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Renewable Energy Resource Assessment: NJ Winds

I. Abstract

Engineering students working in the engineering clinic1,2 of Rowan University have created the New Jersey Anemometer Loan Program for low-cost assessment of wind resources for residential, farm and commercial applications throughout the state. Under a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and the New Jersey Clean Energy Program3 students have specified, purchased, tested, calibrated and installed 20-meter and 30-meter towers outfitted with anemometers in southern New Jersey. The students are gathering critical resource data for assessing the economics and effectiveness of wind turbines for potential customers throughout the coastal environs of New Jersey. The students have also created the New Jersey Anemometer Loan Program official website4 which provides consumer outreach, online wind resource links, and essential “how-tos” regarding wind resource assessment.

II. Introduction

Engineering clinic educational objectives at Rowan University include the following: At the conclusion of the course, students will (i) Demonstrate expanded knowledge of the general practices and the profession of engineering through immersion in an engineering project environment of moderate to high complexity. (ii) Demonstrate an ability to work effectively in a multidisciplinary team. (iii) Demonstrate acquisition of new technology skills through use or development of appropriate computer hardware, software, and/or instrumentation. (iv) Demonstrate business and entrepreneurial skills which may include developing a business plan, market plan, venture plan, or other approved instrument. (v) Demonstrate effective use of project and personnel management techniques. (vi) Identify and meet customer needs. (vii) Integrate engineering professionalism, ethics, and the environmental in their work and as it relates to the context of engineering in society. (viii) Demonstrate improved communication skills including written, oral, and multimedia. This may include both patent and literature searches as well as writing a patent disclosure for novel work. The NJ Anemometer Loan Project enabled the participating students to demonstrate their effectiveness in all but objective (iv) which was not a key requirement of the course. However, in partial fulfillment of this objective the students calculated the cost effectiveness of potential wind systems for the three sites that they selected for wind assessment. The NJ Anemometer Loan Program was initiated to allow consumers to have a low-cost assessment of wind resources for residential, rural, and commercial applications throughout New Jersey. Three sites were set up by late 2005 and over 30 additional customers are now on the project’s waiting list. At least three new sites will be installed under an additional NJCEP grant in 2006. Each tower was also outfitted with anemometers and wind vanes which feed their results to a data logger located on the tower itself. Another anemometer has been tested, calibrated, and installed on an already existing tower located at the Bayshore Discovery Project located in Port Norris. Through this

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Hill, B., & McDevitt, R., & Jansson, P. M. (2006, June), Renewable Energy Resource Assessment: New Jersey Winds Paper presented at 2006 Annual Conference & Exposition, Chicago, Illinois. 10.18260/1-2--268