Towards a non-Invasive Monitoring System for Wind Turbine Blades

Wind power generation plays a crucial role in transitioning away from fossil fuel-dependent energy sources, contributing significantly to the mitigation of climate change. Therefore, it is advantageous to enhance the adoption of wind energy while improving turbine conversion efficiency. Monitoring wind flow and operational parameters of wind turbines is a fundamental prerequisite for optimizing broad coverage and electrical conversion efficiency. The aerodynamics of the rotating blades are of particular interest but are very challenging to mea-sure due to the complexity of measurement system installations on operating wind turbines. This paper presents a flexible and modular system that enables real-time monitoring on the surface of wind turbine blades. Experimental results demonstrate the capability of extracting key aerodynamic parameters, such as Angle of Attack (AoA) and flow detachment, using an array of commercial low-power sensors, i.e., 10 absolute pressure sensors, 5 differential pressure sensors, and a MEMS vibrometer with a precision of 1°and a maximum power consumption below 50mW.