ABSTRACT
One of the most controversial and delicate aspects in the design of wind power systems, is the preliminary estimation of the potential energy generation in a given place, and its distribution along time. Most developing countries have very poor wind data. The sole data source available is often meteorology stations and wind measurements at airports, but the accuracy of standard anemometers employed in weather stations is inadequate for assessing the wind energy potential. Existing wind speed measurements of poor quality may therefore be an insufficient guide to correctly design a wind power installation for a given place. This chapter focuses on how to employ statistical functions to estimate the wind's energy potential of a place, based on historical data usually available for free, namely the average wind speed of the site at a given height above ground. Two are the probability density functions commonly employed for the said scope: Weibull's and Rayleigh's functions.
