Helping You Control Alternative Energy!

What goes in to installing a Skystream 3.7 wind turbine...

Since it is mid December and daylight is at a premium, we tried to do as much pre-work as possible

 to maximize the available daylight on the job site.

Pictured above is the Smart Foundation kit pre-assembled and just needing the circular form pictured attached. 

Below is the start of the concrete form.  It is about 7' in diameter.

Here is the concrete form assembled and ready to be moved to the excavation.

Here is the form and Smart Foundation kit in the excavation. 

Note the different base than the previous picture above. 

The Smart Foundation kit weighs about 149 lbs. when assembled. 

The base is made out of the equivalent of particle board and as we discovered is easily broken.

We fabricated a new base out of 3/4" plywood and back in business again!

Digging the trench for the conduit and electrical wiring. 

Here is the completed product after a hard days work.

• The form leveled and braced.

• Smart Foundation kit leveled and braced.

• Additional rebar installed.

• Conduit ran to house.

• Electrical wire pulled and coiled up in a plastic bag on top of the bolts.

Maybe a better caption would be "Just add concrete" or "concrete not included".

Compare our result to the picture out of the Skystream 3.7 installation manual.

That's it until next time when we pour the foundation.

December 22nd 2008

Our concrete guy apparently forgot to check with Joe Snedeker.

It is COLD, yes it is capital letter cold, the solar collector read 8.9 degrees before sun up,

add to that a strong west wind and we are ready to pour some concrete.

Interestingly enough, once the sun crested the mountain, the solar collector started to capture

 heat from the sun despite the ice cold weather outside.

Here is the concrete vibrator aka "Stinger".

This made short work of ensuring the concrete was properly consolidated and evenly dispersed around the bolts.

Here comes the concrete!

Here is the form with just shy of 6 yards of concrete.

The truck driver told us the commercial towers use between 250 - 300 yards of concrete. 

We could put up fifty towers with that much concrete.

The driver is all done except for the cleanup.

All done, time to get some blankets on it and get in out of the cold!

The truck is on his way!

All covered back up with blankets and several tarps.

Next step will be to strip the form and install the 8' ground rod.

The concrete needs to cure for 28 days until it reaches its rated strength. 

Then we can get to the fun stuff, assembling and raising the tower.

December 26th.

Here is a shot of the foundation with the form removed.

Although it is not a very good shot, you can see we also installed the 8' ground rod today.

Here is a shot of the foundation with Andy standing next to it,

this should give you an idea of how tall the column of concrete is.

March 1st.

We have been promised by SWWP that the new sectional monopole will arrive this week.

If all goes according to plan, at long last, we will be raising the tower next weekend.

Here is a shot of the foundation

 after the dirt has been back filled.

Here is a shot of the Gin pole kit, wind generator, and blades right from the factory.

March 7th.

Everything is ready to go for the final phase of the project.

Installing the tower, wind generator, and raising.

Here is a shot of the new Skystream 45'

 sectional monopole tower as taken off the delivery truck.

Here is the secret formula to installing a wind generator.

Heavy equipment = light work!

Moving the sectional monopole tower sections to the tower base.

Even the goats were intent on seeing the tower raised...

either that or they were eyeing it up to see if they could eat it.

Adjusting / installing the cable steel cable for the gin pole...

It is advised that you raise the tower a

few times without the wind generator installed to get accustomed

 to the process of raising and lowering the tower.

Installing the wind generator and blades.

Practice is over, time for the real deal...

Now how to unfasten that shackle 24' up the pole...

We could have used a ladder...

Then again Bixler's Stump and Tree Service had a much better approach!

Thank you!

Ron Bixler

111 Hinkel Road

Ashland, PA 17921

Tree Removal & Trimming

Tree Stump removal by grinding

Servicing wind generators on request!

Reasonable Rates

Free Estimates

Fully Insured

(570) 875-4007

Completed project as seen from a distance!

Have questions? 

Ready for us to design your renewable energy system?

Give us a call today for your free estimate!

570-754-0053

or

570-640-5131

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