Wind Turbine
Complete, Future-Ready Coverage
Challenges
Remote locations
While some wind farms are located onshore, others may be hundreds of kilometers from land. These isolated locations mean that using existing cell networks is not an option. There needs to be dedicated coverage delivered directly to the turbines using subsea cable.
Interference
Wind Turbines are made almost exclusively of wireless “unfriendly” materials, which create complicated physical barriers to complete coverage. Wind turbines need a connectivity solution that can deliver full site coverage from the base of the turbine, out to the blades with no connectivity black spots.
Mission-Critical
The often remote locations of wind turbines make mission-critical connectivity a must. It is needed to maintain both the day-to-day operation of the wind farm and ensure the safety of anyone conducting a site visit.
Harsh environments
Both on and off shore wind farms suffer from exposure to extreme weather. High winds, snow, ice, and corrosive salt spray are just some of the challenges and any equipment installed on the outside of the turbine needs to be able to withstand these conditions.
Indutry Trends
True Mission Critical
To ensure site safety, warehouses must have mission-critical coverage across the entire site. Wireless connectivity solutions that meet regulatory requirements and keep staff safe:
- Extend across every area of the site to give complete coverage in an emergency.
- Meet the highest global standards for low smoke, flame, and fire retardance.
- Support all communications technologies and frequencies up to 6 GHz.
Overcoming physical barriers
One of the biggest challenges for mission-critical connectivity in a data center setting is the interference caused by a high concentration of racking to store equipment. Both the equipment and its housing act as a physical barrier to RF. There needs to be a concerted effort to overcome these issues to install complete coverage.
- RADIAFLEX offers contoured coverage that works around physical barriers to wireless.
- RFS offers consultation services to ensure installations fully meet customer requirements.
- RFS’s RF expertise allows us to advise on the best solutions for difficult environments.
Future Proofing
IoT is increasingly important for wind turbine operations, but it needs a connectivity backbone to be effective. Putting in place the communications infrastructure from the outset allows operators to take advantage of emerging technologies that rely on connectivity.
- Fiber cable can carry analogue FBG (Fibre Bragg Grating) sensing links to monitor infrastructure
- Multiple standards to support different applications and future requirements
- Cellular coverage for remote drone monitoring
RFS Solutions
Passive RF Components
RFS passive RF components operate in all frequency bands from 555 MHz to 6 GHz and provide optimal passive intermodulation (PIM) performance to reduce interference and support the highest throughput levels end-to-end. Our comprehensive portfolio includes all components required for an end-to-end, 5G-ready distributed antennas system, including: combiners, hybrid combiners and couplers, directional couplers, diplexers and triplexers, power splitters, loads and attenuators.
RADIAFLEX® Radiating Waveguide
The RFS RADIAFLEX radiating waveguide is a distributed antenna system for tunnels, mines, large building complexes and other challenging locations. The broadband solution simultaneously supports multiple one-way and two-way communications systems, so a single waveguide can be used for all applications. A specialized manufacturing and longitudinal seam welding process developed by RFS ensures optimal electrical performance and good bending properties.
Connectors and Accessories
RFS OMNI FIT™ Premium and OMNI FIT Standard connectors are well-known for their precision-engineered performance, ease of installation and long life in the field. They can be used with copper and aluminum cables, and are the perfect complement to our CELLFLEX and CELLFLEX Lite coaxial cables. The connectors support all frequencies up to 6 GHz, making them ideal for smooth evolution to 5G globally. A comprehensive range of adapters, grounding kits, hangers, clamps and tools complete the portfolio.
HYBRIFLEX® Solutions for Buildings and Campuses
RFS HYBRIFLEX solutions for building and campuses make it fast and easy to bring fiber and power to distributed antenna system (DAS), distributed radio system (DRS) and small cells deployments in these environments. The solutions target requirements for high-density, plug-and-play fiber, mission-critical connectivity and indoor/outdoor cross-campus connectivity. They support all wired and wireless technologies and frequencies and are optimized for high-bandwidth Radio over Fiber (RoF) applications.
CPR-Compliant Radiating and Coaxial Cables
RFS CPR-compliant radiating and coaxial cables feature a specially developed jacket that allows them to achieve best-in-class ratings for burning droplets (d0), low smoke emission (s1) and corrosivity (a1), the most important criteria for fire safety in cables that are installed indoors and underground. All RFS CPR-compliant cables are also designated as low-smoke, zero-halogen (LSZH) and meet International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards for flame spread, smoke acidity and low smoke emission.
Wind Farm Connectivity
RFS has developed solutions that specifically tackle the challenges of wind turbine connectivity. They can be configured according to each deployment’s specific reuirements to deliver complete fixed and wireless, internal and external coverage.
Passive DAS
RFS’ end-to-end DAS portfolio includes the company’s world-renowned CELLFLEX® coax cables, RADIAFLEX® radiating cables and plenum-rated cables, as well as broadband and ultra-broadband antennas, and high-performance components. All solution elements are designed and proven to work seamlessly together to simplify and accelerate deployments in buildings and tunnels.
References
UK Windfarm
UK | 2023
A major UK-based offshore wind farm needed to increase the connectivity of its wind turbines, wanting to balance maximum connectivity with minimal disruption during installation. Our ‘no drill’ solution attached to turbine access ladders, with its signal radiating properties giving complete coverage from a quick and straightforward installation.
Resources
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