The AWEA (American Wind Energy Association) small wind turbine performance and safety standard went to the trade association’s Standards Coordinating Committee (SCC) recently for approval. The SCC is scheduled to review and vote on the latest standard by the next AWEA Board of Directors meeting on November 19. If approved it will be formally adopted as an official industry standard and can be used by entities like the Small Wind Certification Council to certify small wind turbines.
AWEA says the idea behind the standard is to give consumers a standard way of comparing claims by manufacturers and to give confidence in published figures. Among other things, the standard lays out how specific performance tests should be performed and how thier results should be reported.
Download a copy of the draft standard here:
http://www.awea.org/smallwind/standard/Small_Turbine_Standard_Draft_Document.pdf