Offshore wave power measurements—A review

AbstractThe first wave power patent was filed in 1799. Since then, hundreds of ideas for extraction of energy from ocean waves have surfaced. In the process of developing a concept, it is important to learn from previous successes and failures, and this is not least important when moving into the ocean. In this paper, a review has been made with the purpose of finding wave power projects that have made ocean trials, and that also have reported what has been measured during the trials, and how it has been measured.In relation to how many projects have done work on wave power, surprisingly few have reported on such measurements. There can be many reasons for this, but one is likely the great difficulties in working with experiments in an ocean environment. Many of the projects have reported on sensor failures, unforeseen events, and other general problems in making measurements at sea.The most common site measurement found in this review was wave height. Such measurements was almost universal, although the technologies used differed somewhat. The most common device measurements were electric voltages and/or currents and system pressures (air and water). Device motion and mooring forces were also commonly measured. The motion measurements differed the most between the projects, and many varying methods were used, such as accelerometers, wire sensors, GPS systems, optical systems and echo sounders