Yaw auto-calibration for a wind turbine generator

1. A yaw auto-calibration method configured to calibrate at least one anemometer of a yaw control system to correct for yaw misalignment, the yaw control system configured to adjust a wind turbine nacelle position about a yaw axis to align the wind turbine with the direction of the wind inflow, the yaw auto-calibration method comprising:

collecting wind turbine data over a plurality of time periods, the wind turbine data including wind speed and wind direction from the at least one anemometer;

determining from the collected data a wind direction compensation signal associated with a plurality of wind speed ranges; the wind direction compensation signal corresponding to the effects on the at least one anemometer data due to yaw misalignment;

providing the wind compensation signal to the yaw control system to adjust the wind direction data of the at least one anemometer for each of the associated wind speed ranges;

wherein the step of collecting includes calculating an average wind speed and an average wind direction for each time period of the plurality of time periods for the at least one anemometer and binning the average wind speed and average wind direction for each time period in a bin location based on a range of wind speeds and a range of wind directions;

wherein the wind turbine data further includes an average power produced by and an average rotational speed of an electrical generator in the wind turbine and wherein the average power and the average speed of the electrical generator for each time period is associated with the binned average wind speed and average wind direction for that time period;

wherein a performance value correlated to the average power of the electrical generator and the average wind speed is calculated for each time period and is associated with the binned average wind speed and average wind direction for that time period;

wherein for each wind speed range each performance value calculated over the plurality of time periods is plotted against the average wind direction corresponding to the performance value;

wherein the step of determining a wind direction compensation signal associated with a wind speed range includes determining from the plotted performance value, a maximum performance value for each wind speed range and wherein the step of determining further includes correlating the maximum performance value for each wind speed range with the associated average generator speed and plotting the maximum performance wind direction against average generator speed for each wind speed range; and

wherein the maximum performance wind direction associated with the average generator speed for each wind speed range constitutes the wind direction compensation signal for the wind speed range.

2. The yaw auto-calibration method according to claim 1 wherein the step of determining the wind direction compensation signal associated with the wind speed range includes determining from the plotted performance value, the maximum performance value for each wind speed range and determining from the maximum performance value a corresponding maximum performance wind direction for each wind speed range; and wherein the corresponding maximum performance wind direction for each wind speed range constitutes the wind direction compensation signal for the wind speed range.

3. The yaw auto-calibration method according to claim 1 wherein yaw control system includes a plurality of anemometers.

4. The yaw auto-calibration method according to claim 3 wherein the wind turbine is a variable speed wind turbine having a variable speed range, and wherein the average generator speed is determined only when said variable speed turbine is operating in said variable speed range for at least a portion of the time period.

5. The yaw auto-calibration method according to claim 4 wherein the wind turbine is a fixed speed wind turbine having at least one speed operating point with substantially no speed variability at said at least one operating point and wherein the average generator speed is determined for a time period only when the fixed speed turbine has operated at said at least one speed operating point during at least a portion of the time period.

6. A yaw auto-calibration system configured to calibrate at least one anemometer of a yaw control system to correct for yaw misalignment, the yaw control system configured to adjust a wind turbine nacelle position about a yaw axis to align the wind turbine with the direction of the wind inflow, the yaw auto-calibration system comprising:

a collection module for obtaining wind turbine data over a plurality of time periods, the wind turbine data including wind speed and wind direction from the at least one anemometer;

a calculation module for determining from the collected data a wind direction compensation signal associated with a plurality of wind speed ranges; the wind direction compensation signal corresponding to the effects on the at least one anemometer data due to yaw misalignment;

a transfer module configured to provide the wind direction compensation signal to the yaw control system to adjust the wind direction data of the at least one anemometer for each of the associated wind speed ranges;

wherein the collection module is configured to calculate an average wind speed and an average wind direction for each time period of the plurality of time periods for the at least one anemometer and bin the average wind speed and average wind direction for each time period in a bin location based on a range of wind speeds and a range of wind directions;

wherein the wind turbine data further includes an average power produced by and an average rotational speed of an electrical generator in the wind turbine and wherein the average power and the average speed of the electrical generator for each time period is associated with the binned average wind speed and average wind direction for that time period;

wherein the calculation module is configured to calculate a performance value correlated to the average power of the electrical generator and the average wind speed for each time period and is associated with the binned average wind speed and average wind direction for that time period;

wherein the transfer module is configured to determine from the plotted performance value, a maximum performance value for each wind speed range and wherein the transfer module is further configured to correlate the maximum performance value for each wind speed range with the associated average generator speed and plot the maximum performance wind direction against the average generator speed for each wind speed range; and

wherein the maximum performance wind direction associated with the average generator speed for each wind speed range constitutes the wind direction compensation signal for the wind speed range.

7. The yaw auto-calibration system according to claim 6 wherein the transfer module is configured to determine from the plotted performance value, the maximum performance value for each wind speed range and determining from the maximum performance value a corresponding maximum performance wind direction for each wind speed range; and wherein the corresponding maximum performance wind direction for each wind speed range constitutes the wind direction compensation signal for the wind speed range.

8. The yaw auto-calibration method according to claim 6 wherein the yaw control system includes a plurality of anemometers.

9. The yaw auto-calibration system according to claim 8 wherein the wind turbine is a variable speed wind turbine having a variable speed range, and wherein the average generator speed is determined only when said variable speed turbine is operating in said variable speed range for at least a portion of the time period.

10. The yaw auto-calibration system according to claim 9 wherein the wind turbine is a fixed speed wind turbine having at least one speed operating point with substantially no speed variability at said at least one operating point and wherein the average generator speed is determined for a time period only when the fixed speed turbine has operated at said at least one speed operating point for at least a portion of the time period.