Analog Devices Converters Enable Wind-To-Power Conversion In Clean Energy Turbines

“The two most important criteria for us in selecting components for the wind turbine industry are high reliability, and availability over a long lifetime of up to 25 years,” said Gunnar Vogel, product manager control systems at Bachmann electronic. “Analog Devices is able to provide us with a broad range of high-performance converters, amplifiers and complementary products and, in my opinion, stands alone in its competence in supplying such devices to the industrial market.”

Wind energy is an increasingly significant industrial sector, with the market for turbine installations in 2008 worth more than $53 billion and average installed wind power capacity growing at a yearly rate of over 30 percent for the last decade.* Data converters are vital components in wind turbine systems, providing digital information to the turbine control systems for real-world measurements of status and condition ensuring safe, efficient operation.

In its condition monitoring systems for wind turbines, Bachmann uses ADI’s ADCs (analog-to-digital converters) to digitize the signal from a piezoelectric movement sensor. The systems also use ADI’s operational amplifiers.

Across its other industrial control systems, Bachmann uses a wide range of ADI components, including data converters, multiplexers, digital isolators, and amplifiers.

“Bachmann electronic has achieved an enviable position in the wind turbine and industrial control market due to the high quality and reliability of its products,” said Ronn Kliger, Energy Group director, Analog Devices. “ADI’s broad portfolio of converters and complementary analog products gives industrial companies, like Bachmann, the right components to build high-performance systems that will last for decades.”