Radar-Optimized Wind Turbine Siting

A method for analyzing wind turbine-radar interference is presented. A model is used to derive layouts for siting wind turbines that reduces their impact on radar systems, potentially allowing for increased wind turbine development near radar sites. By choosing a specific wind turbine grid stagger based on a wind farm's orientation relative to a radar site, the impacts on that radar can be minimized. The proposed changes to wind farm siting are relatively minor and do not have a significant effect on wind turbine density. With proper optimization of radar clutter mitigation, radar tracking performance above such wind farms can be significantly increased. Both present-day and potential future or upgraded radar systems are analyzed. The reduction in radar performance due to wind turbine clutter is approximately halved using this method. The developed method is robust with respect to controlled variations in wind turbine placement caused by potential obstructions.