Wind Map

A wind map is a helpful tool for finding an appropriate mounting location for a wind turbine.

Finding an efficient location is a very crucial element for achieving premium output from a wind turbine.  Wind maps can be a very useful guide for selecting optimal locations.

Once a location is selected, the next challenge is deciding how high your wind turbine should stand, remembering that wind speeds often change dramatically at different elevations.

Winds maps are designed to show the variable speed of wind throughout a given location at a distinct height.  The US Department of Energy provides detailed wind maps of the United States at a height of 80 meters.
Wind turbines that are constructed in efficient locations have a clear laminar flow of wind, meaning that there a minimal amount of obstacles for the wind to pass as is approaches the blades of a wind turbine.

It is important to remember that wind maps show average wind speeds of a location at a specified height above the ground.  The height of a wind turbine will often be a different from the height used to calculate the wind map.  If this is the case, a new measurement of average wind speed should be calculated before construction.  An anemometer can be used to measure the average wind speed at the desired height during these circumstances.