Generate Cheap Energy From The Wind

There are two VERY …
There are two VERY important parts of this project not caught on tape.

1) Site preparation. Not only does it require a lot of planning and testing to determine a good wind site, but a very stable and straight foundation must be laid. 6 weeks to 2 years

2) Hookup to the grid. three weeks

The part that was videotaped took 5 days because it was the first wind turbine erected by Boldt Construction. With good weather and doing many erection on the same site, this could be reduced to 1.5-2 days

how long does it …
how long does it take to set up wind turbines i need to know for a project?

yes,its cool…
yes,its cool…

very cool
very cool

Amazing video! I am …
Amazing video! I am looking to build my first home windmill. I’ll study the building process in depth. Then, I will consider commercial wind generated energy distribution.

If you really are a …
If you really are a poor student who wants to build windmills, you might want to skip the build-it-yourself stage. What you will discover is that building a wind turbine that works is a LOT harder than it looks.

What you should do is look at a well-run company like Vestas. Find out what kinds of workers they want to hire and change your major to match. Being an expert in wind technology has a bright future. But if you don’t know what a solenoid does, you aren’t ready for it.

Look on e-bay for a …
Look on e-bay for a Wind Turbine Alternator Generator or go to a junk yard and get an upgrade kit for it.

A solenoid is not going to work.

Hi,
I’m building my …
Hi,
I’m building my own wind turbine and need to know more about what type of alternator to use. Baring in mind that I’m a student and poor, so if possible could you recommend a cheap alternator.
Would a solenoid work to generate a voltage?
Thanks for any tips!

some …
some environmentalists think that birds would get killed by them.
I wish we’d all use at least one of these in our houses though. I’m designing a wind turbine at the moment for domestic use.

Why don’t aren’t we …
Why don’t aren’t we just filling up the american plains with these things?!?!

That $2 million is …
That $2 million is an old figure, remember–ask your local Vestas dealer for more current info.

The St. Olaf figures come straight from the head of plant services at the school. The school had built their own power plant in the 1930s and had installed a 440v 3-phase loop they could now hook into their windmill. So St. Olaf never sells its power–they substitute it for power they would otherwise buy. And that’s where they get their figures.

St. Olaf LOVES its wind turbine.

I was amazed as to …
I was amazed as to the scale of the turbine. It’s huge!

I just have a question, seems $2,000,000.00 is not a lot for a project of this size, but are you sure that it actually saved the school $300,000.00 the first year? If that’s the case, then this is a gold mine.

Also, in comparison, what is the ratio of homes powered by this one turbine (if you know) I’m very interested in this due to the potential of property I have in California that’s been preposed for such use. I thank you.

Thanks for posting. …
Thanks for posting. I enjoyed your video. They sure look huge when up close like that. Looks like it was a very long day!

The blade do flex a …
The blade do flex a bit. That is why the nacelle has a nose-up attitude. But mostly it is optics fooling us.

This Vestas v82 cost about $2 million when it was erected. This includes the parts of the construction I captured on video plus the foundation (a BIG project) and the hook-up to the grid. To give you an idea of why everyone now wants to build wind turbines, this Vestas saved St. Olaf College over $300,000 the first year.

I agree-he’s …
I agree-he’s exhausted. Two questions: are those blades actually flexing a little, or is that an optical illusion? And how much does one of these behemoths COST?? I suppose that’s relative to local energy prices, but I’m curious.

Well, the primary …
Well, the primary goal is to capture the energy of the wind. Those other goals may be wonderful, but if the wind turbines such thinking produces don’t work very well, all those other goals fail too.

As for these turbines killing birds–that lie has been discredited LONG ago. (In fact, the big turbines are MUCH less dangerous to birds because they turn so slowly.) I am sorry you still believe it.

If you think that little wind turbines are better–please build one that actually works.

well the cost of …
well the cost of them is. what is the ecnomically feasible size (which one will kill less of the avian species) which cost less to erect to maintain etc. so yess there is a better size. you have to take all the variables into effect. keeping in mind that you also whant people to be able to work on them inherintly putting more people in share of the power structure, & creating need for schools & workers to spread the economic power.

The size of a good …
The size of a good wind turbine is not arbitrary. The wind doesn’t get clean and reliable until about 100′ (30 meters) into the air. The size of the blades is determined by how much energy it requires to run the generator. Blades are about 40 meters long (131 ‘) so the mast must be about 70 meters (230′) high. So this is not about big vs little. There is a optimum size–which is why most good wind turbines are about the same physical size (between 2 and 5 megawatts.)

what’s better one …
what’s better one large one or thousands of smaller ones???

Thank you for those …
Thank you for those kind words. On that last day, real work didn’t get started until around noon because of all the inspection and repair due to a giant hailstorm. But it was Friday and folks wanted to make up for the delay. So they labored until after dark. MY favorite clip comes at the end where a very large and powerful man is carrying the “sock” used to keep the lower turbine blade from dragging on the ground. He is still moving but obviously VERY tired. It was a LONG day.

eltechno, this was …
eltechno, this was more than an “elegant technology” video, it was downright majestic! The shots (and editing) may have lied about the time it took to put the turbine up, but the editing–and ending the “day” in that golden prairie light–were beautiful. The primo music/iconic images of men at work didn’t hurt, either!

Ahah, T Boone …
Ahah, T Boone Pickens

I see the giant …
I see the giant wind turbine motors and blades go throw appleton,wisconsin every wed. A whole train full of them. One blade take up a train car and a half. It’s pretty amazing how big these things are. I don’t know why but they are awe inspiring just to watch something that big move.

Just to correct …
Just to correct some misinformation. There were 86 wind turbines erected from October 07 to March of 08, in Brownsville, Wisconsin. The 1st one was errected in October and took 16 hours to finish. The last 2 were done in one day.

I see trucks …
I see trucks carrying turbine blades and other wind turbine parts almost every time I travel around Houston on I-10 or I-290. All are headed west or northwest. Quite a few are being installed in the State of Texas.