Abstract
At present no common practices are adopted to assess the performance and operational
characteristics of conceptual and small prototype wave and tidal energy devices when tested
within controlled laboratory environments. Information acquired from this early stage
assessment may be used to secure development funding or promote a specific wave or tidal
energy device. Since no standards exist, the data produced may be misinterpreted or
inaccurately presented, which in turn may lead to failure to live up to performance
expectations, as devices scale up in size.
This report builds on Deliverable 3.3 which identified limitations of current practices adopted
for tank testing of small prototype devices. The recommendations contained herein
constitute minimum set of best practices for device testing and benchmarking. The protocol
contains explicit Design of Experiment and Uncertainty Analysis techniques. Particular
emphasis has been placed on repeatability, quantification of uncertainty, estimation of
accuracy and elimination of laboratory specific effects.