On
January 31, Hull Light and Power, under the
direction of John Murdoch,
installed Massachusetts' first Skystream 3.7 Wind Turbine. I was
invited by Southwest Windpower. I served as photographer,
learned a few things, and provided some installation guidance.
Here is a
"distant" shot showing the Skystream up and
running, and the
boom truck used to raise the tower. Because of space constraints and
because the land is a sanctuary, the crew at Hull Light and Power (HLP)
decided not to use the standard installation method of a Pickup Truck
or winch and gin pole.
Step
one, which happened long before I arrived, was installation of the
tower
footing.
This footing is 3 feet in diameter and
8 feet deep. Eight 1.25" bolts are set into the concrete along with
conduit for the power cable.
To the right, you
can see the base of the tower and the hinge plate. The hinge plate is
removed after raising the tower.
Pliers are
not included in the install :-)
Next, the crew moved on to the hub
and turbine blades. The slight bluish-gray blades are "marine" blades,
they stand up to the corrosive effects of salt spray.
Each
blade is attached to the hub
with four Allen-type bolts.
When the
blade unit is fully assembled, it
is about 12 feet in diameter.
On
to the nacelle. The nacelle in the Skystream
contains both the generator and the inverter.
As the wind turns the
turbine blades, the attached generator makes direct current (DC). The
inverter converts that DC current to 240 volt alternating current (AC).
Our
electrician, Mike McLeod, connected up the power to the four
connections in the base of the nacelle.
Mike ran #6 wire underground from the building service to the tower
location. Because the maximum wire size the turbine can support is #10,
he attached "pigtails" to the ends of the #6 wire. In retrospect, #10
wire would have been sufficient for the complete installation.
Because of the added weight of the #6 wire, Mike added a strain relief.
Eight
vibration isolators (like shock absorbers) were mounted on the nacelle
flange. Bolts were run through these dampers to the flange on the
top of the tower. The bolts were torqued (tightened) to 100 foot-lbs.
The
green wire grounds the nacelle to the tower. The silver wire loop is
the strain relief, installed by the electrician. It was looped around
one of the vibration isolators.
Next,
John attached the turbine blades, the nose cone, and the
flange-bolt cover.
The system was ready for lift-up.
Up, Up, Up...
You
can
visit this Skystream in Hull. It's just off the road, easy to see, and
you can walk right up to it and listen to it. Google Maps: George
Washington Blvd. and Gosnold Street.
Here is a Channel
5 News Report of the install (open with Explorer). My 15
seconds of fame. :-)
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