Standards |
|
||||||||
|
 U.S. Industry Consensus Standards Development Activities Since 1978, DOE has provided technical and financial support to American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) efforts to develop wind industry consensus standards. This support also helps ensure that the U.S. wind industry can actively participate in the development of standards by international organizations. Since 1984, the DOE support has been conducted by NREL. Specific standards development activities conducted by AWEA involve the development, review, adoption and publication of standards documents by experts in wind technology and related topics from industry, utilities, and the research community. AWEA's Standards Coordinating Committee (SCC) coordinates and ensures the review of all standards documents and participates in international wind energy standards development. AWEA has been designated as a standards-making organization by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and is recognized as the lead wind energy standards organization in the United States. NREL also provides technical support through direct participation on domestic and international standards-making subcommittees and targeted analytical efforts. |
||||||||
| Standards Development Process | AWEA is the lead organization for the
development of U.S. industry consensus standards in liaison with a variety of professional
organizations. Organizations consulted or directly involved in wind turbine standards
development include the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the American
Society for Testing of Materials (ASTM), ANSI, the National Fire Protection Association
(NFPA), the American Gear Manufacturer's Association (AGMA), and the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). In addition, AWEA participates in the
development of international wind energy standards in conjunction with the International
Energy Agency (IEA), the International Standards Organization (ISO), the International
Electrotechnical Committee (IEC) and other appropriate international organizations. Domestic standards development activities are performed under established AWEA standards subcommittees which are guided by the Standards Coordinating Committee (SCC). The subcommittees create standards documents which are then approved under a consensus process that involves soliciting comments from the industry at large and the eventual acceptance of the documents by the SCC for publication as AWEA standards. Since 1988, it has been recognized that domestic U.S. standards must be compatible with IEC standards to ensure that U.S. wind businesses have full access to foreign markets. Therefore, the primary role of the domestic standards subcommittees has been threefold: 1) to develop guidelines and recommendations that have an impact on international standards, 2) to assess and vote on the adoption of international standards as U.S. domestic standards, and 3) to develop U.S. standards for aspects of wind technology development and use that are not yet covered by international standards, such as siting. International standards are developed by the working groups of Technical Committee-88 (TC-88) of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the recognized international body for standards development activities. GO TO: IEC Standards || Contents || |
||||||||
| Domestic Standards Subcommittees | Task 1 - Acoustics Chair: T. James DuBois, DuBois and Associates The Acoustics subcommittee is finalizing the Tier III standard (emissions from multiple arrays) and reviewing the approved IEC acoustics standard for adoption by AWEA as a U.S. national standard. Task 2 - Design Criteria Chair: John Westergaard, Boreal Enterprises Gearbox Working Group Chair: Brent Reardon The Design Criteria subcommittee reviews progress on the IEC Working Group 7 standard and recently completed the review of a standard practice developed by the Gear Box working group to the SCC for adoption. Task 3 - Siting Chair: Bruce Bailey, AWS Scientific, Inc. The Siting subcommittee is revising the 1986 Measurement Standard to incorporate the effects of recent changes and improvements in measurement technology. Task 4 - WECS/Diesel Chair: Robert Sherwin, Atlantic Orient Corporation The Wind/Diesel subcommittee will hold a workshop in June 1998 to continue the exchange of technical and market data and the promotion of ties between the wind industry and the diesel power industry. Task 5 - Certification Chair: Thomas Gray, American Wind Energy Association The Certification subcommittee is continuing the process of harmonizing AWEA plans for certification in the United States with European countries. AWEA provides NREL and DOE with up-to-date information on the status of certification programs in other countries. || Contents || |
||||||||
| International Standards Activities | AWEA maintains liaison with the
International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards development activities through
the involvement of an AWEA representative as the U.S. technical coordinator for TC-88 and
the support of other U.S. industry members who serve as delegates to the Working Groups.
|| Contents || |
||||||||
| NREL's Technical Role in Standards Development | NREL has one
technical representative (employee or consultant) on most of the IEC Working Groups. NREL
personnel have had a major impact on the standards development process, ensuring that
standards do not impede international industry development and trade opportunities, while
ensuring that environmental, safety, and health interests of industry employees, utility
personnel, and the general public are maintained. NREL also provides analytical support to standards development. For example, NREL employs its design codes and test data to validate the load cases used for wind turbine design standards developed under Working Group 7 (Safety of WTGS.) This is required to ensure that the cases accurately represent the full range of load environments that will be encountered by wind turbines. As a world leader in structural blade testing technology, NREL provides significant technical support to the development of the blade testing standard under Working Group 8. NREL personnel also participate in the periodic Technical Experts Meetings sponsored by the International Energy Agency. These meetings result in the development of recommended practices that are used in guiding the formation of standards under the IEC working groups. || Contents || |
||||||||
| NREL Certification Capability Development | The AWEA Board
of Directors made a formal request to the U.S. Department of Energy to support the
development of certification test capability at NREL. NREL began by offering power
performance and acoustics testing in 1996. This was expanded to loads testing, blade
testing and operational testing in 1997. Power Quality tests and design evaluation will
also be offered. Power performance, acoustics, and loads testing will be performed either at NREL or at a site designated by the company. Blade tests and other component tests (such as dynamometer tests of drive trains) will be conducted at the National Wind Technology Center. || Contents || |
||||||||
| Obtaining AWEA Wind Energy Standards Documents | Order AWEA Standards Documents from the AWEA Web Site. | ||||||||
| || Home || Certification || Testing || Evaluation || Standards || Information || | |||||||||
|
|||||||||
Prepared by Updated: November 21, 2002 |
|||||||||
