Small Wind Good Practice: Small Wind Turbines Case Study Integrated in a Smart Grid

Small Size Wind Turbines are less competitive than large wind turbines because construction and operating costs are often high with respect to the power production, however they represent an appropriate technology to develop the strategic aim of small-scale distributed generation energy systems in smart grid and smart city. After giving a brief outline of main coìncept concerning wind turbines and wind power production, three meain issues are addressed. They are: the actual behavior and power production of in-field small wind turbines, the structural response and safety of small wind turbines, considering that their behavior is as much complex as the behavior of the large size turbines and highlighting major shortcomings that may concern structural safety; the optimal planning of the mix of power production units from renewable sources (e.g. wind turbines and PV solar).