ATLAS II is small, operates continuously, uses off-the-shelf components, and has lightning protection on all channels to increase reliability. “The system provides us with sufficient data to help us understand how our turbine blade designs perform in real-world conditions, allowing us to improve on the original design and our design codes,” says Jose Zayas, the project lead. Zayas has been working on ATLAS II since its inception in 1999.
The GE Energy/NREL/Sandia collaboration involved testing a 1.5-megawatt, 80-meter-tall turbine with a rotor diameter of 70.6 meters. GE Energy is the largest wind turbine manufacturer in the U.S. and sells them to developers — such as Florida Power & Light — all over the world. Wind plant operators sell the electricity to utilities, who in turn supply the power to consumers.