Abstract
<jats:p>The development of distributed generation, including renewable energy facilities, is one of the priorities for increasing the stability and reliability of Ukraine's power system. The territory of Ukraine has sufficient potential for the successful commercial development of wind power generation. In this regard, training programs for modern electrical engineering specialists should include educational components related to in-depth study of methods and means to convert wind energy into electrical energy. In this paper a laboratory methodology for studying the energy characteristics and parameters of wind turbines, which involves artificially created meteorologically independent research conditions, is proposed. The structure of the laboratory installation and the research methodology are described. The results of experimental testing of the proposed methodology using ultra-small-power wind turbine with a DC generator are presented and analyzed. A power characteristic of the studied wind turbine was built. The minimal air flow speed necessary for the turbine start was estimated from obtained power characteristic. It is shown that the behavior of the obtained power characteristic is fully consistent with the theoretical view on the functional relationship between the turbine's electric power generation and wind speed. Analysis of the efficiency of wind energy conversion into electricity by the investigated wind turbine depending on the air flow speed made it possible to find out the air velocity providing the maximum efficiency for this turbine. It was pointed out, that in the studied air speeds range the efficiency of the wind turbine was less than 1%, which is explained by the aerodynamic and technical imperfections of the turbine under investigation. Even with such turbine parameters, the implementation of proposed methodology into the educational process will contribute to improving the quality of practical training for higher education students studying on electrical and power engineering.</jats:p>