Wind-powered electrical systems : highway rest areas, weigh stations, and team section buildings.

Details

• Creators:
  Chapman, Patrick ; Wiczkowski, Piotr
• Corporate Creators:
  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Corporate Contributors:
  Illinois. Department of Transportation. Bureau of Materials and Physical Research
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Wind power generation
  • Renewable energy sources
  • Electric power generation
  • Wind turbines
  • Wind power
  • Renewable energy sources
• Publication/ Report Number:
  FHWA-ICT-09-034 ; ICT-09-034, UILU-ENG-2009-2005
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Illinois
• Edition:
  Final report
• Corporate Publisher:
  Illinois Center for Transportation
• Abstract:
  This project considered the use of wind for providing electrical power at Illinois Department of Transportation ; (IDOT) highway rest areas, weigh stations, and team section buildings. The goal of the project was to determine ; the extent to which wind power could offset electricity costs, provide a reasonable return on investment, offset ; energy use, and provide educational opportunities. The project gathered and analyzed the natural wind ; resources available at (or near) these facilities. These data were then used in conjunction with various wind ; turbines that are currently commercially available. The result of this analysis is an approximation to the windbased ; electrical energy potential of a given wind turbine at a given site. Thereafter, the monetary value of this ; electrical energy was computed and put in context of the cost of the wind turbine and associated overhead. In ; order to assess economic feasibility, the levelized cost of energy was then compared to current electricity rates ; for Illinois. This analysis showed that indeed there are some combinations of location and wind turbines that ; may produce electricity at a competitive rate. One of the most important factors in this analysis is the cost of ; wind turbines, which is generally unknown (but can be approximated) and depends on many factors. To ; account for this variability, the authors of this report have provided a spreadsheet containing all the data ; necessary to rapidly calculate the levelized cost of energy. The user of the spreadsheet need only enter some ; simple information, such as cost of the turbine and interest rates. The spreadsheet should enable procurement ; agents to rigorously compare the prices and returns for given locations and turbine manufacturers.
  More +
• Format:
  PDF
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/16710/dot_16710_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 745.50 KB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:2734b98bffca9f1d9effcf90d44f48c8eaa4d6ff1541f05d74e9a42a8ead442b