Abstract
This report summarizes extensive research by staff of the Solar Energy Research Institute and its subcontractors conducted to establish the origin and possible amelioration of acoustic disturbances associated with the operation of the DOE/NASA MOD-1 wind turbine installed near Boone, North Carolina. Results have shown that the most probable source of this acoustic annoyance was the transient, unsteady aerodynamic lift imparted to the turbine blades as they passed through the lee wakes of the large, cylindrical tower supports. Nearby residents were annoyed by the low-frequency, acoustic impulses propagated into the structures in which the complainants lived. The situation was aggravated further by a complex sound propagation process controlled by terrain and atmospheric focusing. Several techniques for reducing the abrupt, unsteady blade load transients were researched and are discussed.