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Field Verification Project

The mission of the Field Verification Project (FVP) was to enable U.S. industry to complete the research, testing, and field verification needed to fully develop advanced wind energy technologies that lead the world in cost-effectiveness and reliability. The project, completed in 2003, included cost-shared research with industry partners to lead to the development of advanced technology wind turbines and support for projects that verify performance of wind turbine technologies in actual operational applications. FVP provided small wind turbine (<=100 kW) manufacturers with opportunities to operate and monitor their turbines under a range of distributed power applications and environments throughout the United States. This experience helped U.S. companies validate and improve the performance and reliability of their wind turbine technology while expanding regional experience with wind energy technologies.

The FVP objectives were to:

  • Provide U.S. manufacturers with opportunities to verify performance and reliability of their small wind turbines.
  • Evaluate the applicability and effectiveness of small wind turbines that serve a range of distributed power needs in various U.S. regions under diverse ownership and operating scenarios.

In 1999, under a competitive procurement, the U.S. Department of Energy's Golden Field Office established the FVP by selecting six recipients. One project was discontinued at the recipient's request. Five projects encompassing 13 host sites with a range of distributed power applications were funded. Recipients were required to perform two project components using small wind turbines that are manufactured in the United States and marketed in domestic and/or foreign markets:

  • Purchase, install, and test a small wind turbine at NREL's National Wind Technology Center (NTWC) for safety, performance, noise, and duration.
  • After the successful completion of the testing at the NWTC, conduct extended reliability tests at a host site location(s) under various applications.

More Information

Some of the following documents are available as Adobe Acrobat PDFs. Download Adobe Reader.

AOC 15/50

  • Acoustic Noise Test Report for the AOC 15/50 (PDF 2.4 MB)
  • Duration Test Report for the AOC 15/50 (PDF 1.1 MB)
  • Power Performance Test Report for the AOC 15/50 (PDF 2.4 MB)
  • Safety and Function Test Report for the AOC 15/50 (PDF 592 KB)

Bergey Excel S/E 10 kW

  • Acoustic Noise Test Report for the Bergey Excel (PDF 3.8 MB)
  • Duration Test Report for the Bergey Excel-S/60 (PDF 2.6 MB)
  • Power Performance Test Report for the Bergey Excel-S/60 Wind Turbine with BW03 Airfoil Blades (PDF 2.4 MB)
  • Power Performance Test Report for the Bergey Excel-S/60 Wind Turbine with SH3052 Airfoil Blades (PDF 1.1 MB)
  • Safety and Function Test Report for the Bergey Excel-S with Gridtek Inverter (PDF 1.3 MB)

Whisper H40

  • Acoustic Noise Test Report for the Whisper H40 (PDF 1.6 MB)
  • Duration Test Report for the Whisper H40 (PDF 4.5 MB)
  • Power Performance Test Report for the Whisper H40 (PDF 2.1 MB)
  • Safety and Function Test Report for the Whisper H40 (PDF 1.8 MB)