before it reaches the wind turbine rotor. Output of the device includes horizontal wind speed, wind shear, turbulence intensity and turbine yaw misalignment (relative wind direction). TNO has a database system and working procedures in place for handling the measurement data.

Model : Vaisala WindCube Nacelle (4 – beam model)

Range : 50 m to 700 m (20 programmable range gates)

Wind speed accuracy: 0.1 m/s

Wind speed range: -20 m/s to 50 m/s radial wind speed

Direction accuracy: +- 0.5 deg

Operating temperature: -40 deg C to 60 deg C

Operating humidity: 0 to 100% (splash water and marine environment resistant)

Ingress Protection: IP65

Weight: 24.6 kg (two persons required for handling)

Eye safety: Class 3B level of the NF EN 60825-1: 2014

Class 1M for handling the device in normal operational conditions

Projects where the WindCube Nacelle Lidar is used, include turbine power performance assessment, turbine yaw misalignment studies and wind measurement for analyses of loads or aerodynamic research.

In the SAWOP project, TNO has performed a comparative study on the use of nacelle mounted instruments for power performance assessment, including the Vaisala WindCube Nacelle Lidar. The final report (TNO 2023 P10689 17 May 2023) is available in the public TNO repository: https://repository.tno.nl/SingleDoc?docId=55916.