As a general rule, wind generators are practical where the average wind speed is 10 mph  or greater. An ideal location would have a near constant flow of non-turbulent wind throughout the year with a minimum likelihood of sudden powerful bursts of wind. An important factor of turbine location is also access to local demand or transmission capacity.

Usually sites are preselected on the basis of a wind atlas or wind resource map, and validated with wind measurements. Meteorological wind data alone is usually not sufficient for accurate siting of a large wind power project. Collection of site specific data for wind speed and direction is crucial to determining site potential. To collect wind data a meteorological tower is installed with instruments at various heights along the tower. All towers include anemometers to determine the wind speed and wind vanes to determine the direction. The towers generally vary in height from 100 to 200 feet. The towers primarily are steel-pipe structures which are left to collect data for one to two years and then disassembled. Data is collected by a data logging device which stores and transmits data for analysis. Great attention must be paid to the exact positions of the wind turbines, because a difference of 100 feet can sometimes double energy production.

Unlike power plants, many wind farms are not owned by public utility companies. Instead they are owned and operated by business people who sell the electricity produced on the wind farm to electric utilities. These private companies are known as Independent Power Producers.

Operating a wind farm is not as simple as just building a wind turbine in a windy place. Wind farm owners must carefully plan where to locate their wind turbines. One important thing to consider is how fast and how much the wind blows.

As a rule, wind speed increases with altitude and over open areas with no windbreaks. Good sites for wind farms are the tops of smooth, rounded hills, open plains or shorelines, and mountain gaps that produce wind funneling.

Wind speed varies throughout the country. It also varies from season to season. In Tehachapi, California, the wind blows more from April through October than it does in the winter. This is because of the extreme heating of the Mojave Desert during the summer months. The hot air over the desert rises, and the cooler, denser air above the Pacific Ocean rushes through the Tehachapi mountain pass to take its place. In a state like Montana, on the other hand, the wind blows more during the winter. Fortunately, these seasonal variations are a good match for the electricity demands of the regions. In California, people use more electricity during the summer for air conditioners. In Montana, people use more electricity during the winter months for heating.

For more information, view our chapter about designing, developing, and building your own wind farm.