Windmills can operate for six months or more without any maintenance or supervision. They operate in some of the worse environmental conditions imaginable; all seasons of the year

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, in temperature extremes控制工程网版权所有, in lightning storms, snow storms, high summer humidity as well as in dry arid extremes.

　　Dataforth wind turbine whitepaper
　　Dataforth offers advice for signal conditioning in a white paper that recommends what I/O typically needs to be monitored and what Controllers are best suited on

a windmill to provide the safest and longest trouble-free operation. Moreover

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, due to the special environmental nature of the application, it offers advice on what signal conditioning hardware should be used to assure successful operation.
　　Because wind turbines generate high voltages and currents, electrical components must withstand high surge voltages and be immune to the electrical noise that can radiate from generators and switch networks. Dataforth says  accompanying signal conditioners should:
　　- Meet the requirements of EN61000-6-2 (ESD/RF/EFT immunity).
　　- Provide 240 V ac continuous input protection控制工程网版权所有, 1500 Vrms transformer isolation

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, and ANSI/IEEE C37.90.1 transient protection.
　　- Deliver secondary protection against lightning strikes and other overvoltage events.
　　Wind turbines控制工程网版权所有, like many types of industrial-grade machinesCONTROL ENGINEERING China版权所有, demand reliable and broad ranging protections. For more informationwww.cechina.cn, including a cutaway diagram of a wind turbinewww.cechina.cn, see the Dataforth white paper on "Wind Turbines Today."
　　See other Control Engineering wind turbine coverage.