3D layout optimization for large wind farms

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel 3D micro-siting approach for optimal placement of wind turbines in the continuous space of a wind farm. Along with X and Y positions, hub height and rotor radius of each turbine is optimized to maximize the yield of the farm. Such 3D siting not only reduces the land requirement, but also extracts more power from the same site. Proposed 3D siting problem is formulated as a constrained optimization problem and solved by a particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm.