With the influence of renewable energy resources in the world today, wind farms and solar farms have come under scrutiny. What was once welcomed with open arms has now seen a recent spate of protests with regard to construction and noise levels. What were once merely complaints about the visual impact of the wind and solar farms, has now turned into issues with another complaint. Noise. While one might not consider noise an issue with regard to either wind or solar farms, in some cases, they warrant attention. So, how does one go about dealing with solar farm noise or wind farm noise? That is with a noise assessment. Wind turbine noise assessments, while they can be costly, are most certainly warranted.
What Do the Numbers Say?
Why no on wants to deal with intrusive sound while in their own home, how much sound does a wind turbine produce? The numbers might surprise you. While regulations might differ from state to state and country to country, the closest distance a wind turbine can be installed to a dwelling is three hundred meters. From that distance, a wind turbine will produce forty-three decibels of noise. The level is reduced to around thirty-eight decibels at five hundred meters.
To put it in perspective, an average home air-conditioner will produce around fifty decibels of noise. And a refrigerator? Around forty decibels. That means a wind turbine generates less noise than either of those two devices and yet, is anyone complaining about them in their household? No, of course not.
The biggest noise complaint has to do with the sound associated with each pass of the turbine blade. The sound is known as amplitude modulation and is described as a fluctuation in noise levels. In the case of the turbines, it’s the whooshing sound associated with each passing blade of the turbine.
Wind Farm Noise Assessments
While noise assessments are done all the and widely accepted across industries, it seems that those performed for the energy industry are scrutinized and widely ignored. For many groups, the noise consultants are viewed as simply another agent of the solar or wind farm owners. They fail to view them as impartial.
Wind Turbine Noise Assessment: The Science
Repeated exposure to high noise levels can result in not only hearing loss but induce other serious health problems, which is why noise assessments are so vital. For our intents and purposes, one of the basic principles behind sound is known as the Inverse Square Law. It has been around since the 17th century and relates to any sound from a distinct source and how its sound diminishes over distance. Each time the distance from the source is doubled, the reduction in that sound is reduced to 25% of the original volume. This is important when considering complaints.
If you are in need of noise measurement services, look no further than Valcoustics. We are your noise reduction experts. Contact us today.
No comments yet