Abstract
This review is focussed on large-scale, horizontal-axis upwind turbines. Vertical-axis turbines are not considered here as they are not sufficiently efficient to be deployed in the commercial generation of electricity. Recent developments in horizontal-axis wind turbine noise research are summarised and topics that are pertinent to the problem, but are yet to be investigated, are explored and suggestions for future research are offered. The major portion of recent and current research on wind turbine noise generation, propagation and its effects on people and animals is being undertaken by groups in Europe, UK, USA, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Considerable progress has been made in understanding wind turbine noise generation and propagation as well as the effect of wind farm noise on people, birds and animals. However, much remains to be done to answer many of the questions for which answers are still uncertain. In addition to community concerns about the effect of wind farm noise on people and how best to regulate wind farm noise and check installed wind farms for compliance, there is considerable interest from turbine manufacturers in developing quieter rotors, with the intention of allowing wind farm installations to be closer to populated areas. The purpose of this paper is to summarise recent and current wind farm noise research work and the research questions that remain to be addressed or are in the process of being addressed. Topics that are the subject of on-going research are discussed briefly and references to recent and current work are included.
Highlights
Research on wind turbine noise has been on-going since the early 1980s, with much of the early work undertaken by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on horizontal-axis wind turbines, with the rotor downwind of the support tower (“downwind turbine”)
It seems that enhanced amplitude modulation” (EAM), which occurs under certain meteorological conditions and is lower in frequency compared to normal Amplitude Modulation (AM) [100], is a significant contributor to the annoyance that many be experienced in response to audible wind farm noise
Most of the current research effort on wind farm noise is focussed on turbine noise emission, propagation and its control; the effects of wind farm noise on people, birds and animals; and procedures for developing appropriate noise regulations, testing for compliance and maximising community acceptance
Summary
Research on wind turbine noise has been on-going since the early 1980s, with much of the early work undertaken by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on horizontal-axis wind turbines, with the rotor downwind of the support tower (“downwind turbine”). In addition to developing better noise prediction models, it is important that measurements of environmental noise before and after a wind farm is constructed are undertaken and that ambient noise from other noise sources are properly taken into account when estimates of the contribution of wind farm noise to the overall noise level are made. This is an active area of research at the moment, with a number of procedures currently under investigation. Work that has been undertaken in the past few years and work that is continuing in each of the above categories, as well as community engagement and ground vibration, are discussed in the remainder of this paper, along with suggestions for future research directions
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