Wind Generator: Fully Operational

As of Tuesday, Oct 13, 2009, our wind generator is fully operational. The digital net meter was installed replacing the old dated analog meter. Even as I type, looking at the SkyView display wit less than 10 mph winds, we are generating electricity. Time will only tell now how much we will be generating. But I believe that whatever we generate is going in the right direction to improve our environment.

Wind Generator - Partially Operational

We are happy to report that our generator is free to turn in the wind and produce electricity. It has passed the many inspections required by the County of El Paso and by MVEA. One final step remains to make it fully functional will occur one day this next week when the operations crew of MVEA will visit to replace the analog meter with the digital net meter which will allow us to receive credit for excess electricity we generate and go onto the MVEA grid. Will post again when that happens. But for now, I have revived an older laptop and installed the SkyView software that I can leave running 24/7 and log the activity. One day when I have too much time on my hands, I will figure out how to create a spreadsheet or database to analyze the results.

Happy Green!

Wind Generator - Skyview Software

On Tuesday, September 29th, Kevin from Cheyenne Wind was out and did the test run prior to final inspections of our generator. How wonderful to finally see it spinning. We were issued our serial number, computer USB antenna, and SkyView 2.o software CD. This software allows us to know exactly what our generator is doing at any point in time. It is now installed on the computer and we have done our own “test run” of the generator. I am sure that we will be enthralled with the software for some time to come.
So there are three inspections that must occur. The building permit final inspection should be today. Next, the electrical permit inspection will be performed. Finally, Mountain View Electric Association will do a final inspection and switch out our analog meter with the digital net meter. At that time, the Matrix generator will be fully functional.
New facts regarding it operation were learned yesterday as well.
At 56 mph wind speed, the generator will lock itself and turn off. It will wait one hour before trying to restart and test the wind speeds to determine if it can safely operate. This is done to avoid damage to the generator.
The generator does NOT provide power in the absence of grid power. If we have a power flicker, the generator will shut down and will try to resume every 10 minutes. In the event of an extended power outage, this will continue until power resumes. If we had a backup generator wired into our home, we could shut the connection to the MVEA grid, the wind generator would sense the backup generator’s function and begin producing power to assist production in that closed environment. We may have to look in to that.
Stay tuned!

==End of Chapter==

Wind Generator - Erection Day - Blog Three

Stay in order with these, OK? Even if they do not show up right... OK Time for this appliance to go into the air. Here are a couple of shots. More photo viewing (and hopefully video veiwing) will be available soon!

It is standing and it is an eye full. Seeing it pivot on the tower with the wind is amazing. I was there (have pics to prove it) and the bubble of the computerized level was right on the money! It moves with ease! A braking mechanism is on at this point until the electrician gets back later this week to work his magic.

Stay tuned!

Wind Generator - Awaiting the Cure

On Monday, August 31st, the bolt template and forms were removed from our foundation. This what it looks like now and approximately two weeks from this past Thursday the concrete should be cured adequately to stand up the generator. We cannot wait!

==End of Chapter==

Wind Generator - The Pour!!!

Justin and Dennis showed up August 27th around 1:30 in the afternoon shortly followed by a cement mixer/truck. Today also consists of closing the trench but I will focus on that in another blog.


It took 3.5 yards of cement to fill the hole and form. Start to finish, it was full in about 12 minutes.

For the days' work, the most time was probably spent on the "finish" work of the top of the form.

Justin and Dennis will return Monday the 31st to remove the forms and then as soon as two weeks from Monday they will erect the generator. We cannot wait.

As I have been doing you can go to Webshots to see all today's photos at http://community.webshots.com/album/574358096SbISvW

==End of Chapter==

Wind Generator - Open Hole Inspection

August 26th was our Open Hole Inspection which we passed. This allowed the scheduling for the concrete to be poured and the trench covered at 2:00 pm August 27th. Be sure and stay tuned for the blog of that big event!

Wind Generator - The Trenching

We have a trench and a piece of cable running from one end to the other! I was notified this morning, 8/24, that the crew would be here in the afternoon. At 3:30 pm Justin and Dennis showed up with the familiar utility truck and trailer with a somewhat dated looking but very powerful Ditch Witch trencher. They got that puppy off the trailer and went to work!

Our generator project entails less trenching that most for two reasons. Number one, we made the decision to spend a bit more and move our home's "main" under the new net meter which will have to breakers in it. The breaker for the 200 amp service to the home (thus converting the home breaker box into a seconday) and a 20 amp breaker through which the generator feeds. Secondly, after that decision was made, it aligned with the decision to place the generator in the South pasture which is near the pole.

As with the previous post with many pictures and lack of control in the blogger to place pictures, this blog includes a link to my Webshots picture portal for todays captures. The photos follow the sequence of the events so if you so desire you can watch it from start to finish at: http://community.webshots.com/album/574314664QdRxOV

The guys will be back in the morning to set the bolts in place. Not sure how they do that and secure them prior to concrete being poured but I guess we shall see. Open hole inspections has been ordered but their lack of experience in El Paso County leaves them with no track record on how quickly they respond. The goal is to get it early tomorrow so concrete can be poured tomorrow or at the latest Wednesday.

Stay tuned for more tomorrow!

==End of Chapter==

Wind Generator - Access to More Pics

I do not know if it is just me and my lack of knowledge of the blogspot.com editor or if it truly is a pain in the rear for managing photos, but I do not care for it. For those of you with adequate bandwidth, I have loaded all the pictures thus far to my Webshots site. http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/574227292tSXEMZ Each file name is the date taken and a three digit serial number; i.e. 8-12 001. The serial number is the sequence in which Al took the shot.

Let me know if this link works for you! I think that connecting the blog with Webshots will allow me to share more photos.

Wind Generator - Boring the Shaft - Part II

Wind Generator - Boring the Shaft

Around 5:30 pm Aug 17th, three Cheyenne Wind vehicles pulled up our street. They were an SUV, the utility truck an trailer that was here previously to build the Cage, and a huge straight truck with a crane on it. It had a gigantuous bit on it that would be used to put the hole in the ground that will become the foundation for the wind generator.

They had bored two shafts that afternoon and had brought their equipment here for the evening and the three men said they would be back first thing in the morning.

Around 8:30 am Aug 18th, activities commenced. Luckily both Al and I were both here to observe this monumental moment! Al, being the photobug of the two us was snapping pictures like crazy. 315 photos later, the rigs were heading off to our friends' place who are also getting a generator and next on the list to get the shaft bored.

Here are a few facts about the foundation for the wind generator on its 45 foot pole:

• The shaft is 24 inches in diameter at the smallest point.
• The shaft is 16 feet deep.
• The cage, being 16'6" sticks out of the hole approximately 6 inches.
• It is required that a minimum of 6 inches of concrete is above ground and the part above ground is 3 feet in diameter.
• It is estimated that it will take 4 to 5 yards of concrete to fill the void of the foundation.
• The bolts for the pole that are placed in the base are L-shaped and approximately 2 feet on the long side and 6 inches on the short side. (One of the pictures shows them laying in the rear of the utility truck on top of copper grounding rods.)
• The concrete base will have to cure for 3+ weeks.

Next steps:

• The trench from my pole to the shaft will be dug.
• The concrete will be poured.
• The electrical work (new net meter, new electrical main on the pole and cables the will be put in place but left disconnected from the existing meter.
• The trench will be covered.

Photos will be in Part II of this Chapter.

==End of Chapter==

Wind Generator - Meet the Crew

Meet Kevin, the Boss! (In the yellow hat...) Seems really good with his customers and his employees! Patient and friendly.

Meet Justin. He is the guy in the orange coat. Most of his work entails running the equipment. He and Dennis are brothers.

Meet Dennis. He is the young guy in the black jacket. He handles virtually every aspect of the installation. Very nice young guy and a very hard worker.

==End of Chapter==

Wind Generator - Rebar "Cage"

On August 12th, a crew of two showed with a heavy pickup and flatbed trailer with a lot of rebar on it. They went to the marked tower site and became constructing a most interesting contraption they called a Cage. They explained that the cage will go in the hole and provide the reinforcement of the base on which the equipment will be constructed.

The Cage is 16'6" in length so that 6 inches or so is out of the ground to reinforce the six inches of concrete required to be above the ground.

==End of Chapter==

Wind Generator - New Gate

When we had our site visit on July 29th, all agreed that the best location for our system was smack dab in the middle of the South pasture. Our six acre-parcel is split into approximately three two-acre areas with the house on the middle section. So we use the terminology of North Pasture and South Pasture. With that determined, our big "to do" was to get big rigs access to the south pasture. The existing 8-foot gate would not cut it.

I did not want to just cut the fencing and then try to mend it back. Just too tacky. And, since we have been here, we have wished for access gates to both pastures from the street. A friend and I went gate and post shopping on August 1st and we went to work. Al dug the post hole by hand of course and we filled it with an 8" round post, quickcrete and water that same day. Then on Sunday (the 2nd) while Al was working I got the gate hung. One small task left to do is shorten the new post but that will have to wait until fall when I get my chain saw tuned up for wood cutting and tree trimming. We are very pleased with our purchase and contruction. And, we are ready for the rigs!!!

==End of Chapter==

Wind Generator - Setting the Stage

Contruction prep started last week (August 12th) for our Wind Generator. Cheyenne Wind Energy out of Cheyenne, WY is the company contracted to perform the construction and responsible for getting it operational. A local contractor in El Paso County, JJ O'Donnell, is serving as the General Contractor from a permitting and subcontractor management perspective for Cheyenne Wind.

I should step back a couple of months and talk about what motivated us to pursue such a costly project. Obviously many of us want to go "green", but it can be cost prohibitive with the current economy. What got the ball rolling was while discussing various topics with a friend who lives just a few miles from us told me that he had been talking to Cheyenne Wind Energy and gave me their contact information. I was on a mission!

Two types of financial assistance made it possible to stay the course. The first is President Barack Obama's stimulous package included a 30% tax credit for all "green" activities with no cap. This tax credit is for all associated costs including the equipment, permits, labor, etc. (FYI, this tax credit is available to all citizens.) Although this is a great incentive, especially for smaller items like water heaters and such, it did not push me over the edge to sign on the dotted line.

Colorado Governor, Bill Ritter's Energy Office (GEO) initiated a Small Wind Rebate Program and allocated this year's grants to Electric Companies and Cooperatives throughout Colorado. (Read more at http://www.colorado.gov/energy/) The electric cooperative that provides our power, Mountain View Electric Association, Inc. http://mvea.org/ (MVEA) was set to receive somwhere in the vacinity of $50,000 to distribute to its customers. I do not know how other energy companys and coops did it, but this is what Mountain View did.

They had a drawing! In late June Cheyenne Wind gave me all the information about this and wanted to know if we wanted them to put our name in the drawing on our behalf. We could not say no. The award (if drawn) $2 for each Watt for which the wind generator is rated. The system proposed for us was a 2.4 kW! I know you can do the math but in case your mind has not gotten around that calculation yet, the number is $4,800!!!!

Then the waiting began...

The drawing was done on July 16th and the next day (a Friday), I received a call from the Master Electrician managing this project at MVEA. He informed me that out of 33* names in drawing (*I think that was the number), we were number 9 which placed us high enough to get the $4.800 grant.

On July 21st I received the letter officializing the award. Then it was a mad scramble to the preliminary site visit in to discuss the location of the equipment and various other details including the contract. The contract had to be signed and a copy to MVEA no later than August 7th. I had carried mine on the 6th and met with the Master Electrician where I learned more about how MVEA "buys" excess energy produced. My current meter will be replaced with a new "net" meter that will run backwards if our equipment produces more energy that we consume. There is no maximum that you are allowed to send onto the grid. It is possible to have a negative electric bill but most believe that is highly unlikely. We are still hopeful.

I also learned that the generator has a WiFi interface that will connect with my home wireless network and feed data to a computer application that will track statistics about the performance and production of the system. So it will be very educational to see all the data and various charts, etc. that comes with the application.

==End of Chapter==