Calculate the optimal hub height for your wind turbine by balancing wind speed gains against tower cost using the power-law wind shear model.
Measured at reference height
0.10 water · 0.14 flat land · 0.20 mixed · 0.30 rough
The optimizer evaluates hub heights from the rotor's blade-tip clearance up to a practical maximum. At each height it:
The optimal hub height balances wind speed gains against tower construction cost. It is typically 1 to 1.5 times the rotor diameter above the surface, depending on wind shear exponent, surface roughness, and local obstacles. Taller towers capture stronger, steadier wind but cost more per meter, so the optimum is the height that minimizes levelized cost of energy (LCOE).
Wind speed increases with height following the power-law wind shear equation v(h) = v_ref · (h/h_ref)α, where α is the wind shear exponent (typically 0.14–0.25 over land). Because turbine power is proportional to the cube of wind speed, even a modest increase in hub height can significantly raise annual energy production (AEP), especially in high-shear terrain.
The wind shear exponent (α) describes how wind speed changes with altitude. It depends on surface roughness: ~0.10 over open water, ~0.14 over flat open terrain, ~0.20 over mixed land use, and ~0.30 over rough forested or urban areas. It is used in the power-law model to extrapolate measured wind speeds from anemometer height to turbine hub height for accurate AEP and LCOE estimation.