Evaluation of noise levels of two micro-wind turbines using a randomised experiment

Abstract

One of the more contentious environmental concerns of wind turbines is the wind turbine noise. This study assesses the noise impacts of two micro-wind turbines on the environment by comparing the noise generated by these turbines to traditionally accepted surrounding sounds. The sound level data was collected using a randomised experiment and fitted using a general linear model (GLM). The GLM was used to determine the relationship between the sound level generated at a given site to the time of day, the wind speed, the wind direction and a fixed predetermined distance from the sound source.