07/09/19
The 24 acre (10 ha) site near Oak Creek Pass in the Tehachapi Mountains was bequeathed to Paul Gipe by Ed Wulf in the spring of 1997 for furthering the development of small wind turbines.
There are two test stands at the site, one for micro-wind turbines, the second for mini-wind turbines.
Sometime following the note below one battery of the four used failed. Following surgery at the end of 2016, I was unable to service the batteries, electronics, and the turbine. Subsequently, I have not maintained the site and the Air Breeze would no longer operate without continuously braking to a stop. The turbine operated effectively for a decade. I closed Wulf field and sold the site to Windstream Properties on 11 June 2019. Windstream is the site neighbor in the photo on the right.
Testing at Wulf Field fulfilled its function. We successfully tested almost a dozen micro and min wind turbines during the two decades the test field was in operation. In the meantime the small wind turbine industry has matured and has begun to more rigorously test its turbines, in part because of the work we started at Wulf Field.
The Air Breeze installed in December 2007 continues to operate reliably and charge the site's batteries. In early 2016, the turbine continues to operate unattended. The turbine has operated more than eight years without intervention. One cable clip needed repair. One storage battery may have a bad cell. I left the site with the turbine charging the batteries and all the loads switched off to see if the batteries would recover their full charge.
In May, 2009 we inspected the site and the Selsam Super Twin had a blown diode.
We removed Selsam's Super Twin on October 31, 2009.
In the spring of 2008, we installed an unusual experimental turbine, the Selsam SuperTwin. The turbine uses two eight-foot rotors on a single shaft.
In December 2007 we removed the AirX s/n ABeta004 after it failed sometime in the fall. We replaced it with a Air Breeze s/n BR0001068 for testing at the request of SWP.
The Whisper H40 on the second test stand was removed and scrapped in June 2006.
The site is adjacent to one of the world's largest concentrations of wind turbines and is very windy. The property also has a large erosion gully formed by a seep or spring. At the time the property was transferred the access road was bare and suffered from sheet and rill erosion during spring rains.
Since 1997, my wife, Nancy Nies, and I have installed several small wind turbines. We have also experimented with various erosion control practices and revegetation seed mixes to control erosion from the access road.
We have tested several micro- and mini-wind turbines at the Wulf Field: BWC 850, Air 303H, Air 403, AirX (various versions), LVM 6F, Marlec 910F, Ampair 100, and Whisper H40. Results of noise and power curve tests can be found by following the links below. The results are also summarized in Wind Power: Renewable Energy for Home, Farm, and Business published in 2004. Tests on the Air series of wind turbines (Air 303, 403, and Air X) by other researches have confirmed the findings first reported here.--Paul Gipe
We have operated an Air Breeze BR0001068 since December 2007. The turbine has performed well without any problems and significantly quieter than previous versions in the Air series of micro wind...[more]
Below is a tabular list of the micro and mini wind turbines tested at the Wulf Test Field and the type of tests performed. [more]
During the winter of 1998 through the spring of 1999, I installed equipment to measure the power curve of first mini and then eventually micro wind turbines. The description of this effort and the...[more]
The turbine had failed sometime in the spring of 2009. We were living in Canada for most of the spring and early summer. When we returned it was the fire season and we didn't drive onto the site...[more]
We installed an Air Breeze at the request of Southwest Windpower in mid December. The turbine was provided by SWP at no charge. We are testing the turbine pro bono.[more]
The Air X s/n ABeta004 was installed for noise testing in December 2003. It ran unattended until the fall of 2007 when it failed.[more]
The Wulf Test Field is situated at latitude 35° 4'20.64"N and longitude 118°23'40.12"W and is at an elevation of 4,600 feet (1,400 m) on the north facing flanks of the Tehachapi Mountains in the...[more]
We returned to the site to remove the turbine for repair. The blades were removed without incident. However when removing the generator-yaw assembly the entire assembly came off in my hands without...[more]
Selsam's SuperTwin had operated unattended from March 2008 through sometime in the spring of 2009.[more]
December 8, 2003 by Paul Gipe For an explantion of the following chart see the article on measuring power curves. Though some of the turbines do not meet their manufacturer's advertised power...[more]
Specifications of Small Wind Turbines at Wulf Test Field Rotor Swept Rated Number Approx. Tip Speed Tip Speed Turbine Dia. Area Power of rpm m/s Ratio m m2 W Blades @ 8 m/s @ 10...[more]
Cruising World Noise Measurements Turbines Rotor Swept Rated SPL* Tested Dia. Area Power @11 knots m m2 W dBA Rutland 913 0.91 0.65 70 75 Ampair 100 0.92 0.66 50 78 Air 403 1.17 1.08...[more]
Summary of Small Wind Turbine Noise Measurements at Wulf Test Field in dBA Hub Reference Slant Sound Projected Projected Turbine Height Position Distance SPL Power 100 to 45...[more]
Comparison of Noise from Small & Selected Medium-Size Wind Turbines ECN/Van der Borg Difference Turbine Rotor Swept Rated Tip Speed Sound Power Data Projection @ 8 m/s...[more]
Air 403 Ambient Noise. Air 403 Noise. Linear regression trend and data for Air 403 charging a constant load. NREL's Arlinda Huskey notes that the data suggests turbine noise begins to level off...[more]
Ampair 100 Noise Ambient. Ampair 100 Noise Charging. Ampair 100 Noise Unloaded. Ampair 100 Noise Summary. [more]
There was generally good agreement with the measurement of ambient conditions for the three seperate tests. Note that the ambient for the Ampair and Air 403 tests was higher than that for the...[more]
BWC 850 Ambient Noise. Linear regression trend and data from one-minute Leq with the turbine parked. Copyright 2001 by Paul Gipe. All rights reserved.[more]
Both versions of the AirX monitored at the Wulf Test were qualitatively and quantitatively quieter than the Air 403.[more]
Tests during 2002 at the Wulf Test Field demonstrate that the AirX fails to meet the manufacturer's power curve by a wide margin.[more]
Since 1997 Paul Gipe and Nancy Nies have used the site to gain experience installing and operating small wind turbines, to measure small turbine performance and noise emissions, and to experiment...[more]
