Granted Patent B2

US 8,433,541 · App. 12/686,049 · Granted Apr 30, 2013

Abstract

Claims (28)

1. A method for monitoring the operation of a wind energy installation, implemented using a controller, comprising:

recording state data relating to the wind energy installation;

finding discrepancies between the state data and an associated comparison value;

determining a failure probability of the wind energy installation on the basis of any discrepancy found;

determining an availability value for the wind energy installation from the ratio of an actually produced amount of electrical energy to a total amount of energy which can potentially be produced;

combining the availability value and the failure probability to form a repair priority; and

associating the repair priority with the wind energy installation.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the comparison value is an average value over a plurality of wind energy installations.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the state data of the wind energy installation is transmitted to a monitoring center.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising including information relating to the local wind pattern in the repair priority.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising monitoring the operation of a plurality of wind energy installations.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising obtaining comparison values which correspond to correct operation of the wind energy installation from state data recorded for the plurality of wind energy installations.

7. A wind energy system comprising:

a wind energy installation having a sensor configured to record state data of the wind energy installation;

a logic module configured to determine discrepancies between the state data and an associated comparison value;

a calculator configured to determine an availability value related to the wind energy installation from the ratio of an actually produced amount of electrical energy and a total amount of energy which can potentially be produced;

a computation module configured to (i) determine a failure probability of the wind energy installation when the logic module finds a discrepancy and (ii) combine the availability value and the failure probability to form a repair priority; and

a monitoring center configured to associate the repair priority with the wind energy installation,

wherein the system is configured to carry out the method according to one of claims 1 to 6 .

8. A wind energy system comprising:

a wind energy installation having a sensor configured to record state data of the wind energy installation;

a logic module configured to determine discrepancies between the state data and an associated comparison value;

a calculator configured to determine an availability value related to the wind energy installation from the ratio of an actually produced amount of electrical energy and a total amount of energy which can potentially be produced;

a computation module configured to (i) determine a failure probability of the wind energy installation when the logic module finds a discrepancy and (ii) combine the availability value and the failure probability to form a repair priority; and

a monitoring center configured to associate the repair priority with the wind energy installation.

9. The system of claim 8 , further comprising a plurality of wind energy installations, wherein the monitoring center is further configured to sort repair priorities of the plurality of wind energy installations based on a ranking.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the computation unit is arranged in the monitoring center.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the computation unit is further configured to use state data for a plurality of wind energy installations to determine comparison values that correspond to correct operation.

Assignments (6)