Renewable Energy Systems Remotely Monitors Wind Farms

Renewable Energy Systems (RES) is one of the largest and most successful wind energy companies in the world and has been at the forefront of the industry for over 20 years, involved in most aspects of wind energy projects, including research, development, engineering, construction, maintenance, electricity generation and sales.

Challenges

Every wind farm project has a research phase in which data is collected at potential wind farm sites to assess their suitability for wind production. Once a site has been identified for evaluation, a team of wind data specialists collects environmental information such as wind speed, wind direction and temperature.

Data is collected by erecting 200 foot meteorological towers on the proposed site, which RES contracted field technicians to retrieve data collection cards from and mail back to regional office to be analyzed. The current process was both a time consuming and costly process, that frequently caused a long lead time in responding to technical issues at the remote field locations.

The company needed to find a reliable wireless solution to remotely manage the wind monitoring equipment and provide real-time, two-way communication for data collection and analysis.

Solution

After trying alternative solutions, RES widely deployed the AirLink Raven X intelligent gateways, powered by ALEOS embedded intelligence. ALEOS provides extensive capabilities like remote monitoring and configuration, packet-level diagnostics and over-the-air firmware updates, while the AirLink device management tools simplify integration, installation, operation and maintenance.

“The Sierra Wireless AirLink modems are very straightforward and easy to use,” said Cody Cox, wind data specialist at Renewable Energy Systems Ltd.

The Sierra Wireless’ AirLink Raven intelligent gateways have provided RES with the following benefits:

• Simplified remote monitoring solution - RES completely automated the collection and retrieval of critical data from its sites.
• Improved operations - Any technical issues with the wind monitoring equipment can be identified and relayed immediately.
• Decreased operational expenses - The wireless solution has eliminated the need for the field technicians to travel on-site to retrieve the data cards.
• Immediate ROI - RES estimates that it will recover the cost of the modems within six months from initial deployment.