Eberle Farms Wind Generators

My Father-in-law gave us a tour of his wind farm between Henry and Wyoming.

Click on a picture to see in full size.   Some details are below...

All the parts are completely modular, each piece fully assembled before being shipped.  Everything is laid out ahead of time and simply plugs in to one another once they are assembled. 

Once the base is built, the transformers are set in place.  The tower is made up of three pieces and sit over the transformers.   While the tower is being erected, the props are assembled together on the ground and then hoisted up as one unit.  The towers are 265 feet tall and each blade is over 120 feet long.  The actual generator that sits on top of the tower is the size of a small bus.  A ladder system runs up the inside of the tower for maintenance and repair access.

The props are designed to rotate at a constant rate.  The blade's edges automatically rotate and are angled depending on the speed of the wind.  A single tower is rated to put out 1.5 Megawatts.  This farm will be made up of 100 windmills and should supply about 35,000 households with power (if I remember my numbers right). 

This contractor is working around the clock to get these up and running before Jan 1st so he can qualify for a special government grant worth millions.  He has three cranes running at a cost of $70,000 per month each for rental.  Most of the work up high is done at night when the winds are at thier lowest.  Once the pad is formed, it takes about three days to complete a tower.   The generator was raised and mounted within two hours while we were there.