Getting ready for the tower and cabling

This week the people that place little flags to mark the electric and phone lines will be coming. This is to make sure that we don’t dig in the wrong area for the wind turbine foundation and the underground cables to attach to the inverter.

It is also time to get insurance. I talked to my insurance company back in February when I started this project.

One article on the net that I found helpful on insurance was this one by Mick Sagrillo, Sagrillo Power & Light


http://www.awea.org/smallwind/sagrillo/ms_insur2.html


We’ll need insurance for an “appurtenant structure” and possibly liability insurance (which we already have). From what I’ve read so far, it seems New York State doesn’t allow utilities to require liability insurance.

More info on Redriven the company

I found this interesting article from AgriNews about Redriven – it is old, but I had never seen it before. This gives a little more info about the company.

http://www.agrinewsinteractive.com/fullstory.htm?ArticleID=9835&ShowSection=Front%20Page

My installer Rodney Weaver from Rural Generation and Bolt is quoted too.

Going with the 80 foot tower!

I’ve decided to go with the 80 foot tower .

-The payback period is shorter

- I wouldn’t have to wait for NYSERDA to re-approve me

- I'm getting a tower that has been out and working for over a year

- I’ve spent a lot of money all ready – it is time to make some green power!

My installer says he is ordering the anchors, rebar and pad. We should be ready to dig in 3 weeks. Now I’ve got to clean my garage so I have room on the wall for the inverter equipment. I think my installer said he needed a 6ft by 6ft space. I’ll have to ask again for the spec for that that wall.

Weibull curve

My price for the tower was not right - sorry back to the drawing board on trying to figure out the pay back to determine if this is the right thing to do. My installer thinks that the NYSERDA re-aproval for a 100 vs. 80 foot tower will be quick.

Ellen

Back in NYSERDA's queue for a taller wind turbine tower

My quest for my Redriven 10KW wind turbine continues, but now hopes are a little higher (pun intended). This week I received my modified building permit and environmental survey to go up to 120’ and I finally I got the price for the 100’ tower. I can’t afford the 120 ft tower. We’re going for the 100-foot! Now, we have to re-submit to NYSERDA. They give an extra $30 incentive for every foot you go above 80 ft. We’ll get $600 dollars off the price of the larger tower. Hopefully, NYSERDA will not take forever to approve my new taller tower.

I just got an anonymous comment that 120’ would be insane on a 10KW – Anonymous is 100’ insane too? I do realize that I’m crazy to do this . . . I’m still in the stock market too and some how I still sleep most nights.

I’ll do my new pay back calculation later and show everyone how insane I really am.

Still waiting to get the price of the Redriven 100 or 120ft tower

I'm still waiting for the price for the 100 and 120 foot towers. On June 4th, Rodney said he would have the price in a week or so Does anyone know of anyone that has gotten a price for the 100 or 120 foot tower for the 10K? At some point, I'm going to have to just go with 80' . I can't wait for ever to see if I might be able to afford a higher tower.

NYSERDA approval has arrived

Great news! I’ve got my NYSERDA approval. We could start poring cement, but I’d still like to find out how much more it would cost to go up 20 feet or ever 40 more feet. I wanted at least 100 feet in the beginning, but they didn’t make a 100-foot hydraulic tower then. They do now.

My installer doesn't have the pricing for the higher towers yet. They’ve got it for the 20KW but not for my 10KW. Just another week and ½, but that is what they have been saying for a month or so. I think what I’ll do is talk to my town about what it will take to amend my permit to cover up to 120ft just in case I can afford to go the extra feet.

It really means a lot to the projected energy out put. Here are the stats the NYSERDA’s way of measuring.

With an 80 ft tower I could produce 41.1 KWH daily
With a 100 ft tower 52.7 KWH daily almost 28% more
With a 120 ft tower 63.6 KWH daily 55% more power

If power was 10 cent a kW the power I’d be producing would be 4.11 dollar per day with the 80ft tower or 5.27 per day.

I’d have to go back to NYSERDA to get there approval again for the higher tower. I’m not sure how many more months we’d be waiting. They give more money based on tower height. Also, the Federal tax credit is uncapped so I’d get 30% back on the added expense of the extra feet.

It is a very windy day today. Wish I had my wind turbine up and spinning.