Evolution of Modern Wind Turbines Part A: 1940 to 1994 - Wind Turbine Technology: Fundamental Concepts of Wind Turbine Engineering - page 119

Figure 3-13. The Rocky Flats Test Station, near Boulder, Colorado. The performance
and reliability of a wide variety of small-scale commercial and experimental turbines were
tested here. ( Courtesy of the U.S. Department of Energy )
Dificulties in determining a power curve in the rapidly-varying natural wind and the
need to validate analytical models led to supplementary performance testing at the nearby
High-Speed Rail Test Facility operated by the Department of Transportation. Full-scale
small turbines were placed on a tower mounted on a latcar and pushed by a diesel
locomotive at speeds covering the turbines's operating wind speed range. Control of the
relative velocity between the turbine and the air allowed rapid validation of power curves
and the analytical techniques being developed for normal on-site testing.
USDA Bushland Test Station
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has also tested a variety of small-scale
wind turbines in actual agricultural and rural applications, including irrigation, crop drying
(both electrically and by churning a viscous luid), diesel interconnection, and general rural
electrical use [USDA 1979, Clark 1983]. Testing is conducted principally at the USDA
Agricultural Research Service facility near Bushland, Texas, with some on private farms.
Prototypes of turbines developed privately as well as with federal funds are evaluated
against particular agricultural requirements. Darrieus VAWTs are also tested at the USDA
test station by engineers from the Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New
Mexico, because of the superior wind regime at Bushland.
Risø Test Station
Several small wind turbine test stations were set up in Europe during the late 1970s.
Most notable was the Risø National Laboratory Station for Wind Turbines in northern