Plex-Earth for Wind Power Engineers
Selecting Sites and Specific Placement
For wind turbines, the adage of ‘Location, location, location’ reaches peak validity!
With many high-flow locations utilized already, plus ‘NIMBY’ resistance, your challenges include not only finding good placements for harnessing wind, but proving and communicating that you have considered the full range of stakeholders’ needs. Ways that Plex-Earth’s imagery and terrain data can help you do that include:
· Updated Satellite Imagery and 3D Terrain Data inside AutoCAD
· Legal User-Rights to Reproduce Imagery for Proposals, Brochures etc
· Exporting Your 3D CAD Models into the Familiar Space of Google Earth
Design in the Real World
Our updated satellite photography lets you quickly analyse the topography of the whole area by eye. You can easily identify natural and man-made features that create turbulence, diverting or blocking wind-flow. This creates a real-world sanity-check on modelled outputs from WAsP CFD, WindSim etc.
…for Efficiency and Stakeholders
Plex-Earth exports your CAD models directly into Google Earth
As a modern designer you know that exploiting where wind power may be channelled, with careful spacing between turbines, is much more than just a ‘correct’ mathematical calculation. Ultimately, all engineering revolves around people!
People are generally not good at reading maps, and have learned to not trust an ‘artist’s impression’. They do however believe photographs, and they are very familiar with Google Earth or Google Maps.
Plex-Earth makes it easy to export your 3D CAD models into Google Earth, meaning you can see the structures from different locations. Turbine towers are too tall to be hidden, but tiny changes in placement can make a pleasing visual impact and thus stakeholder acceptance, without any significant sacrifice of efficiency.
Elevation Mapping (Hill Shading) is one of the ways Plex-Earth helps you understand the terrain
Planning for Operations and Maintenance:
Plex-Earth’s detailed 3D terrain data can be presented as contours, mesh or elevation profiles, and even augmented with your own GeoTIFF files. This makes it much easier to visually determine the existing roads, and to then plan for easy routing and construction of additional access. In turn this makes repairs and maintenance easier and faster, reducing downtime and improving both service and financial performance.
Note that Plex-Earth also partners with AutoTURN, helping you to plot routes for turbine blades and other over-sized loads, simulating the turning radius and vehicle dimensions to help avoid sharp turns, narrow bridges or low clearances.
…and for the Birds too
Our above-mentioned 3D data can be draped with our equally detailed aerial imagery, which can help you to identify vegetation, water bodies, and other features attracting birds to fly and roost. You can also use this feature to easily communicate how you have considered and mitigated for bird strike risk.
Recap of Essential Features:
· Display Your Project Area in AutoCAD, with Updated, Hi-Res Aerial Photography
· Multiple Imagery and Terrain Providers, inc Maxar, Airbus, Nearmap and Hexagon
· Easy Quotation, Booking and Importing of Custom Drone Flight Photos and Data
· Long or Wide Projects with Seamless Auto-Alignment of Multiple Images
· Design with Confidence, with Visual, 3D Terrain Data (Mesh or Contours)
· Help Communicate Your Designs to Non-Technical Stakeholders
· Easy Calculation of Soil Volumes Avoids Excessive Earthworks
· Avoid Hazards, Re-Work or Design Redundancies
· Monitor During and After Your Projects
· AutoTURN integration
Conclusion:
The Plex-Earth platform provides you with both visualization and detailed terrain data, making planning a wind-farm project both easier for you, and then easier for stakeholders to understand and appreciate your careful consideration of all the elements involved.