A genetic algorithm approach is employed to obtain optimal placement of wind turbines for maximum production capacity while limiting the number of turbines installed and the acreage of land occupied by each wind farm. Specifically, three cases are considered-(a) unidirectional uniform wind, (b) uniform wind with variable direction, and (c) non-uniform wind with variable direction. In Case (a), 600 individuals are initially distributed over 20 subpopulations and evolve over 3000 generations. Case (b) has 600 individuals spread over 20 subpopulations initially and evolves for 3000 generations. Case (c) starts with 600 individuals spread over 20 subpopulations and evolves for 2500 generations. In addition to optimal configurations, results include fitness, total power output, efficiency of power output and number of turbines for each configuration. Disagreement with the results of an earlier study is observed and a possible explanation is provided. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.