JANES HOUSEHOLD SKYSTREAM kWh RECORD
Posted by Joshua Janes at 1/1/2010 4:00 AM 
Categories: KWH Production,Savings
Tags: green energy Southwest Windpower production janes kwh turbine Skystream 3.7
Categories: KWH Production,Savings
Tags: green energy Southwest Windpower production janes kwh turbine Skystream 3.7
JAN | FEB | MAR | APR | MAY | JUN | JUL | AUG | SEP | OCT | NOV | DEC | Total | |
2007 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 175 | 225 | 0* | 400 |
2008 | 98* | 292 | 308 | 246 | 228 | 153 | 92 | 84 | 97 | 164 | 246 | 472 | 2,480 |
2009 | 265 | 348 | 244 | 371 | 182 | 86 | 90 | 84 | 250 | 100 | 194 | 131* | 2,345 |
2010 |
* December, 2007 - Skystream shut down from software problem with cold and would not restart.
* January, 2008 - Skystream down until the 27th. Produce 98kWh in the 5 days remaining in the month.
* December, 2010 - Skystream shut down several times and would not restart on it's own, production very low for wind speeds.
Hi Josh. So what was the deal with it shutting down because of cold weather? Here in Western Alaska we go below zero with high winds a lot of the time--would that be a problem? I'd be interested to know more details about what went wrong and what fixed it. Thanks
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Hey Pete,
Well, I heard from Southwest today and that problem has been resolved, the new software update should be released and out to dealers in the next week or so. The way I understand it, what was happening was frequency issue. When the skystream starts producing power it looks at the frequency of the turbine and grid and they have to match up. When the turbine starts up there was a spike for a second or so. If the software catches this, it thinks that the turbine or the grid is out of spec and it shuts down. To fix this, they changed the software to ignore the frequency for a few seconds. They also have a few other updates included on this patch that owners with the older software don't have as well.
So after this patch is released these glitches should be resolved. So you should be good to go. I'm going to have the new software loaded on my machine as soon as it's available, so I'll let you know how it goes.
Josh
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I would have thought that with a 20 year history, Southwest would not be experiencing problems due to cold. I'm seriously thinking of putting in a wind generator early in 2009 as our province is going to allow net billing Jan 2009 but will have to reconsider SkyStream
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Josh, I would like to know if the cold weather fix worked and if you had to take the pole down. I am signing my agreement with the electric company tomorrow. I am getting ready to pay for my tubine from a dealer south of me. He has had it for awhile and I think it will need the updates. I am in Indiana and it has been real easy to get things done. I live on a farm and we are not regulated by city or county codes. I checked with them any way and they said they had no say in the matter, just had to meet utility requirement. I am going to put it up my self. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks Jay Shoaf
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Hey Jay,
I haven't gotten any definite information on the cold weather issues, I've gotten mixed info from people so I'm not really sure. When We had trouble with ours they switched it out with a new machine and since then we have not had any trouble with the cold. It has been running in freezing rain and subzero temperatures with no trouble. So what ever they did to this one, it has been good to go.
Bonus that their were no regulations other than your utility provider, we were forced to jump through hoops from our township zoning commission.
Installing a skystream is not bad at all. What size tower are you putting up?
One thing to watch for, is make sure that you leave extra slack wire in the tower, at least a couple of feet or so, that way if you ever need to take it down you can use a boom truck and unbolt the head of the skystream and remove it. Otherwise you will have some serious headaches having to disconnect the wire in your 30 amp disconnect box and have to pull it back through the conduit. Another thing I'd advise is to install a dedicated meter between the 30amp disconnect and the service panel to keep a constant reliable count on your production. The remotes can be glitchy. Only other advice is get a big pipe to put on the end of yer cressent wrench to snug down the nuts on the tower and also try to sucker some poor slob into taking turns tightening them, ha... man that wears on ya, let me tell you. I'd say those are the main things. If I think of anything else I'll let you know.
Hope that helps.
Josh
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Josh, Thanks for your thought and ideas. I am using the same pole you have a 45 foot one. I called my dealer and had him call skystream about the software problem. He was told not all units are having the problem so my dealer is going to load the new software on the unit before we put the it on the pole. I could do it after it was up with the wireless display and would to have the skystream usb converter kit which includes the cd for the fix. Thought I would also mention that or remc eletric co. have be very willing to help me get it up. We are the first to ask to hook to the gride. They are so excited about it they have ask if they could do a cover story on us in the monthly publication. Thanks again, Jay
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Hey Jay,
Congrats on the cover story, that's great. Have to let me know how it goes over.
Josh
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Hey,
I have been reading for quite awhile on trying to be energy efficent yet it seems like the skystream isn't the hype it is led up to be. Judging by your production chart and failure ratio of customers it seems this whole wind thing is but a fraud. Yeah spend 15 grand on something that in your area is going to save you 20 dollars a month, what a deal, and maybe i can make it up over forty years..oh sorry they only last 5-15 years and many customers are complaining at not getting a month's worth a operation out of that junk. 308kw won't power crap so you hippies need to get out of the smokefilled pot rooms and be honest with people before they spend lots of money on junk. Keep dreamin...keep turnin ha.
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Ha ha ha ha... wow.
I wasn't even born when hippies existed?
Not sure what pot smoking or hippies have to do with alternative energy other than regular middle class people who are fed up with the status quo and are trying other options instead of doing nothing.
Apparently we have been honest in sharing what our system has done. We have posted the real world numbers on our site to let people know exactly what we spent, problems we had and what we produced each month for our area. We also encourage others to post their stories and information to let others know what they might really expect to produce. If this wasn't our goal we wouldn't post your letter, but I want all points of view so people can make an informed choice.
Production in our area is 200-300kWh, a 1/4 to 1/3 of our power usage that will not increase in cost. For us it's enough and for you it's not. That's cool. It's not for everyone.
If nothing else it's a sad commentary, that you could not post your reasoning on this site in a constructive manner and resorted to name calling and insults. You had good points, but it hurts your case when you let you emotions override your ability to share your facts.
Thanks for your view on this.
Josh
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Well I guess I showed her I saved $40 not $20. last month. Yea I have had problems and hope to get them all fixed. Yes it will take time to pay it off 9k not 15. But I am tired of taking it in the rear from the big energy people electric and petroleum and the less I line their pockets the better I feel. And about the Hippie thing I was just a little boy in the 60's and don't even smoke cigarettes. Renee can call me all kind of foul names she or he wants, in my line of work I get called a lot.
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I'm with you Josh -- I love watching my windturbine turn even gently -- even more now as the cost of electricity is projected in some areas to rise 29%. And to you Renee, if you are still listening, I cut my electricity costs over 50% in Dec -- which on a small farm means alot! Thanks Josh for keeping us turning with your website!
Karen in Lindsey
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Thanks Karen, that's a really good point... the utilities are just going to make the Skystream more cost effective every year they raise their rates.
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I had another thought, Josh. As our numbers increase, it's turbine owners like us who will help keep the electricity grid going for others by drawing less from it ourselves -- enabling Renee to keep her air conditioning on, etc. According to a Toledo Edison rep last summer we were near brown out conditions at times -- so our personal financial investment in our turbines is going to help those who aren't investing in alternative energies too.
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Yeah personally I don't understand what Renee was so worked up about.
I doesn't make sense for people to get so upset about something that doesn't effect them. Now if Renee has bought a Skystream and feels short changed that's a different story, but it didn't sound as if he/she owned one. Renee seems for some reason to take it as a personal attack that I decided to install a turbine and use less of the grids energy and to let people know how it's doing. He/She says I'm miss leading people, but all I've given is exact production numbers for each month in our location. Not sure what the problem is with that. 200-300kWh a month is the same 200-300kWh anywhere in the country, the price per kW may be different but the electricity is still the same. Apparently the numbers don't work for him/her, so the information must have been helpful.
If Renee is happy with the status quo that is cool. He/She can keep doing things exactly the same way they have, but like you said the more of us that choose to use alternative energy the more energy on the grid there will be for them to use. Shoot as much as Renee hates it, 1/3 of the energy I produce flows back on the grid. He/she's most likely using some of my power as well. That's kind of ironic.
Good talking with ya Karen,
Josh
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I also received a second post from Renee Will that provided nothing constructive other than a couple sentences using vulgarity to insult people who bought the Skystream.
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Josh,
I am looking into installing a Skystream 3.7 at my home in Utah. My neighbors have been coming up with all the negative info that they can find. Some of the questions I will ask you, as you have had yours for a while.
Have you had any problems with ice freezing on the blades and then being flipped off when the blades again start to rotate causing any safety issues.
Have you had any other unforeseen safety issues?
Where I am on .23 of an acre, I want my neighbors to feel that I am not going to cause that they shouldn't feel safe in their back yards that are adjacent to mine.
Thanks for your input,
Char
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Ice freezing and launching is a non-issue. All the research and observations of this phenomenon show that the ice just falls off. Never goes more than a few feet from the turbine. If it's iced, the turbine also turns very slowly.
1/4 acre is a very small area for a wind turbine. You'd need a very tall tower - at least 60ft to get over the houses. Most ordinances have a 2 or 3 tower height setback requirement which would make siting impossible.
Noise from a Skystream is a problem. I've had two units. The second is slightly less noisy than the first. But it's still easily heard from my house 600 ft away. Doesn't matter upwind or downwind. It's a persistent whine that sounds like a police siren. If I lived 200 ft from a Skystream, I'd be very annoyed. Some may be quieter than others and the tower may have something to do with it. I've done everything I could to quiet the tower - closed cell foam, new isolators, etc. The noise is airborn and comes from the inverter.
You should go listen to a couple units in 10-15mph wind before you buy. www.windenergy.com has maps that show Skystream installations.
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if you want a good windmill go to intermountain wind and solar out of woods cross and ask for doug shipley we have two in idaho from sky stream and they suck really bad these guys know what they are doing tell them i sent you scott cowley
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Jay,
Where are you located in IN. I am in the process of purchasing a Skystream too and will be the first in my area (Columbia City, Whitley Co.) to do so. The PE at my local REMC thinks it's great and excited about it; however, some of his partners are a little skeptical. They think the payback is too long. But where I am located the winds have been greater than the 10-12 MPH average. I am also going to put it up myself. What size of pole are you going to use? Who is the dealer you are working with and may I ask what your cost was? Thanks, Jeff
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Hi Joshua,
Are you keeping tabs on the mean wind speeds in your area on a monthly basis? It would be interesting to see how close to the manufacturer's predictions your actual output is.
Steve
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Hey Steve,
no I haven't, I was thinking about getting a piece of equipment for that, but just never got around to it. May still look into it.
Josh
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Josh,
What do you mean with you will load the software upgrade? How does that work?
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From what I understand Software updates can be uploaded to the towers wirelessly using the remote.
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I did this successfully just a couple of weeks ago - my Skystream here in Maine also had the cold-weather lock-up problem. I downloaded the new software from the SWWP web site, connected the Remote Display to my computer with the little USB adapter box in between, and ran the program. The new software was radioed to the turbine (though it took a couple of tries - you need good reception) The program then indicated "update successful". I'm now running with the 1.11 software.
Dave
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Good deal Dave. I thought that was how it was supposed to work. If you have time let us know how the new software works out. A lot of folks are interested.
Josh
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Hi Dave,
Did you have to use the power supply(optional kit 2-
SSUP-100-02)?
I tried to upgrade (CD one) directly (through the Data Logger) and it did not work.
Thanks,
Dick.
Phelan, CA
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Hi Josh and everyone. It's Karen from Lindsey, Ohio. Northcoast company attempted to download the new software onto my computer and then onto my remote but my remote display locked up -- it was the last version model and they thought it would accept the new software but did not -- I am currently waiting for the most recent remote which I believe is available now. The software should download through the computer and remote connection. Darryl told me Southwest had tested the new programs in a wind turbine on dry ice and now have the UL certification. My turbine is turning today in this wind and blizzard-like conditions but without the remote or a meter yet I don't know what it's producing. The Skystream tech told me the remotes are not meant to measure kwh hrs acccurately -- you definitely need the meters. I had trouble with Creative Technologies about getting their meter and am still looking at models. I was told the one you bought will not have replacement parts in 6 months -- so I'm trying to determine what the new models are. I also had trouble with my utility company bumping me from my alternate supplier back to them as supplier at a higher cost -- they had categorized me as a power supplier because of the wind turbine and therefore not able to "shop" for a supplier ( I was a member of the Farm Bureau's buying aggregate) -- I filed a complaint with the PUCO and in 6 days had received word it was a "clerical error" and was returned to my alternate supplier.
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Hey Karen, Good to hear from you.
Man I'll be glad when I hear that the cold weather issue is fixed. So much confusion on what the deal is with it and their just doesn't seem to be a straight answer for it or the fix. Think I may contact Southwest and see if I can get a quote to post on the site from them.
Yeah I'm not a fan of the remotes. I have always had trouble with mine.
So what's the deal with the meter from Byram Labs that I bought? They having problems with them? So far ours has been working pretty well? Just curious.
A clerical error?, yeah I bet. Ha. Sounds like they were just trying to squeeze you for extra money since you were cutting into their profits.
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My electrician checked with Byram Labs -- I think it's an upgrade thing -- they continue to sell that model but a new model is coming out making the old and its parts obsolete. What's new?!
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oh ok, good to know. So the typical changes. I was worried they had troubles with them.
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the skystream is our 4th attempt at wind power--the first three were unbelievable disasters-outback,aurora, magnatec,anuha and a number of suppliers, could not make the system work (once they get your money they certainly don't try very hard). the problem stems from using two different companies for example one produces the turbine another produces the inverter--if something is wrong then of course it is always the other guys fault...On our forth attempt we discovered the skystream--we are about 75% satisfied--the cold weather start and stop problem just does not make any sense--my neighbour has exactly the same unit ,his never quits. The only difference is that his unit is at 40 ft. mine is at 80. This morning (march 9)the weather is 20 f. the wind is about 25mph and we are dead--my neighbour is screaming power. Our unit will start and stop at least 3 times in the next few hours. So far we have downloaded the new update which not only was to cure this problem but increase our power output by 27%--it did not work-as far as we can see the program made no difference. Now we have been told that a new update will be available in march---you must appreciate that over the last 3 years the amount of crap we have been fed by other renewable suppliers has us slightly jaded at this time. The most serious problem in my mind is continual start and stop of the skystream-it can't be good for any mechanical device to turn at 300 plus and stop in half a revolution. The bang from this is amazing.--I will keep you informed as to our progress --it would be difficult at this time to recommend this product.MRJ>
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Yeah this cold weather issue is definitely making no sense. Our first turbine had that problem and shutdown and would not restart. The new skystream that replaced it has run non stop in freezing temperatures and freezing rain. The new one does has a newer software package on it, but I was told that that version still did not address the cold weather problem. Very confusing. I understand completely your misgivings with the current issues. I think that Southwest would be best served to keep owners informed directly from them instead of it trickling out info through dealers.
Josh
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As a distributor of Kestrel, Iskra and Proven turbines, I am interested in finding out which turbine(s) you had all the trouble with previous to your purchase of the SWWP machine. I would also like to mention that all of the inverters you mentioned require programming to match the power curve of a specific turbine, as well as a device in-line to limit the maximum voltage input to the invertrer - or big problems will ensue. Reputable turbine companies produce and/or supply these limters, or build their alternators such that the rotor speed can never exceed that point at which the open circuit voltage is greater than the maximum allowable by the inverter company.
I would also respectively disagree that having the turbine and inverter made by different companies is a bad thing. Having the choice of using an inverter developed and produced by a company that is a world leader in the technology, and one that only makes a single product should lead to some serious consideration. Also remember that SkyStream components come from all over the planet, including China.
We specifically have stayed away from selling the SkyStream for the reasons you mentioned, as well as a couple other issues that I find to be less than 100% desireable. These include the location of the inverter within the turbine nacelle, which I see as the wrong place for it to live, and the absence of any aerodynamic or mechanical overspeed controls.
While I think that the marketing of the SkyStream is one of the great achievements in recent memory, it would seem prudent for all prospective buyers to engage in at least a little due dilligence concerning the available turbine options prior to signing on the dotted line.
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Yeah, I am concerned about this software problem because I am in Wyoming and we recently saw -27 degrees F for 3 nights below -15 F. Is this something that has been corrected in the newest models available?
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The current word on the net is that they are still working on the software update for this issue. One of the problems seems to be that it's not happening on all the machines. My skystream has run non stop through freezing rain and subzero temperatures will wind chills of -5 to -20 degrees with no problems. I'm going to contact Southwest in the next day or so and see if I can get some answers to post.
Hope to have so new info next week.
Josh
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I was informed by my turbine installers that Skystream recently received UL certification for the software after testing the turbine on dry ice. That software upgrade is currently available -- I'm hoping to have it this week.
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Just wondering if you received the photos of my turbine and comments I sent last week regarding my issues with my utility company trying to cateogize me as a power utility and thereby changing me from an alternate supplier. Someone else may experience the same thing. My issue was resolved after a complaint to the PUCO. Linda and Darryl attempted to download the software to my remote 2 weeks ago -- my remote locked up and they have to replace it. It was an earlier version, so they are not quite compatible with the upgrade. I am supposed to have the new remote and upgrade this week.
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Hey Karen,
Yep I got them and I'm going to post them on the site this week, been a little backed up with that near blizzard that came through over the weekend. Just now getting caught up. I'll let you know when the post goes up so you can check it out and make sure it reads right. Thanks again for the info on your issues with your utility. That should help others who run into a similar thing.
Josh
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I was recently told by my installer that a software upgrade would allow the skystream to get 2.6 kw instead of 1.8. Is that true?
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I hadn't heard that. From what I've been told is is supposed to peak at 2.4kw. I'll ask around see if anyone else has heard this.
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Josh,
The letter I have from SWWP states that the software upgrade I received also "provides enhanced performance resulting in an overall productivity increase of the turbine" -- they do not give a kwh hr increase in the notice however.
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I dont know if it the software ,but I have an Off-grid system and my skystream
give me frequently 3200 watts... 14 amps on the 240V !!!
a real hot-Rod !!!
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I just finished connecting my skystream today and much to my dissapointment it will only start as its supposed to but will only run for a sec or two before the brake comes on and shuts down. Any Ideas out there?
I'm still waiting to hear from tech support.
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Hello Josh,
Our problems here in Southern Illinois still havn't been worked out. I'm at 125 days since I installed my generator only,"Old Dial type" meter and weve only made 270 KWH total. The generator has been up since last Sept 2007. I've had all the cold weather problems, the Dealer fist switched the switch, then solinoids, then came down to upload and never could establish com. then last week Mon he replaced the entire computer with all the new uploads, and It seemed to work fine with good production untill we had some very strong winds this weekend. Production went from 8 KWH back up the line to 4 KWH then 1 KWH with as strong or stronger winds. We had a brief power glitch last night and it began cycling on and off, so I shut it down last night. Let it sit 8 hrs and re-started at 6 A.M. did not produce anything up the line and showed only 3 KWH on the turbin only meter. 5-10 MPH winds 45 ft pole. Not happy at all.
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Hello Josh,
Just thought I'd give an update on ours.. 4/7/08 the installer came down and installed a new head unit, still could not estabolish com. We were mad so the installer brought out one of the engineers from Southwest. They installed another board and a new antenna with the skystream Xbee 1.6 communicator. I can now watch turbin production from my desktop.. very nice set up. They, "skystream" seem to be trying to resolve there issues. BUT I have to be honest. I've had 5-10 MPH winds most of the afternoon today and only produced 2KWH.. It does no produce enouph in light winds to supply a water heater and fridge only running. It's a small turbin with minimal output. I just wish the price wouldn't have stung so much. That is why were upset.
We spent $16,400.00 on 45' pole, turbin, Installation, two way meter $500.00 from Power Co, permits from the County and the one glitch we were not expecting. Paying Tax after the contract was signed.....
I knowtice that everyone has alot of different Savings here but no one talks about what they did to cut there costs and install the Windstream?
Our story: I installed 3 clothes lines to not use the dryer, we wrapped our electric hot water tank with blanket and turned it all way down on bottom, first click on top. we wrapped all our hot water lines in tube wrapp, we installed most CFL's, we wash most dishes by hand and don't use dishwasher. I heat with 90% efficiancy and we have a wood burner in the basement.
I WISH I COULD GET A MORE EFFICIANT PUMP FOR THE CEPTIC TANK.. our #1 electric abuser.
Our avg before skystream and the changes in lifestyle 1089 KWH, best to date usage has been 472 KWH. so as you can see, alot of changes in lifestyle can have a big impact on KWH, but just remember most of this is not from the windstream. My Windstream only meter says i've produced 377 KWH since 11/23/07... The saving helps smooth the blunt, but it's a pricy investment to say the least....
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Hey Eric,
I heard they were setting it up so you would be able to check your production on you laptop. That does sound good.
Yeah, I hear what your saying on price and savings. I make sure that when I show numbers it's the kWh that the Skystream produced for the month and not the additional savings from other lifestyle changes. Now as far as the percentages of our bill that it pays for, that's all relative. I always get nervous when folks ask what percentage of our bill it will cover, since the more we reduce usage the higher percentage of our bill the Skystream takes care of. Technically if we reduced usage to 300 kWh a month our Skystream could do 100% of our power, but even before the skystream the lowest usage we ever had was 690 kWh in a month.
We also made lifestyle changes along with adding the wind turbine. We changed all the bulbs in our house to florescence, use the clothes line in the summer and got a front loading washer and dryer, to bring down our usage. It helped a lot, but I have kids and they made sure to do their best to negate that savings in anyway they could think of.
Our biggest expense is our LP that we use for heating and our hot water. Our zoned furnace was the highest efficiency model available at the time we built, but even so it costs $1,000.00 every time we fill our tank and that's usually 3 times a year. We were hoping to switch to geothermal this year, but with inflation in the increase in fuel costs, the price jump by nearly $4,000, putting the cost over $18,000 and it was more than we could afford to spend currently. So we're stuck feeding the foreign energy market another year.
Just curious Eric, but what's your average wind speed in your area? Ours is 10-14mph and we generate on average 200-300kWh a month with our Skystream. Since 10/1/07 we have produced 1675kWh, and we were shut down all off December and all most all of January.
Josh
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Hey Josh,
I'll try to put all this together.... I know what you mean on the kids..(3) in this household, I believe the Wife and oldest daughter are my big offenders(grin) If I could only get them to take a bath every other day... (grin) no offence ladies..
The Laptop connection is NICE. It graphs your output and gives you a detailed data log of everything the generator does. It will also help you when you have a shut down. The engineers are watching this feature carefully to find out what shuts 'The Generator" down. It has a trouble code when they shut down...
OK meter set up, I have an old analog style connected to the generator only, we had slow wind today;shows between 377-78 so we produced 1/2 KWH by this meter. My xbee 1.6 shows 87805 watt Hrs so that needs to be converted to KWH. Do you have any connections for digial Hour meters? I sometimes wander if the analog is correct...
Next topic: our best KWH without Skystream AND lifestyle changes 930 KWH, we were at 459 KWH with 16 unused back up the line last month for our best with the generator and changes.
We live just East of St.Louis Mo in Southern Illinois. We are catagory 3 from what I learned last year. I would say we avg 8-12 MPH, maybe a litle better this last year.
Last but not least, I LIVE by my woodburner. We built in 2002 and had it designed to pass code. our propane bill, " we live in the country" near a city but in the woods. I have no neibors for 1/4 mile... We had a pretty good winter lst year, worse than the last three, I only used 8% on my propane. Every time they deliver,"Propane Dealer" they ask how I do it... Not Lazy, just go to the woods and cut firewood.....
Eric
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The meter I use is analog too, but this company Byram labs carries digital meters.
http://www.byramlabs.com/product_info.php/products_id/38
That amazing on the propane usage. We live on farm land but our access to fire wood is limited, otherwise that sounds like a really good option.
Josh
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If you have a sawmill nearby go there to buy the ends. We paid $75 for our stove at a yardsale and it cost us $365 for wood last winter. Our oil company was quite upset that we only used a 1/4 tank of oil for all of last winter. Much bigger savings then the 45ft flagpole in the yard .... LOL
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I have the reader on the lab top it has a graph which shows it working in real time.
skystream XBee Communicator 1.6.0.iv It has data logging capabilities but that part doesn't work.
My turbine is up to 112 kwh for june so far.
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I had my had my remote hooked up to the computer and found that the kwhs note on the remote to actually be less than what I was making. I talked with a Southwest tech and he said the remote was not made to be entirely accurate but to be used for trouble shooting the system. A dedicated meter is required for accuracy. I posted a cool graph from the data logger of the power production real-time during a winter wind storm on this site some months ago -- is that still here, Josh?
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Hey Karen,
Yeah it's still on the site.
Try this url, it should take you there.
http://blog.keepturning.com/2008/03/13/december-data-logger-power-graph-from-windhaven-farm-ohio--karen.aspx
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Hi,
Thought I'd add my experiences from Australia with one of the first 3 in the country. Mine was installed a month ago and went for 24 hours producing about 18kWh then e-stopped. Just received a software update to correctly start and stop the turbine when the batteries are charged, as mine is a remote (non grid connect) system. It has produced 2.6kW peak. I'm very happy with the power output but have two remaining issues, the turbine sometimes stops for abut 12 seconds and then restarts independently of the inverter or state of the battery charge it would seem. My inverter shifts the frequency up a few hertz when the batteries are charged and the skystream stops, when the batteries discharge by a certain amount (not sure exactly how much) it starts up again. Also the remote is a little unreliable, when the dealer did the s/w update they had to try many times to get that to work but they have been very helpful. What version of software do people have in their remotes ? Does the logging s/w work well ?
cheers,
Scott.
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Hi Scott, Have you had any luck in getting the turbine to be reliable? I am still waiting for the load dump to come along to fix start/ stop problems that are happening all the time. There are still heaps of stoppages happening with ours even when not windy and bateries notup to charge - give me ring to discuss if you like 0428541185 Regards Derek
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Josh Jay Shoaf from a farm in Indiana. We are up and running it was April 30. It has ran with no problems and we did not load the new sofware because it was under warrenty so I though I would try it first. It does not make hardly and noise and I have to stop to listen to see if it is running. I am very pleased so far. Everybody loves to watch it. I did put a meter in as you suggested that was a good idea. I will send pictures if you would like. Thanks Jay
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Good deal Jay, glad to hear it... Yeah that would be great, I'll post them on the site. Can't wait.
Josh
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I am considering becoming a dealer for the Skystream. I am in a warm weather area so the cold is not an issue. Reading some of the posts it seems that some are disatisfied with the Skystream corporate support. On all the upgrades and "fixes", is the factory covering the field costs for the installers, or are they sharing in the learning curve cost? Also I have spoken to one owner of a system who has told me they have to shut down the unit in moderate winds due to noise complaints from two neighbors, one 250' and the other 350' away. Has that been a problem with other installations?
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I personally haven't had any problems with the noise produced by my skystream. Ours produces a very minor hum when it's running and squeak sound when it shifts direction some times. Our Skystream sits about 125' from the house on a 45' monopole tower, I rarely notice the sound coming from it. Once in a while if you listen close you can hear the hum it makes when the wind is really cranking out side, but otherwise we usually don't even notice it's there. My closest neighbor is about 300' away and we have never received any complaints from them or any other neighbors about the sound.
If you go to this link I have more info on the sound and a video shot from in our house on a windy day of it running.
http://blog.keepturning.com/2008/02/11/when-the-wind-blows-does-the-skystream-make-a-sound.aspx
Have a good one,
Josh
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Hey, Jon, Here in Lindsey on a farm I haven't had complaints but I can hear my Skystream, especially when the wind is strong and blowing in the house of the house. In high winds mine sounds like a very very soft emergency siren that escalates in pitch with higher winds and lowers in pitch as the wind lessens. Most of the time I can't here it all unless I listen for it and sometimes have to actually get closer to it to hear it when the wind is blowing away from the house. I also read that some molded foam type insulation in the pole base stops alot of the sound transmission caused by the pole vibration.
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mine is 123 or so feet from my house on a 70 foot tower i can hear it in the house
it is a low hum when the wind is really blowing it is more like a helicopter sound not loud just the same pitch when the wind is blowing that hard you do not want to be outside anyway
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John, you mentioned that you're considering becoming a dealer for the SkyStream and looking for installation support, etc. I recommend checking-out Prevailing Wind Power: they have a few years of experience with SWWP in Southern California, and are seeking to expand their sales/installer network. http://www.prevailingwindpower.com
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I would go out and listen to several installations during medium to high wind conditions (15-20mph). My Skystream is a real screamer - sounds like a police siren. Can be heard from 1/4 to 1/2 mile away. Some units may be quieter than mine but chances are you'll be a very unpopular dealer, especially if you install in an area where houses are within 1/4 of each other.
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I am considering buying two of these for a home we are about to build in Tennessee. The wind maps project high wind speeds. I am very interested in this model wind turbine. I wish to be off grid so if anyone has input on these questions it would help so much for information is hard to find if you are looking for specifics that most contractors and electricians are not familiar with. Well I will tell you my plans and concerns.
1. I think I have enough for a hybrid system with 2 skystreams on 45' and 60' monopoles and a solor panel system rate around 4000 watts. Also in my budget is for a separate storage house for controllers, batteries and inverters. Is there anybody that has suggestions on actual hook up of this system. I am concerned with costs of additional inverters to convert ac to dc for charging of batteries. Also I am concerned with loss of power from this transfer.I don't know if this is a reasonable turbine for this application.
2. Because of these unknowns I am concerned with going over budget and not being able to finish project all together resulting in no power. So if I got the system and go over budget and don't have enough for the installation of the systems, how hard is it to do yourself?
3. With the system I have described is their any opinion on which voltage is more preferable for a battery based hybrid system?
4. Is there any recommendations of products for the applications that are within this system.
Thanks for any suggestions.
Gale
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What is the average speed you have been getting in your area and KW a month. I average right around 800KW a month with winter being my highest around 1000kw due to the holidays would this system benifit me or should I get something bigger. Also can you use a lattice tower on these systems I can get these in my area and alot cheaper or do you have to use there pole. Looking at going to 80 maybe 100 ft live near lake Ontario and own 50 acres so no restrictions from town on hight just federal ones.
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According to the wind maps for our area we have an average wind speed of 10-14 mph. Our average production has been 200-300 kWh a month and sits on a 45' tower. I'd check Southwest directly on the lattice tower. I would think that should work, but I'd make sure with them first.
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Josh,
Don't you have wind velocity measurement capability directly thru the turbine? I thought the Skystream would actually provide wind velocity data......
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Actually I just use a dedicated meter at the base of my skystream to keep track of production. I don't use the remote right now.
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John,
I have the remote and it does not currently provide wind speeds directly. There is a column in the data logger software for that information, however the turbine does not have a direct antenna/apparatus to measure or anemometer(at least my model installed last Nov. does not) -- the booklet states that there is the capability to determine a "reference" speed from the rpms apparently -- but I haven't figured out how and haven't found anything in the booklets to explain it --- rpms and kwhs generated are displayed on the remote. My remote currently is not working consistently -- it locks up and requires multiple steps, including stopping the windturbine to reboot it -- I just recently had the software update installed and that hasn't helped the remote picking up the signal. I have the remote a longer distance from the turbine inside my house -- but it had been picking up the signal until the last couple of weeks. I'm wondering if extra tree foilage is interfering more now.
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Karen,
They have a new Antenna that is longer and sends a better signal for the top of the wind turbin. Also the Xbee 1.6.0 has a windspeed measurement by the propellers rate of speed. This is a new program that is software on your home P.C. that graphs, has a data logger & detailed data tht shows referance wind speed.. If you have this on your home P.C. hit detailed data on the pull down menu, "Top Left" and look at the bottom of the columns. mine usually shows 3-4 MPH ref speeds with some gusts up to 10MPH..
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You can get windspeed from the remote, but it's a bit clumsy. The ref ws is in meter/sec and it's only in 1 m/sec increments. If you download that column into Excel you could get average windspeed by taking an average over a long period of time and then multiplying by 2.2 to get average windspeed in mph.
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Look at the ws column on the DataLogger. It's the estimate that Skystream uses for the power algorithms. I've looked at it vs synchronous anemometer readings and the average (over 100's or readings) is quite close. Multiply the m/sec value by 2.23 to get mph
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Thanks, Eric. Did you order that new antenna or did it come with your unit? I think that could help me alot since I could get the signal inside the house unitl recently. I have the Skystream 1.52 Data Logger version, which I was just recently told by the installer doing my update a week ago was the most recent version. How did you get the Xbee? My version has the the windspeed on the detailed menu, second column bottom, noted as ws(ref)-- I thought some conversion of the number seen was necessary because I would have high winds and not see high enough values. Since my remote isn't picking up any signal now I can't check it with the newest update they installed. I appreciate you getting back to me re: the antenna! (Josh -- my internet dropped so this email or similar may arrive in duplicate -- sorry!)
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The antenna you refer to is specific to XBee 2.4 GHz radios (that will replace the 900 MHz radios that have been standard up till now). In most conditions the 900 MHz radios work just fine but the 2.4 GHz radios are built around 802.15.4 communications protocol (a very robust consumer communications backbone)and have "forward error correction" capability that enhances the precision of the data transmission- particularly when there is competition on the same wave length. There is also a newer communication software revision that is specific to the XBee radios- Skyview 1.01. Looks better, works better.
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Hi Jay, Do we have to buy the updated hardware (XBee)direct from SWWP to get the remote logging side of things to actually work? Is it available in kit form? Regards
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Wow..! I'm glad I found all of you. I put in my SkyStream last september, and when the cold weather hit, I started having problems. I received several updates, but not sure if they solved the problem, as the latest update was after the cold weather.. The update didn't go too well, and the turbine was stalled, finally after powering down several times for extended periods, and putting the serial # on the usb box to all 0's, I finally got the update to work, and the turbine to start back up. I guess I'll find out soon enough if the update worked... The first firmware update for the remote killed it, so they sent me another, but now this one shows outlandish #'s like 6500 degrees and 32000 Watts.. it eventually crashes and just shows error... on all 3 lines. One other thing, it seems after the update that I am getting less power produced, but maybe it is just my perception. A note on setup with the ginpole: My turbine is on a hill, and I put the ginpole uphill.. bad idea, and I hadn't thought about it before, but the geometry doesn't quite work out, as you are pulling slightly above the base and can't get the ginpole down far enought, so I used a couple guys standing on the ginpole, and my four-wheeler winch to get it down the rest of the way.
It was great reading all your comments, and finding fellow skystream users that have had problems. I'm on a hill / downhill from a lot of neighbors, and I tell you it sure is embarrasing when the neighbors call up and ask why my turbine isn't moving when the wind is blowing 25 mph + outside. Last week it stalled again, and I had to shut off the power for about an hour before it would come back online. Shutting it down for 10-20 minute intervals did nothing, so I turned it off and left it off, sent an email to skystream support, then turned it back on and crossed my fingers, luckily it came back up and has been turning since....
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Oh, one more thing.. during winter I was consistently getting 400 kwh + per month... it was great.. Summer hasn't been near that.
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Hey Adam, thanks for sharing your experience so far with your skystream. I too had problems this past winter and I am hoping that everything is straightened out now. So far ours has been running fine since they fixed it in january. In the winter and spring we were running 250-300kWh. The summer has been pretty light for us too 100-175kwh.
Keep us informed on how it goes this winter. We'll be watching to see how it goes.
Josh
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SWWP should just send you a new unit. It's obvious that you have a serious communication and software problem. You should know that the current software causes one hour shutdowns in 20-25 mph winds because there are usually 35 mph gusts in that wind condition. There is a software patch that reduces the shutdown time to 45 sec. But it will always shut down in a 35mph gust.
They should also give you a new communications board and remote unit. Just stay after them and they'll eventually take care of you.
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Quick question for everyone. We've been having a pretty good windstorm for the past day or so, and production is great. My question is that when I open the data logger, I notice that the power high indicator is lit (which I am assuming the turbine is at it's upper limit, then the "quiet" indicator lights up. What does "quiet" stand for? Also on the graph, I notice that almost after every peak where it reaches power high, the output falls sharply. I know wind is irregular, and that accounts for a lot of it, but the up and down are almost like a regular heart beat. My assumption is that when it reaches power high, the turbine auto derates to cut production or sometihng ??
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I saw exactly the same thing. In a 20-25 mph wind it will get to 1800-2000 watts for 5-10 seconds and then drop suddenly to 400-500 watts for 10-20 seconds. Then it will slowly build back up and then repeat the process. I've simultaneously watched my anemometer (mounted on the tower) and the windspeed does not drop. Only the Skystream output.
So you are correct, the software is "saving" the inverter from possible overload. SWWP will not reveal the meaning of various warnings and lights on the logger because it's "too technical". But if you watch the data for a while, you can figure it out - you did!
The net result is significantly lower production in these conditions than you should expect. Theoretically, when the wind is constantly blowing over 20 mph, you should be seeing 1800 watts - over 20kwh per day. I've never seen half that production in 20-25 mph because the system is constantly braking to protect the inverter. Plus it shuts down when a gust hits 35 mph.
The 2.0.0 software did improve this condition slightly, but also caused the one hour shutdowns when the wind hit 35mph.
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Just wondering some prices looking at 3.7 with 45' tower have these prices looking for a little better 4500 for 220 volt 60Hz 3600 for 45' tower would the marine be recommended in nw ohio, $700 for anchor bolts.
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The marine tower is only for salt water exposure - ocean shoreline. You don't need it in Ohio.
You can buy the anchor bolts directly from Portland Bolt (Oregon) for about 75% of what SWWP charges. Garth Ward (a Skystream dealer in NW Michigan) may have a set of bolts for a good price.
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I called Portland Bolt Co. in Oregon and they would not sell me bolts, they wanted all specs. and I didn't know how hard the bolts were for strength and they told me to go to South West Wind for the bolts.
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I have the complete spec sheet for the Portland bolts (42 inch version). I have it as a .pdf
I need an email to send it or Josh could publish it on this site.
Josh, I'll try to send it to you.
Tom
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In case you can't get the pdf, here are the line item bolt specs for the 42" bolts:
QTY PROD # Description
8 17064 1-1/4 x 42 x 6 x 7GAL F1554G55 Anchor Bolt
19 11742 1-1/4 GAL HVY HEX NUT A563A
16 16453 1-1/4 DOM GAL F436-1 RND WASHER
You do not need a "Mill Test". It's in the SWWP spec but it's for legal protection.
Kyle is the contact at Portland Bolt
www.portlandbolt.com
503-227-5488 / 800-547-6758
PO Box 2866, Portland OR 97208
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I wanted to give a little background on the anchor bolt package for Skystream installations. Portland Bolt has partnered directly with Southwest Wind Power to provide the custom anchor bolts for their towers. We do not sell these anchor bolts directly since they are owned by Southwest. If you need to order these anchor bolts we recommend you contact Southwest or a local dealer for more information. Keep in mind these bolts are engineered for Skystream wind turbines from steel that is not readily available, and manufactured to Southwest’s standards. I would be cautious shopping around and question anyone who offers a “cheaper” alternative.
We think it's great that individuals are able to create their own power and appreciate being a small part of the process. Keep it up!
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I have 2o acres with catagory 7 winds. What wind turbine will work at these speeds?
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I would shop for a while before you choose, I have the Skystream installed and it has performed so far but you hear all the horror stories about SWWP and the Skystream. Check out www.windenergy7.com, buy a kit for $2500.00 you automaticaly become a dealer of their products. They are in Ohio if I had found them first I may have went that direction. I don't know where you located but go to your County planning board and find out what your limits are for erecting a tower & turbine, some Counties in Indiana are restricted to install a turbine period. Good luck but ever you go for it you can, there are federal benifits, State, and County moneys.
Rex Higgins Kokomo Indiana
P. S. I'm the first to have a turbine in Howard County, Indiana but there are several small turbines going but I was the second to get a permit but the first to install one.
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hey I am a high voltage lineman. All you got to do is dig a 5ft hole. call for delivery of a 45ft pole, they will usually drop it in the hole, tie ropes to the top to plumb. backfill and tamp. Find a local lineman and pay him to set the turbine and run the riser to the ground and you take it from there. Listen to the lineman. ROD
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Rodney, how do you fasten the turbine to the pole?
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Rex and Rodney, I am in NE IN Columbia City, 46725 and istalled my turbine on a Class 3 45' pole set 7' in the ground. Made a mount out of a scrap base from a steel light pole. Mount pressed onto the pole and set to give me a nose cone height of 40'. No guy wires used and it survived a severe thunderstorm in early Aug without any issues. YAW tracking works fine without and binding. Currently I have inverter and relay board issues and I am waiting on parts.
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Thanks for the reply, I have a close friend who works for Duke Energy, I'll have to check this.
Thanks Rex
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You better use guy wires!
I'm and engineer and did a calculation of the strength of that 40' pole unsupported by guy wires. Assuming a 10inch diameter at the base and 4000psi strength of the wood, it will fail at 76mph. It will have no safety factor and and assumes no deterioration of the wood over time. It will probably fail at 55-60 mph given the variation of wood products and wind gusts. These poles are designed for a fraction (10-20%) of the thrust load that the Skystream will produce (775 lbs at 76 mph, 2800lb at 145 mph) so you better know what you're doing or you'll have a $5000 mess in you yard someday.
The Skystream towers have a safety factor of about 6.0 at 76mph and about 2.0 at 145mph, considered good engineering practice.
Also, the 5 ft hole in the ground cannot support a free standing pole. It will wiggle loose in a few days of strong wind. It's pretty simple soil engineering.
So use those guy wires or expect a very expensive surprise some day.
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Remember when they sent the Mars probe and it crash landed because one group of engineers used metric and another used english units?
Guilty. My Skystream manual list the thrust load at 2800 lbs. That sounded a bit high so I looked it up in other places and they list it at 2800 Newtons. So my above calculations are off by a factor of 4.4. The 40' wood pole will probably work fine withour guy wires. But I still think the soil mechanics will get to you eventually and the pole will loosen.
SWWP sells a kit for making a 5" guyed tower. It includes the top fitting sized for 5 in schedule 40 pipe. You could adapt that for the top.
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So we have had our first cold snap.... and guess what.. my turbine is shutting down. It did it once before after the firmware update, but turning the power off for 30 minutes brought it back to life. But now it is doing it again ,constantly showing "relay open". Does anyone know if there is a newer firmware release? Support hasn't gotten back to me.. They always seem to take their time. I am honestly getting pretty frustrated and starting to think getting a skystream was a mistake... Every time it stops turning while the wind is blowing my neighbors keep asking "is it broken"?
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SWWP has not been responding to any support requests for several weeks.
I just installed a ZigBee/XBeePro2 unit that was a replacement for a noisy, no communications unit. The XBee system has great communications. 1000+ ft easy.
But I can't get to the advanced section to do start/stop remote, set the altitude, etc. There is a secret password that SWWP will not reveal.
The new unit is a little less noisy. But, I would never put one within 500 ft of a residence. I've done everything to reduce noise. Fiberglass in the lower 2/3, closed cell foam packed into the upper 1/3.
So, be cautious if you're considering a purchase. It produces exactly (and a bit more) as advertised for windspeed and power. But there are some burdens you will have to assume.
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Finally got a response from SWWP tech support (after 6 days).
The password for the advanced section of Skyview software is: route66.
You can set the altitude here but you can no longer do remote starts and stops from the control panel.
The 2.0.0 software came through the first freezing temperatures without a shutdown.
The "watt-hours" reports about 7% less than the actual (dedicated meter) production.
The new unit produces about 15% more than the published power curve based on my logging anemometer data.
All good news so far - one week!
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Hello Tom my name is Lourrie and I live in Alpena, MI. I purchased my turbine in April. In the first 50 or so days I produced 1361 KWH. Since then I have seen no production of power on my power bill. Wonder if you have any idea's. Please email me at lourrie@charter.net
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The software that is supposed to fix the problem is 2.00.00. Your remote should show 200 as the software release.
This level does not fix the 30-35mph shutdown problem. There is a patch that sets the shutdown time from 1 hour to 45 sec. I do not know what rev this is.
If anyone has the various patches and upgrades, please post. SWWP does not seem to be interested in posting these upgrades.
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Hi,
I just applied with my township for a SkyStream and you guys gave me the jitters a little bit. I will be spending about $20,000.00 if I can use a battery backup. Can I have battery backup if I am not using a 12 volt system? The guy seemed liked he had to inquire about that. Using a 50 ft pole and I am in zip code 19380. The avg wind I think is 5.5 ms. My wife will kill me if this does not show a decent savings. HELP!!!! I was think of adding another Turbine if this is ok and also a few Solar Panels.
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I have a stand alone system that is not commected to the grid at all - and a skystream 3.7. Firstly you will have to build your own load dump - or your supplier will, as the one that was promised by SWWP has never materialised. The skystream starting and stopping due to a battery sensor on a relay switch will not work - your inverter will not like this. So you will need a load dump to keep the skystream going all the time. I have an outback 48 V, 3kw inverter with 650 Ah Gel batteries and the Skystream. We are in a VERY windy site an we are having to run our diesel generator a lot as the skystream shuts down in winds (only for for 45 seconds each time now) all the time when the wind is over about 10-15 knots. We are told that there is (yet) another firmware update that will fix this and make the unit work as efficiently as claimed. We have been battling with SWWP for the last two years since the WHisper 500 died that we were supplied with in three months and a skystream was supplied in place of it. I think you will be best off getting a lot of solar and a good diesel generator if you are off the grid. Feel free to email me on dhooper@capejaffawines.com.au if you want further info on the load dump that our supplier developed - I should take some photos of it to put up on this site Regards Derek
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Rock -
I looked at the wind maps for West Chester, PA. 5.5 m/s is estimated at 150 ft height. At 50 ft you'll see 75-85% of that depending on local terrain. (Very flat terrain = 85%, hilly = 75%).
So your best case is about 4.3m/s or 9.4 mph. You'll be lucky to get 200kwh per month from a Skystream. Do the math - 50 to 70 years to pay back $16000.
If you're using a battery backup, you'll lose anothe 10-15% from the inverter/battery efficiency.
There is a $3800 federal tax credit for the 1.9kw Skystream. PA may have other incentives.
Why $20,000? A dealer install should be less than $15000 and a do-it-yourself about $10000.
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Tom: Where do you find this $3800 tax credit? I have been hard pressed to find anything related to personal wind production credits, incentives or rebates, especially from the government.
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Tom Gallery wrote that there was a $3800 tax credit. Asked about this back on 11/1/08 He did not respond back. Does any one else know about this credit? I would be thrilled to find out about it, if it exists. And if I could get in on it to help off set my purchase price
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There an article in Time. It is a $4,000 tax credit. See the following link. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1860920,00.html
Since it's a tax credit the IRS prob ally administer it. I checked the IRS.gov website a couple of days ago, but couldn't find anything there yet. Hope this helps.
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See the AWEA website:
http://www.awea.org/legislative/#SW
The tax credit is capped at the lesser of $4000 or $1000/kw capacity. For the Skystream, the new rating (with 2.0.2 software) is 2.3 kw or $2300.
Also, the installation must be done between Oct 3, 2008 and Dec 2016. The software install may count as the install date.
The final rules have not been issued by IRS yet and may change.
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As of January 1, 2009 there is a federal tax credit of 30% for small wind with no cap. If your install costs $20,000 then you would be elegible to receive a $6,000 federal tax credit. I beleive any unused credit can be carried for up to 3 years but I am not entirely sure about that. The credit can be claimed by filling out and filing IRS Form 5695 Residential Energy Efficient Property Credit.
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AND, if you want to do some serious paperwork, you can get a 25% REAP (Rural Energy for America Program) grant through USDA. You need to live in a rural area or be a rural small business (farms, home based businesses,etc). There are about 25 pages of forms to fill out. If you're looking at a tall Skystream (60-100 ft) or several units, it may be worth it. My website www.northwindmeasurement.com has links to REAP grants and grant writers.
This can be a very lucrative process for entities that use more than household levels of energy (500-800 kw-hr/month). A dairy farm, winery or any operation that run a lot of pumps and uses 2000-6000 kw-hr per month can see a 55% discount on their wind system.
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Thanks Tom, you saved me a lot of time and money. I just got word from the township and they will not approve the 50 ft pole, 30 ft is the limit. Plus they are using township codes that are for the old Dutch type windmills and want me to keep it 130 ft from other property lines and I have 1 3/4 acres. They said I could get a lawyer and spend more money. The heck with that! Maybe I will buy some Glod Coins with that money.
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Lourrie -
If you don't have a dedicated kwh meter on your Skystream, you have no way to measure the output. The readout on the remote (watt-hours, not kw-hours!) often resets to previous settings when there is a restart or software upgrade. Nearly all the communications boards on the pre-September Skystreams failed so if you were using the comm system to measure production it has probably failed.
Your electric company only measures your net usage and the energy fed back to them, not the Skystream production.
1361 kw-hr seems extremely high for 50 days of Skystream production in April and May. Are you sure that was not your usage? No one in the midwest produced more than 400-500 kwhr in that period.
Tom Gallery
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After reading the comments on this blog, I will need some convincing to purchase a unit for my residence. That's a big expense for a problematic renewable energy source. Do you have some success stories?
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Here's a success story!
After all the efforts to get a working Skystream, I think I finally have one - 2.0.0 software with XBee/ZigBee communications. It's quieter than the original, doesn't shut down up to 40 mph and outproduces the SWWP power curve by a good bit. If it shuts down, it restarts in less than a minute.
The communications system works flawessly to over 1000 ft. Everything I had expected from the original unit.
Here's the measured power curve:
MPH Watts
7 0
8 87
9 183
10 262
11 343
12 441
13 564
14 714
15 892
16 1093
17 1311
18 1536
19 1760
20 1972
21 2161
22 2319
23 2438
24 2514
25 2544
26 2531
27 2480
28 2406
Note that it produces 1972 watts at the rate 20 mph windspeed.
(For the math geeks, here's how I measured it:
Logging anemometer set for 15 second intervals and Skyview data logger for 1 sec intervals. For the end of each interval, averaged the 15 power readings from Skyview and plotted (scatter plot) vs the windspeed. Then fit a fifth order polynomial to the data and extracted the coefficients. Coefficients are:
C5 0.0060228
C4 -0.56184
C3 19.223
C2 -298.54
C1 2224.6
C0 -6347
The plot was made with 250 data points. There is a fair amount of scatter when the wind gets over 18 mph as the Skystream modulates for high wind so I have 150 of the data points in this range for a good curve fit.)
I've done several plots and always get the same result.
I watched the real time graph and there are long periods of time - several minutes - when the power holds at over 2000 watts. The old units just put on the brakes during these events.
I may be lucky to have a good unit, but it's now producing better than advertised.
The only thing I haven't been able to test is cold weather shutdowns. Even though we're north of the 45th parallel here in Michigan wine country, the temperature has yet to drop below freezing. The low temp software is due this month.
So SWWP can get a good producing unit. I just wish they had done their own testing and development before they put 1000s of them in the consumer market. Looks like 18 months after introduction, the product is finally settling down.
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Hello Tom,
What elevation is your inverter programmed for? What is your actual elevation? Thanks for your time!
Mike
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Actually, the altitude setting is the only problem I've had with the new software. It keeps resetting to 1000m. My actual altitude is 320m. This may suggest that you can "overclock" (get more production) from a Skystream by setting the altitude higher than actual. I do know that setting the altitude lower will preclude many of the high wind shutdowns. The software adjusts the speed detection (and probably other parameters) for air density so I suspect there is a tradeoff.
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The 2.0.2 software has been very, very good. We had a 2-day gale with 25-40 mph and the Skystream produced a steady 1900-2300 watts for two days. In 30 mph wind settled in at 290 rpm and 2300 watts. 85 kw-hr in two days! No shutdowns with 50 mph gusts and temp down to 8 F.
A couple "anemometer" slowdowns when the high gusts hit. Only lasted a minute or two. Looks like SWWP finally got the algorithms right.
Just got the anemometer and production data from my units. Will calculate the production curve soon. Wrote a couple programs to take your Skystream data logs and your INSPEED anemometer readings and produce a power curve in Excel.
I suspect the power curves will be very strong - way above the published curves.
There are a couple minor problems. I'll post them in another blog, but - -
Can't get the altitude setting to hold. Set the ft/meters or 1000/300 height and two hours later it's at the default 1000 m. Tried everything. Tech level, Installer level, etc. Wait for "success" at each button press. No luck.
SWWP is no help. No one there. No phome or email response.
Any help out there??
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Well, it was too good to be true. Four weeks after the successful load of 2.0.2 and producing 390kwh in those four weeks, the Skystream went into permanent slowdown. Holds at 125 RPM no matter what the windspeed. Powered down several times - nothing. So now it produces a steady 80 watts in 25 mph wind. No response for SWWP, as usual.
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Tom,
That is exactly what mine has done a couple of times. Last time it stayed in that mode for 12 hours before deciding to "magically" operate. I am still using ver 2.0 and was about ready to upload 2.02. I was told by SWWP that ver 2.02 addresses this issue but now I don't believe them. Are you able to divert back to ver 2.0? If so, what is the link to it? Do you have the new Skyview 2.0 too?
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My big problem with SWWP is that they don't inform their customers of the problems, or the updates and releases. The only way you know about the updates is if you have a problem. Most high end vendors send you software revision notices at the very least.. Maybe others are getting notices, but I have never received one, and the information is nowhere to be found on their website...
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Hello, I just installed a Skystream 5 days ago in New York for a customer. When I checked on it today it was shut down. It was very cold out. Do you think that they still haven't resolved the cold weather problem? I will try to shut it down for 30 minutes and see if it comes back to life. I don't have a remote yet, will that tell me what is going on with it at the time it's shut down?
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It seams that the out put is NOWHERE near the published power curve. Mr. James' output numbers prove it. What gives?
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Hi Josh,
I installed a skystream on a 45 ft monopole in sep. in Palmer alaska. It ran great for the first 6 weeks, and now is dead in the water. I've powered it down, I've installed version 2.02 software, and its still dead. SWWP hasn't even returned my emails for the pass 3 days.
I'm on the coast and temperatures are between 0 and 15 degrees. I don't know if temperature is the problem.
SWWP's response has been very frustrating. I know of two other skystreams here that are running without problems.
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Hello from Palmer Alaska. I too live in palmer an have a skystream on a 50' monopole and I am also having cold weather problems I am also having the same results with SWWP,they just won't respond to anything.
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Hi Todd
I have a skystream in Palmer AK also,and having the same problems as you are. Cold weather and no response from SWWP. Mine is the one on the Palmer/Wasilla Hwy. basinst@mtaonline.net
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I had a technician look at it and was told that the relays are stuck and that that circuit board would need to be replaced. He was able to talk to SWWP in early December. They authorized the work be done, however have not send the circuit to the installer as of today. SWWP hasn't returned any of my calls, emails, etc for over 6 weeks. I would highly recomend to ayone considering any dealings with SWWP to strongly reconsider. They've been terrible
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We have had our 3.7 installed since August and have to date made 205 kw. We have contacted swwp after numerous phone calls and voice messages they finely returned our call. They said we had a last event of turbine over speed and they sent us an updated software from the tech support it is the new 2.02 software and when loading it, it shut down our turbine. When we recontacted swwp they said we would now have to down load yet another software but they do not have it yet. they are yet to have a new software come out in January so for now they put our turbine on the LIST of who knows how many more they messed up with the 2.02 software. As for people trying to deal with swwp they give you the run around just to get the info. we got was 24 phone calls in two days. we hope other people that are having these problems are contacting them as well. good luck to all
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Honestly, I would not buy a skystream again. I have had too many issues, and support is terrible. It takes weeks for them to get back to you, if they get back to you at all. I find myself wondering if they are just ignoring messages... When I first put the turbine in, all my neighbors were considering installing one as well because it is always blowing where we live. But after seeing it shut down every morning, they have changed their minds...... It has been doing pretty well lately, but we are not into the heart of winter yet..
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I almost ordered the SkyStream and I am glad I did not after seeing some of these problems. I would have been in the Dog House after spending $14,000.00 bucks
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Boy there are a lot of people out there with numerous issues. I had problems from the start and it took three months to get my turbine back online. It has been disapointing but knowing that this is still a new product, I am willing to stick it out for at least 5 years. My turbine is still operational; however, everyday I still wonder how long it will last before the next issue.
With about 2500 units sold, you would figure SWWP would be serious about their product and have the courtesy to keep people informed. I believe they are so overwhelmed with issues that they cannot keep up. If this is true, then maybe they should post, on their website, a database that the dealer/end-users could log into to see the status of their RA(s). Also, they should provide and overview about the issues and what is being done to fix them. I know the UL doesn't help matters but, SWWP, if you are serious about your product and want to provide good customer service, then you need to be honest and share information and in a timely manner. Leaving everyone in the dark and not responding is not good business. If you need help to be successful then higher people, there are a lot of good people out in this country that need a job.
With the two major issues that I have had I performed the troubleshooting and shared the information with SWWP in hopes to help them improve their product and capture manufacturing errors before the product is ships. Quality should come first not quantity.
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dose any one know how to reastablish connection with the inverter and data logger with skyveiw program.
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Tom, I had a few drop-outs and had to disable the USB via the Skyview SW by going to , "disconnect from the USB device", then unplug the TX/RX. Plug the TX/RX back in the select "connect to USB converter". This worked most of time but one time I had to go to the turbine setup tab and perform the "allow joining" function. Hope this helps. Jeff.
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On the "turbine setup tab", your turbine serial number should be in the list of joined turbines. If not, follow the instructions on the bottom right corner of the tab. Hope this helps. Mike
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If you have the ZigBee communications and the USB and interface are OK, try powering down the Skystream for an hour and bringing it back up. I've only had to do this once, but it worked.
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Hello Josh, I just wanted to share some info I've run across recently. First, here's some info from SWWP on the new inverter software 2.02:
"This software release is specifically designed to:
1. Prevent erroneous high wind speed shutdowns of the turbine when operating in the 20-25mph range.
2. Correct “failure to restart” issues after a shutdown event, so that the turbine won’t have to be power cycled.
3. Increase the rated continuous maximum power output of the Skystream. Following the UL testing of this soft version, UL has approved an increased continuous power rating for the Skystream to 2.3kW (up from 1.8kW). Of course, the 2.3kW would be achieved at higher wind speeds (not at 19mph where 1.8kW was achieved), but the upper continuous limit has been raised for increased output in high wind locations.
4. Make use of memory that exists on the inverter board, which was not utilized in previous versions. With 2.02 installed, the Skystream will write its daily power production total to this memory every night. This production information will be stored for future use and the next version of Skyview, which will be released in January, will graph this historical data. The on-board memory can store several years’ worth of production data, so this is a very useful and anticipated feature."
Also, while searching the internet for help with my Skystream issues, I came across this presentation on an updated blade design, increasing the diameter to 5.0 meters. www.sandia.gov/wind/2008BladeWorkshop/PDFs/Mon-11-Calley.pdf
I thought this might be interesting to others. Mike
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Does anyone have a copy of the new ver 2.02 inverter firmware and the Skyview installer? I have been waiting for two weeks now and have not heard from SWWP and my dealer yet regarding this. I have had two "stupid" events, one when it got stuck in stall mode for 9 hours and recently stuck in anemometer mode for 12 hours when the turbine should have been running. Also, a copy of ver 2.00 would be appreciated too just in case. Thanks, Jeff
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The link to the Sandia website does not work - can you verify it for us?
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We had a good windstorm for a solid week, and the turbine turned consistently. So far I have not had the cold weather shutdowns I had last winter. I've posted a few screen shots of the skystream logger program. I still find the "heart beat" phenomenon interesting. You can see the wind pretty much stays steady, but the power production peaks, and then goes down as the turbine enters "quiet" and "power high". Here are the screen caps:
http://waldo21a.wordpress.com/skystream-screen-caps/
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well perhaps your dealers would be of better assistance. Wait you probably didn't buy it from a dealer. Well there is your problem folks.
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The link to the software is:
http://track.windenergy.com/prod/beta/skystream_202up.zip
The directions are:
If you wish to install the voluntary inverter update, please follow these instructions:
Using the PC on which you have your Skyview installed, please establish communication with the Skystream using the Skyview program. Make sure that you are in a suitable location and have communication with the turbine. Once you verified that you have communication, you should close Skyview but leave your Wireless PC Interface module plugged into the USB port on your computer.
Download the installer. The 2.02 installer program is available, in .zip format, here:
Please save this file to your computer and then unzip (extract) it. It is important that you extract the program file and save it to a location on your computer where the program has write privileges. During the updating process, the program will write a .dat file to the program folder, so you cannot run the updater program from the ZIP folder. Once you have unzipped the file, run the program
skystream_202zb_updater.exe.
When you run skystream_202zb_updater.exe the program screen will appear. Enter your Skystream serial number in the Turbine ID field. The program only needs the last 6 digits, such as 105678. Once the serial number is entered, click the Search button. When the program has found your Skystream, a “SKY37A_1010-XXXX” entry will show in the Turbine ID field (as shown in this image) and the Update button will be enabled.
To perform the update, click on the Update button. If you get a Software Failure error message, simply press Update again. A progress bar will show the progress of the two program steps, the first is Updating and the second is Configuring.
When the program is completed, you can open Skyview again and go to the Quick Diagnostics tab to verify that the turbine software version is now 2.02.
The password for Skyview is: route66
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December was a good month in central Illinois. I won't hold my breath but it appears the fix for our shut down problem, works. We have had low temps and high winds and the turbine has kept working hard. It produced 418 kwh in November and a record (for us) 621 kwh for December. Keeping in mind this was with the old fashion meter I had to install as the Remote is like a old married couple with the turbine, they don't communicate at all any more.
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Well I'm glad I did not hold my breath, even though I started an interesting run of blogs and had my intelligence questioned. This last week we had below 0 temps (the lowest -14) and good winds. Thursday am while getting my car ready to go to work I noticed the turbine was not turning a few minuets went by and it started up, before I hit the end of the drive it stopped again. It ran most of Friday, but shut down for good, some time that night Saturday am the winds were about 15mph and you could tell the brake was on. It would not do any thing until I threw the shut off switch let it set for 1/2 hr then flipped it back on. So far as of Sunday am it is still running. Looks like the cold weather problem is not totally fixed. I guess I should not have bragged about it so soon.
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Well my skystream is up and running when the wind blows, so far has worked great. My comment is you pay up front with a dealer or pay later.
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I don't agree with your premise. Why should self-installed users receive less quality of service from SWWP. Many of us are skilled tradesmen, and even for the lay person, putting up one of these turbines is not rocket science, it just takes a little time and effort. I installed my own turbine, and it was quite simple, and I do not profess to be an expert tradesman of any kind. There are also no dealers anywhere nearby. I installed my turbine (including the 300' underground primary wire) for a grand total of $9,200. Dealers are charging 12k and up. Bottom line is that SWWP should offer the same level of service and warrant coverage for all users.
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I agree. I installed everything myself and it cost just over $9000. The dealer wanted $13,000. One of the biggest cost hits the dealers get is electrical installation. Most municipalities will let a homeowner do their own work but a dealer has to hire an electrician to pull the permit and do the work. That's about $2000 and the dealer makes nothing on it. That's why the electrician dealers can be competitive. I wouldn't deny a dealer making $2000-3000 on an install - it's a fair value.
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Mark, No pun intended but are you sure you understand what a KWH is? I live in Southern Illinois also, Mine over the last year and a half has created a grand total of 599 KWH. with the upgrades. Are you sure your not mistaking Watt Hrs for KWH? I won't say it's impossible, but I live in the same state and I know we don't make anywhere near that. Sorry....
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Eric: Do I understand kWh : a unit of energy equivalent to one kilowatt (1kWh) of power expended for one hour (1h) of time, vs. watt-hour (symbolized Wh) a unit of energy equivalent to one watt (1W) of power expended for one hour. No not very well. But however as per SWWP. specs. the Skystream will put out average 400 Kwh per month at a average 12 mph wind speed.
And as I (and suppose you have too) have read from the other people on this site Including Josh who has his on a chart did 472 kWh for the month of December.
I'm not sure where you live in southern Illinois, I am up by Champaign near the U of I ( go ILLINI). But any way I would imagine our weather is close. This post was to express my happiness that as opposed to this time last year when my turbine (on a 70' tower out in the country)was not turning at all in a 20mph wind for a l o n g time. Our December weather was horrible ( with numerous storms wind (a lot)and ice and snow and cold temps)but good for power production.
As also listed in the post this is on an old fashion dial meter that we had to install ( still not happy about the expensive wire less thing that I bought that don't work)that says it reads in kWhs??? Do I know ??? This is just what I have. Sorry...
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I'm wondering what Eric's site looks like and how tall of a tower he went with to get such low output? even in the 3 worst summer months we produced nearly a 100 kWh each of those months and there was barely a breeze most of the time. If you have your skystream on a 70' tower in that placement, I don't doubt it would hit those numbers. Ours is only on a 45' tower in an open field and we did 472 that same month and I bet on a 70' tower we would have hit close to the same amount as you.
Let me tell ya, after ours was down all of last december and than ran non-stop this december in freezing rain and extremely high winds I can totally understand why you wanted to express your happiness with your skystream. I feel the same. Hope january does as well.
Josh
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Josh, If I could load a pic for you to your site, I would. I live near STL just east of the bluffs. I have tree's to the south but nothing to the north or Nwest. Most of the tree's are below the plane,""just barely"" and better than 300 feet behind clear, I know the only major tree to the south is well over 1000Ft.... I'm sitting on a 45' for a pole.
My point about KWH is this, a Kilo is a thousand fold or X to the third power. My Xbee 1.6 reads in Watt hrs, 62456 is actually 62.4 KWH as an example. I have two meter's on my system, ""Remember talking about this before?"" a two way digital that reads a grand total of 194 KWH back up the line. I also have a dial type directly connected to the generator. Reads 598 KWH total. The system has been up for better than a year.
I have an older friend named DJ in his area. She is sitting on a 70' also and doesn't get that production, Sorry guys I don't agree.. I'm really not wanting to blast the man, I just hope that everyone reading these posts are familiar with what KWH stands for and how you get there.
One other thing. I have a septic tank that runs 3/4 horse, I can burn 1 KWH in ten minutes flat. The wing generator is no match for it. KWH and actual time are not at any rate the same!!!!
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Hey eric, if you like, email photos to me at info@keepturning.com and I will post them along with your totals and anything else you'd like to add and maybe we could get some of the dealers and people to weigh in on what's up with your low production and why it's happening.
With the cost of a skytstream I would be upset with those production numbers myself.
Although it came across less like you were blasting the man, (Southwest Windpower) and more of attacking mark.
I'm not quite sure what you don't agree with. I get what your saying about kWh and kW usage by different types of equipment, but it doesn't change the production and usage numbers on a persons metering system. A kWh of usage or production on a dedicated meter is still just a kWh.
I still only use my dedicated meter at the base of my tower to track production and to date the system has produced 2,900kWh of electricity over the past 15 months and the digital meter on the side of my house has tracked 652kWh have been returned to the grid of that 2,900kWh.
I'd really like to get you some answers on this, because it doesn't make sense that you would have that low of production in such an open spot. I'd really be happy to post your story and see what kind of info we can get from the community. Same goes for your friend DJ as well.
Let me know,
Josh
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Hey, Josh -- haven't talked to you recently but this kWh discussion is something! I didn't have a dedicated meter last winter but have since May first. On my farm in Lindsey, Ohio, my 45' pole has tree lines,a creek valley, and farm silo as obstacles depending on the wind direction. I also had to upgrade the wire for the distance the turbine sits from the utility meter. I have had the following production: May 2008= 101 kWh; June= 69 kWh; July= 20 kWh; Aug= 28 kWh; Sept=30 kWh; Oct=50 kWh with 2 kwh reversed; Nov= 102 kWh; Dec= 296 kWh. for a total of 596 kWh over the 8 months. By the utility's meter, a total of 46 kWh have been reversed since last November 12,2007. I didn't have my dedicated meter last Dec 07, Jan 08 but I know I had to buy almost 400+ LESS KWH less per month from the utility, so my production had to be close to that in those high winds. I also don't seem to get northeast winds as well for production. You are producing more than me in you open site, closer to the lake winds I think also.
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Hey Karen, good to hear from you.
Looks like december was was good for you too, I hope january does as well.
summer definitely is not as good as the winter months. expecialy this past summer. There was just nothing, no wind, no storms... just hot and dry. althought so far it's been going really well this winter. no shutdowns from the cold and pleanty oh strong winds.
Hope you had a good holiday.
Josh
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Josh, If you want to post the pics, that's fine. as you can see, that's not the issue.. I would like to ask Tom about a post he made about the software breaking down production over Time. We had one of the Southwest Enginners hear in April of last year, with our installer. They replaced the whole top unit, The system in otherwords. They set up my Xbee 1.6 that day and told me the problems should be resolved. That week, first wind it did seem fixed, we produced 8 KWH up the line. Next Day stronger winds and the production went down to 4 KWH. A week later close to same winds and it's down to 2 KWH. It was like the unit just began to shut down production. I called the Installer and they called Southwest to report the problems. Southwest called me and there was some light winds that day 8-12 mph and they said from the X-bee the production was fine... The Question is. Can a Electric CO Tamper with a meter to limit it's readings? I would believe that a two way meter would either be high or low but it could not be tampered with high one side / Low other side. I'm just wandering about the spare meter I got from them. could they restrict flow? Just a thought.... That's why I asked you before about where to by a meter extra Josh. I cannot explain this....
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Eric we bought our extra meter off of ebay it was fully reset and had a seal on it we only paid 19.75 for it shipping included.
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I got my meter from wholsesolar.com for around $38.00 new, I have wondered myself it the meter slows down the feed.
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An electro-mechanical meter draws 2-3 watts.
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Thanks Rex, Tim... I'll try Rex's company and see if the meter can be blocked in the forward direction.
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Producing energy "up the line", ie; fed back to the power company says nothing about Skystream performance. All it says is, that for a period of time, Skystream was producing more than you used at your home. Unless you have a dedicated meter on the line between the Skystream and your service meter, you have no way of knowing what the Skystream is producing.
My electric company installed a digital, two way meter for the service and gave me a mechanical meter for the Skystream. The digital meter monitors usage it my home and net power fed back on the grid in 10 second intervals. The power company doesn't know anything about Skystream production, only what I use and what is fed to the grid. Unless you have all three numbers, you can't understand what's going on. By the way, over a seven month period, 25% of all energy my Skystream produced went back on the grid. In high wind conditions at night (2000-2500 Skystream watts), 75-90% goes on the grid. In daytime, medium wind (300-500 watts), nothing goes on the grid. But I always know what Skystream produces from the dedicated meter.
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Tom, your completely missing the point. I have a dedicated meter. My best productivity in 25-40 mph winds was 6KWH up the line and it produced a total of 12KWH dedicated on 12/20-21/08 0f last year. I have exactly the same set up as you. One digital two way and one analog on the wind generator. I READ both meters EVERY night, I can tell you EXACTLY how much production day-to-day... I'm asking if the power company can control this meter like a switch! I am aware that an electric co can shut a electric hot water tank off in a house with a dedicated switch on the feed line. Wouldn't an elwctric meter supplied by them,""A SWITCH"" work in the same fashion?
I'm just trying to find an answer, Sure Bloomington may be a few feet higher, and good for him if it's working an producing something good. I'm saying they all do not, and as you said before there updating it again so how can you say they are efficiant and produce what they state? Oh I guess in perfect circumstances maybe....
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Eric I had the same thoughts regarding the bi-directional meters supplied by the power co. The first 45 days my turbine produced 1361 kwh and put 8 back. The power co came out and changed my meter. Since then I have no production. I called the factory and talk to the engineers about this meter. They told me that when they ship the meters they are in a detent mode which means it is not possible for it to read in both directions. It has to be programed by the utility and it can be program to recieve a positive as a negative. So yes the utility is stealing from you.
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Something is certainly wrong with these meters. 1361 kwh in 45 days is 30kwh per day, 900kwh per month! That means an average windspeed of well over 25 mph. The Skystream monthly production curve peaks at 830 kwh per month, so 900 is impossible. Very low production is possible, but 900kwh per month is not.
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The septic tank burning 1kWh in ten minutes would be rated at around 6000 watts or 6kW if you like. 200 miles is a significant defference. There is a 250'-400+' elevation change (Google Earth). The wind resource is also different between the two areas (WindPoweringAmerica.gov). It sounds like there are simply other factors playing into your capacity factor there in Southern Illinois.
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I suspect Mark did log 621 kwh in December. The difference in wind sites can be spectacular. A clear hilltop with a 70 ft tower vs a valley site with a 33 ft tower can be 10 to 1 for production. I've had one week periods that produced 175 kwh. I've seen my Skystream pinned at 2000 watts+ for hours. The Skystream produces as advertised. Sites and towers are the problem. Mick Sagrillo always says that there are three problems with wind systems: too short a tower, too short a tower and too short a tower.
If you have anything at your turbine height within 1000 ft, you have a compromised site. Siting is everything!
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Most dealers I've talked to know less than I do about wind or Skystream. SWWP does not seem to communicate any better with dealers than customers. Most dealers are left in the dark about product changes and features. Dealers can't get support any better than regular customers.
If SWWP had a strong dealer system, people would buy from dealers. But they left their dealers out in the cold with no support along with their other customers. Just try to contact their customer support system - there is none!
It's a good product, but if you have a problem, you're on your own.
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Hi Tom, As you seem to have a great understanding of the Skystream, could you tell me how/if I really need to upgrade my 916MHz communication to 2.4Ghz - in order to install the Zigbee upgrade - in order to install the 2.02 inverter software upgrade? Thanks for your insights.
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You need to replace the communications board in the head unit to get the 2.4 ZigBee. That's also the only way to get to the 2.0.2 software. SWWP sent me a new head unit after the 900mHz communications failed and I repeatedly complained about noise. They're replacing all the old comm units.
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Could not have said it any better myself. My local dealer has never installed nor serviced a single Skystream. He is merely a warehouse for product - you are absolutely on your own if you have a problem and as an added measure, SWWP has cut their tech support staff recently.
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Josh,
Could you put me in contact (via e-mail) with Mike from Frederick, OK. I am on business in Wichita Falls, TX and would like to take a side trip to see his turbine setup.
Thanks,
Jeff
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Is anybody else having disconnect problems/drop outs between the Skyview and the turbine? I have ZigBee and Skyview 1.0.1.vi. Distance between about 200 feet. Any "fixes" from Skystream or anybody else?
Thanks,
NWB
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NWB,
Yes I have experienced Zigbee dropouts, sometimes it requires one or a combination of the following; a simple disconnect/connect USB in the software, a rejoining in the setup, complete disconnect of the Zigbee RX/TX box from the USB port, pressing the reset button on the Zigbee RX/TX, reboot of the computer and restart of the program or when all else fails power cycle the turbine. One or a combination of any of these seems to work. Now for why, since the Zigbee is USB controlled when I put mine on a PC (laptop) that has other USB devices that is when I get the dropouts. When I move the Zigbee to a dedicated PC that doesn't have extra USB devices it works fine for days without any issues. In a PC, even though there may be many port, the USB controller still has to share RX/TX time between those ports. Since the Zigbee is constantly active and as soon as the USB bus gets interrupted by another device (mouse, camera, etc.)the bus's priority changes and the Zigbee as to pause. Too many of these interruptions causes the USB bus to "bog down" thus the Zigbee goes stupid. Some PCs have more than one USB controller if your's doesn't it can be added via the PCI bus. If you go this route, then put the Zigbee on this card and nothing else. Technically any PC with USB ver 2.0 should be able to handle multiple data streams, but don't count on it. There is another possibility that could be XP software related see link for details http://support.microsoft.com/kb/890546
Jeff
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Thanks Jeff,
Mine always re-starts with a unplugging & replugging at the USB port and then clicking on
"Connect to USB Converter". Tech support 1st told me it was a distance issue; then a 2.4 interference issue; and yesterday sent me this message:
"I have check with engineering again and they are switching to a new type of antenna on the down tower receiver. We don’t have stock of any of the new antenna models, they are testing new antenna with new software that has signal strength meter. They also mentioned that the angle of the turbine may matter in reception. Keep in touch (email me at the end of January) and we’ll send you a ‘preproduction’ model of the new down tower antenna."
We shall see,
NWB
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Thanks Jeff,
Mine always re-starts with a unplugging & replugging at the USB port and then clicking on
"Connect to USB Converter". Tech support 1st told me it was a distance issue; then a 2.4 interference issue; and yesterday sent me this message:
"I have check with engineering again and they are switching to a new type of antenna on the down tower receiver. We don’t have stock of any of the new antenna models, they are testing new antenna with new software that has signal strength meter. They also mentioned that the angle of the turbine may matter in reception. Keep in touch (email me at the end of January) and we’ll send you a ‘preproduction’ model of the new down tower antenna."
We shall see,
NWB
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I was just thinking about JANES HOUSEHOLD SKYSTREAM kWh RECORD and you've really helped out. Thanks!
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Char, don't pay the neighbors any mine, if you can get a permit from your county and I'm sure with 20 some acres you can as long the tower is placed in a place that it can't fall on your neighbors property you should be good to go. The rule is 1.1 of the tower length from your properly line you should be good. I have a sky stream up and running providing you have wind, it makes very little noise maybe in high wind a litte wine or flutter from the prop, as far as the safety insure your property for 1 million and go for it. if you have 20 acres or more and hire any work done on the farm you should have 1 million libility anyway. As far as the neighbors are concerned if you can affort 10-12 grand to have it installed do it. They may laugh at you but if you don't have geo or heatpump heat say you have gas or oil heat with a plain furnace you will see your meter slow down or even stop and go backwards with 10-20 mph wind. Also make sure that you don't have a woods or any building to cut down on your wind if so make sure you put up a tower high enought to catch the wind. Get an anemometer and check your wind speeds say on a tower or high point on a roof, make sure you have enought wind to make it worth while. Good luck
Rex
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Mark, I had the same problem and the tower was not plumb so it was 6" off and the turbine was laying in the low side of the tower and it took a puff of wind to get it turned around and once it go turned around it would take off. They have to be plumb, because they weigh 150 plus pounds and if there is a lean in the tower it will lay on the low side.
Rex
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Rex,
The best way to level these poles is to use a good digital level. I have installed three unit since I started using a digital level and I have had no call backs because the turbine would not swing easily into the wind. You put the level on the same spot all the way around the poles, doing one nut at a time until it is the same reading all the way around the pole. Bubble levels are not accurate and you can level off the base plate.
JD
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Any certain type or brand of digital level you recommend?
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Leveling the pole assumes the top plate and yaw mechanism is perfectly square to the part of the pole you're leveling.
Another factor is the sun. Sun load on the tower bends the tower away from the sun - a lot. The side toward the sun heats up and that side expands. It's a well known phenomenon on all monopole installations. On a windless day with a well-leveled turbine, you can watch the turbine point away from the sun as the sun sweeps across the sky. So leveling on a sunny day is impossible.
A level will get you most of the way, but a little trial-and-error fine tuning - less than 1/8 turn across the bottom plate- will be required.
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I bought a 48" Stabila Level. It was not cheap about $200. But I am currently doing a lot of these installs and I want good equipment. Also once I leave job I do not like to come back, unless to visit.
JD
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Plumb Bob any good?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9d/Plumb_bob.jpg/404px-Plumb_bob.jpg
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Just found out the turbine does not like power factor correcting capacitors. We just started to run quite a few large sewing machines for canvas which affects our power factor significantly. So we bought a unit to correct it (basically just a big capacitor). Not sure why, but the turbine shuts down frequently when it is on. It shut down immediately when I turned it on, which I expected. It started back up and I thought all was well, until it kept shutting down....
Oh well..... I guess I'll just live with a .6 power factor
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If you have Skyview running, look at the diagnostics page when you fire up your machines. I'll bet you see a phase error, frequency shift or voltage error. Probably a phase error.
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To All:
I've just spent over 2 hours reading all of the entries and I have just one suggestion to all of you: Contact the Attorney General of Arizona and file an official compaint against SWWP and detail your experiences, lack of concern by SWWP, and lack of communication by SWWP. I guarantee you that SWWP will move very quickly to talk with you and fix your problems. . . if they can.
They are a company in trouble. The Skystream was developed by a joint effort between the DOE and NREL and was tested over 2 years nationally. Evidently they didn't test long enough or thorough enough.
I wouldn't buy a Skystream until and unless they start leveling with the owners, dealers, and the public. I just sent them an email chastising them for exaggerated power output claims that flat out aren't true. The entries here prove that.
I feel for all of you. I have a Bergey 1 kW turbine on a 64' guyed tilt tower. It's no powerhouse, but puts out a steady (on avg) 65-70 kWH/month. It's been running just fine for about 3.5 years in any kind of weather.
File your complaints and watch what happens. It once was said: "The only problem with being on the cutting edge of technology is to watch out for the blade". Some of you have been cut badly. Take action collectively and good luck.
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I've thought about that a few times. I feel a bit cheated. I bought the turbine because of the great claims of trouble-free operation and the DOE/NREL involvement. I still have not heard anything regarding the wireless interface upgrade, and my emails go unanswered. Luckily the last firmware update seems to have fixed the cold weather shutdowns, so it is not as big of an issues...
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Ralph -
You apparently didn't read all the entries. SWWP does not exaggerate power claims. I have done extensive testing of power from the Skystream and it produces better than advertised. There may be installation issues and repair issues, but the unit is a real producer. Since I updated to the latest software (2.0.2), I've seen double the production from the previous version. I've done the testing to the international standard (60 sec bins) and have no reservations about the output of this unit.
The problem is that people have poor wind sites. The turbulence intensity measurement alone at some of these sites can lower the production by 30%. Add the typical short tower and you have a formula for poor production.
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Just to back up what Tom is saying. The latest SS3.7 we placed online on 2/17/09 was hitting 3,180 watts briefly and was averaging 2,400 watts regularly. The home owner received over 36kWh in a 20 hr period according to a utility supplied digital meter. The turbine is mounted on a 70' tilt up guyed tower. Our winds have been in the 18 to 25 mph range.
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From personal experience as an owner of the skystream, my system is producing pretty near what I expected for my location.
I was figuring an average of about 300 kWh a month and I'm coming in at about 225 kWh. It's a hair low but this may have a little to do with the fact that we went with a 45' tower instead of the 60' or maybe it's just the wind patterns this year. I don't feel tricked by SWWP, their chart was pretty clear that for the wind speed in our location we couldn't expect to produce more than 1/3 of our power.
I'm glad to hear that you are happy with your bergey and that it's working out good for you.
Although strictly on a production verses dollars the skystream seems to be a better value from what you are telling me.
You said that your 1 kW bergey consistently produces 70 kWh a month. So for a 12 month period you produce on average 840 kWh.
My skystream for a 12 month period produced on average 220 kWh a month, for a 12 month total of 2647 kWh.
Now I'm just guessing on this but I'd say that your bergey ran you some where between $6,000-$8,000 fully installed.
Now at these costs and production it would take three 1kW bergeys on your property at a guesstimated cost of $18,000-$24000 to produce the same amount of electricity in 12 months that my skystream did for a cost of $13,500.
SWWP has definitely had it's issues like any company with a new product, but I think this all comes down to reliability and support.
If they shore up their customer support as these issues that popped up are resolved I think they will be around for quite some time to come.
Just my take,
Josh
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Hi Josh,
First, I want to thank you for taking the time and effort to set this site up. My Skystream 3.7 went into operation yesterday (2/24/09). I'm running ver. 2.0.2 inverter software and ver 1.0.1 Skyview. My turbine is mounted on the new 33 1/2 (more like 40) ft. sectional monopole tower. It has been calm so not much production so far. Today it is supposed to blow 20 MPH steady with gusts up to 30 MPH. I am datalogging whatever I get. I am located in far southern Arizona, about 13 mi. north of the border in the Huachuca Mountain foothills. We have a very good wind profile here.
Wish me luck with my new installation.
Best regards,
Greg. Schwab
GregSchwab@www.SonoitaValleyRealEstate.info
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Thanks Greg, I appreciate it.
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Hi Josh,
Well, I suppose it is my turn to have problems. The unit has run flawlessly from Mar. 3 until last night (Mar. 6). We have had high winds (30 MPH gusting to 40+ MPH) and last night the turbine shut down on it's own. I have powered it down and will wait for one hour before power up. That seems to have worked for some posters here. Is this a "standard" problem (shutdown in high winds)?
Thanks,
Greg. Schwab
http://www.SonoitaValleyRealEstate.info
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Hey Greg,
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My skystream has shut down do to high winds but I will reboot and start up in 3-5 min. and go again. I don't know why you would need to shut it down for 1 hour.
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Hi Josh,
Yep, it went down Friday night and is still a virtual flag pole. I powered down the unit twice over night and nothing happened when power was reapplied. My dealer/installer will be out this week to troubleshoot. He said something about the inverter control circuit on the phone, but there's no way he can know for sure until he looks at the unit. I AM concerned with this kind of infant mortality (less than 5 days from first power-up) and wonder what that will portend for longer-term reliability.
I am disappointed but hopeful.
Greg. Schwab
http://www.SonoitaValleyRealEstate.info
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Josh,
My installer came out this morning and dropped the monopole. I was right, the motherboard failed. This looks like a single board computer. the installer is unable to perform failure analysis on the board so it will go back to SWWP for F/A. However, now my Skyview software is unable to connect to the turbine. I've uninstalled/reinstalled the software, ensured I changed to serial number to reflect the new board, disconnected/reconnected the USB, powered down/up the turbine, all to no avail. My installer will contact SWWP to get help troubleshooting.
"It's always something."
Greg. Schwab
http://www.SonoitaValleyRealEstate.info
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Josh,
My installer came out this morning and dropped the monopole. I was right, the motherboard failed. This looks like a single board computer. The installer is unable to perform failure analysis on the board so it will go back to SWWP for F/A. However, now my Skyview software is unable to connect to the turbine. I've uninstalled/reinstalled the software, ensured I changed to serial number to reflect the new board, disconnected/reconnected the USB, powered down/up the turbine, all to no avail. My installer will contact SWWP to get help troubleshooting.
"It's always something."
Greg. Schwab
http://www.SonoitaValleyRealEstate.info
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Hello All,
Just thought I would add my 2c from Australia. I have had a skystream installed since April 2008 in a windy location - average 8m/s through the year. I confirm that in a location like this I have no issues with the power output - when its working that is.
When it was installed it ran for 24-30 hours producing great output and then stopped. 3 or 4 weeks later, unlatched with updated s/w (v1.1 I think it was) going again - sort of. As most of you know in wind above ~20mph it shuts down which in our location means quite often. Also it will shutdown and not start up again sometimes. (Symptom is that it will begin starting up, about half a rotation then stop again). To recover from this you need to turn off the turbine for a few minutes and start up again. Anyone know if that is fixed in v2.02 ?
I have also had a relay board burn out taking it down for another couple of weeks.
I have been waiting for v2.02 to "fix all the problems" for months and months.
Oh, almost forgot, since the firmware update to fix the latchup all comms to the remote failed completely.
I can only dream of your Bergey running for "3.5 years fine in all kinds of weather" !
Scott.
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Hey Scott, I hear you! It is the support that is aweful, not the machine. After my last upgrade the usb remote became utterly useless, but at least I can still take readings on the computer. Does anyone know what the latest firmware version is, and where it can be obtained (along with instructions of course)
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I installed my Skystream 3.7 with 2.02 firmware and the latest monitoring software. It has withstood 50mph winds and has not shut down. It will run over 2.4 kw with sustained high winds. So far no problems.
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Thank you for your advice, my skystream is also a "low producer" and I don't feel it is up to us, the buyers to fiqure out how to "make it work"! I didn't invest all this money for an experimental product. I would also like to add there are alot of others in my area who are also very unhappy with their investment in skystreams. Everyone is complaining of low numbers, and we've had good wind here in the mountains all fall and winter.
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Cheryl -
I've checked a couple Skystreams to validate the power curve. The answer is always the same - the Skystream performs better than advertised.
The problems are almost always the site. Short towers, turbulence, obstructions, etc. Wind maps are useless for small wind systems unless you put up a 300 ft tower. Read this recent study by Massachussets Tech: http://www.masstech.org/renewableenergy/sm_renew/Progress%20Briefing%20Summary%20061208.pdf .
Dealers and homeowners consistently overestimate wind sites, often by a lot. A local dealer came to my site and confidently told me I'll get 600 kw-hr per month. It's a great site, but the real production is about half that.
I have a wind assessment business that is trying to put some reality in small wind by taking measurements and doing the math.
www.northwindmeasurement.com
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Joshua,didn't want to get off the current post but had heard a rummer that skystream has an upgrade kit to take the 3.7 up to a 5kw have you heard anything how about any dealers thanks Tim Dunlap monroeville,Ohio
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I haven't heard anything from southwest on this, but I also have heard rumors that there may be a larger skystream coming out down the road. I think someone posted some info on it a while back. I'll see if I can find the comment.
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The change is to 5.0 meter blade diameter (16.5 ft). Theoretically this would increase the output by 82% to 4.3 kw but the inverter is limited in it's current design. The effort is to increase production in lower windspeeds so the effective production would be much better in those marginal sites.
The blades are being tested but they're at least a year away from production.
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Hi, I live in Oregon. I have an average wind speed of 4.5 m/s at 60ft and I'm think about purchasing the 3.7 From reading the entries here would I be correct in saying that the main issue with these units is low temp? (other than customer service
From my research the ss3.7 still seems like the most reliable and efficient at it's price range of any other unit.
It doesn't hurt to get 75% of the cost back from the gov't either...
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Low temperature is no longer an issue. Every (updated to 2.0.2 software)machine I know of (9 here in N Michigan) has operated flawlessly in cold weather.
My only concerns would be noise (some are very whiny) and long term reliability of the circuit boards.
Are you sure your average wind is taken at 60ft and not 60meters?
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I brought a 3.7 on line the first of the year in NW Missouri. We are presently averaging a little over 10Kw per day. I believe the Skyview 2.2 resolved my cold weather start up issue. Site location is everything! I believe our home built 88.5' mono-pole was worth the effort.
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Hi Tom, We have had huge issues with our skystream and so have all the other owners in Australia - we have been told that the version 2.02 will hopefully fix all of our problems. In your experience, are all the comms, start stop and shut down in anything over 10 knots problems fixed ? We are not keen to continue with the problematic turbine if there are still inherent problems - I would prefer to cut our losses and run. We have been waiting for over 18 months now without a functioning turbine and version 2.02 is the last chance we are giving the skystream. Has the relay/circuit board circuitry (materials/manufacturing /reliability) been significantly upgraded (in your opinion) that you feel it will last for more than 5 years without problems? Have the "meltdowns" that have been experienced due to moisture ingestion over there? They were not in Australia. It appears to be something else. Any comments /thoughts would be appreciated
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I don't know if the reliability problems (circuit boards, etc) have been solved. I worked on OEM automotive electronics for while and the most reliable electrical systems were "potted" in epoxy. No chance for water or environmental contamination. The weak link was always the electrical connector systems. Jeff Stratton (look for previous posts) does a lot of repair on these systems and he could probably enlighten you on the ins and outs of the internal issues.
I can only say that my system has performed flawessly. No shutdowns, excellent production, noisy (for my taste), but an excellent value.
SWWP should just send you replacement units. That's what they did for me.
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Hi Tom,
I agree with you. I worked for Intel Corp. for 20 years, part of that time supplying automotive microcontrollers to the industry (Ford, Delco, Bosch, Siemens, etc). The auto folks definitely have their act together implementing electronics in bad environments. A lot could be learned from them. I have a feeling my current shut-down is attributable to a failed circuit board. I should know for sure this week.
Greg. Schwab
http://www.SonoitaValleyRealEstate.info
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I live outside of Lubbock,Texas. The dealer just installed my new skystream 3.7 on 3-6-09 on my farm. It is on a 45ft. tower. When the electrician flipped the switch on,it ran very smoothly at 15-18mph. I have noticed that when the wind speed reaches around 25mph.,there is a vibration from the top of the pole almost to the bottom. It makes the pole to sway back and forth. Is this common or is the turbine or its blades out of balance? My salesman tells me it is normal. In my opinion this will cause metal fatigue in the pole or turbine itself. I have not paid for the turbine yet. I told them that I need a rep. from the company to see for themselves and guarantee in writing that every thing is running to specs. Has anyone else have a vibration and is this normal for this turbine? Gary DeBusk
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I installed a sky stream in Dec. 29 of 08' and it has ran flawlessly, yesterday I recored 30 kwh. The tower does sway back and forth in wind and the tower does vibrate, you have 12' of blades rotating at 300 plus rpm. I don't know what your wind speed is but if the tower is moving around at the top thank God you have wind. Pay your dealer installer and be happy.
Rex Higgins in Indiana
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How did you moniter the KWH's ? thanks bruce
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I use a dedicated meter at the base of my tower to track production. Nothing fancy, just your standard meter. Bought it new, think it cast me $65 or so.
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Hi Josh,
My problem has been solved and I learned something that may be helpful to others. It turns out that the installer had given me the wrong serial number for the turbine that was replaced. No wonder Skyview didn't connect to the turbine. Here's the good part: Southwest Windpower has released version 2.0 of the Skyview software. It is MUCH improved over version 1.0. Now it actually goes out and looks for turbines and if it finds one, returns with an encoded serial number (1010-XXXX where "XXXX" is letters instead of numbers.) One can call SWWP and get the encoded S/N decoded and, voila! you have the correct serial number for your unit!
The new version has a lot of additional cool new features, too.
Here's the link to get Skyview 2.0:
http://archives.subscribermail.com/msg/4f079d6acaca4d8cb3dbf53c33025f7a.htm
Greg. Schwab
http://SonoitaValleyRealEstate.info
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I did beta testing for the new Skyview 2.0 since January. It is a great product.
I'd like some folks to check a problem I had found that I also see in the released version: It reports daily production one day late. It posts production for March 23 as the production for March 24. I can see this by requesting a graph two days in the future. My Skyview shows "So Far Today" as tomorrow's production. SWWP thought it was a problem with my Skystream so I'm curious if others see this problem.
Other hints:
Make sure to set your inverter clock. It will start doing daily logging when the clock is set correctly. Make sure your computer's time is correct before setting your Skystream.
The "Since Installed" is from the date the 2.0.2 inverter software was installed. This is correct even if your clock was off. I've pulled data from four other Skystreams and the dealers hadn't set the date on any of them.
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Tom Gallery
re: Skyview 2.0 reports daily production one day late
I don't see that problem on my system.
Greg. Schwab
http://www.SonoitaValleyRealEstate.info
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Yep, it's the software, but might be confined to the graphing tool.
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The blade balance can be an issue. When installing the blades, a tip-to-tip measurement should be made around the blade circumfrence to assure they are all even. There is enough play in the bolt mounting holes for there to be over an inch of difference from tip to tip.
The monopole vibration will not cause metal fatigue in the pole. The stresses are so far below the yield strength of the material that it has infinite fatigue life.
Vibration is tough on the turbine bearings. All these turbines will hit a vibration resonance because it is mounted in an elastomer and the system cannot be perfectly balanced. The period should fairly narrow (five mph). So it should be quiet above and below this resonance point.
I'd say that if you didn't see the dealer walking around the blade tips with a tape measure for fifteen minutes or so, there is a good possibility that the blades are out of balance.
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after reading some of your blogs i am very nervous about trying to sell these units .i don't mind selling these but don't want to be full time mechanic either,. they shouldn't be that much trouble considering they are simple machines. we are new to this field any good info is welcome.is there any that have run good in cold weather. what about poss.insulating blanket? thanks a bunch
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All the units I personally know of (16) have updated software (2.0.2) and have no cold weather or shutdown issues.
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Ours skystream ran fine this entire winter on the lake with no issues or shutdowns.
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Tom, Thanks for the imfo and web-sites.it's helpful. I have to say my skystream has been "buzzing" all winter no complaints on the mechnical end. I'd love some imput from everyone on the possibilty of old rural grids/transmission lines not having capability to handle these? I ask because I had a employee of my electric company mention that.(of course he would never admit it now!) I am pursuing a dedicated meter..then plan to approach my electric supplier..the two electric suppliers in my area are very negative about them.. maybe people get better results when their in more populated areas with more updated transmission lines???
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Cheryl,
I am not a Skystream technician, but was a utility distribution engineer in the 70's. I doubt very seriously that your rural distribution grid has any impact whatsoever on the generation output of your turbine. I also live way out in the boondocks near the end of an electric co-op distribution line (which is also in need of upgrade). I see no impact on my turbine's performance.
Greg. schwab
http://www.SonoitaValleyRealEstate.info
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The only issue I know of on rural grids is voltage control. A local Skystream dealer recently told me of a Skystream that constantly shut down for no apparent reason. He tracked it down to one leg with 137 volts. The local REA quickly corrected it. A poorly maintained transformer can have shorts on one side of the windings that will cause this problem. (Remember - the step up/step down on a transformer is the ratio of windings. If some windings short out, it changes the voltage ratio)
So look at the "Quick Diagnostics" page on your Skyview to make sure the voltage is under control.
The capacity issue is a non-problem. A Skystream is like an electric clothes dryer or an electric range in terms of load/production. A blip on the grid.
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Cheryl,
The electric companies are usually referring to the large industrial scale turbines. The skystream will not make much of a difference at all on their exiting lines. Its output pales in comparison to the loads already on the line. My only concern in very rural areas, is the actual power quality as fluctuations may cause the turbine to shutdown more frequently.
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My production for the first partial month of operation here in southern Arizona:
96 KWh
24 days
Average daily production: 4 KWh
Greg. Schwab
http://www.SonoitaValleyRealEstate.info
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My production for the first full month of operation here in southern Arizona:
194 KWh
30 days
Average daily production: 6.5 KWh
Highest daily production: 30.7 KWh
Greg. Schwab
http://www.SonoitaValleyRealEstate.info
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I will be having my dedicated meter installed, Monday or Tuesday..what do I need to tell him, about "blocking it forward"? And is there anything else he will need to know..Thanks
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Our Skystream has been installed for about 2 years and is still not functioning properly despite a number of service calls (constant shutdown at wind speeds over about 15 mph). Excessive noise, well above that stated in their literature, is also an annoyance but we've come to accept it. We have a replacement unit sitting in our garage waiting for the snow to melt here in coastal Maine and hope that when installed it will finally get us up and running. Quite frustrating! Can you recommend an easily installed meter that will record actual kW productivity when we do get in operation? Our electric utility employs net metering so that the output we see on their meter is just the net over or under household consumption.
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The new unit will fix all your problems. It will have 2.0.2 software and ZigBee communications. The Skyview software with the new units record kw-hrs very accurately (actually it "under-reports" by 5%). You can wirelessly see everything from your Skystream from your home computer.
There are lots of meters available online - look for "kw-hr meter". You'll need a meter and socket. The wiring is simple - in the top (from the turbine) and out the bottom (to your electric meter).
Nice to see you understand net metering. Many people think the utility meter readings have some relationship to Skystream production - none whatsoever.
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Bob,
I got my meter through "Austin International Inc." Their really great answered all my questions concerning installing and I had shipment within days..I got the ABB kwh meter.
I still don't trust the electric companies, that's why I'm installing this..check out Austins web site.
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It would appear you are not the only one who is experiencing this lack of service.
There is a site that networks people that have been ripped off by small wind. The blog is loaded with testimonials and all sorts of information. Check it out:
http://www.windenergytruth.com
You will be able to vent your complaints and listen to other peoples' stories.
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My turbine is from july 2008...can I use skyview?
I need help because my turbine not running today is making me sad...I have not even made 24 hours without a shutdown..
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Paul,
I you have the 900MHz remote then probably not. It will require an inverter/comm upgrade and with your failure you may be getting it by default.
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Thanks for the input...
The Skyview is coming...however, I am nervous that it is not going to work. I could not get a definite answer from them that it would or would not work.
I also have been told that it might be my relays. What is this issue?...I have a 70foot plus tower...does someone seriously need to go up and fix it or can they upload the fix?
My $11000.00 lawn ornament is attracting attention...and not in a good way.
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If it's the relay board then the turbine will have to be opened up and if you are unable to tip it down then yes someone will need to go up and fix it via a bucket truck or manlift.
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We also have an $11,000. lawn ornament. Manufacturer, installer, local utilities all blame each other. Worst investment we ever made.
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You have an old system.
It's under warranty for the upgrade. SWWP will send a dealer or repair agent to fix it. But you must call them and be clear that your system shuts down and has the old (probably failed) communications system. It can't be fixed if the communications system has failed. They have to replace hardware.
If you worked through a dealer, he should take care of it. If not, go directly to SWWP. If the dealer is unresponsive, SWWP will take care of it.
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I spent some time observing a running Skystream near me and the 45ft monopole tower wobbled around more than I thought. Is this normal? Would blade balance be the problem? What should a 45 ft pole system cost installed?
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Before I spend $15,000 on a system I now see the need for on site measurement of the winds on my property. Has anyone found a reasonably priced wireless anemometer that will record data and allow it to be downloaded to a pc for analysis. A wired unit won't work for me but I am unsure of what really will work to get usable data for decision making.
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I assume you need a logger for the anemometer that requires no hookup to your PC. You run a wire from the anemometer down the tower to the logger (battery powered). The logger will record the data for weeks or months, depending on the data interval. You just unplug the logger from the anemometer and plug the logger or it's data card/chip into your PC.
APRS.com and inspeed.com have anemometer + loggers for $350-450. The next step up is NRG systems which will run $1500-2000. The weather station systems all have unknown data intervals or only report instantaneous windspeed at an interval. I've not seen one yet that has useful data.
After you get the data, you still have to make sense of it. It's not just calculating average windspeed. You need to look at windspeed distribution and turbulence. Those factors can change your output by 25% or more.
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Any one have experience with this anemometer? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350198279884&ssPageName=MERCOSI_VI_ROSI_PR4_PCN_BIX_Stores&refitem=120410942804&itemcount=4&refwidgetloc=closed_view_item&refwidgettype=osi_widget&_trksid=p284.m263&_trkparms=algo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%252BC%252BP%252BS%252BIA%26itu%3DFICS%252BUFI%252BUA%252BIA%252BUCI%26otn%3D4%26ps%3D10
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I am looking into buying the SkyStream 3.7 but the only kind of tower that I can use would be a Lattice tower. I called SkyStream and they would not help me with the specs for a lattice tower. Can anyone give me an avenue to research for this issue.
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60’ Self Supporting Tower for Skystream Wind Turbine $4966 back in December. S/H was about $300 more.
Contact Robert Simon [robert@amertower.com]
American Tower Co.
P.O. Box 29
Shelby, OH 44875
(419) 347-1185
Fax: (419) 347-1654
www.amertower.com
Jeff
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I have heard of these towers being used with skystreams.
http://www.anwireless.com/
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ARE (www.abundantre.com) has lattice towers for Skystream. The horizontal load for the Skystream at 145mph is 630 lbs and the unit weight is about 200#. If you're in a low wind area (90 mph) the lateral load goes to about half the 145 mph load. You'll need the tower adaptor from SWWP to mount the turbine.
There are many lattice tower manufacturers. Just tell them the horizontal load and the weight and they'll sell you a tower. The adaptor for Skystream fits over a 5 inch schedule 40 pipe.
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I have a SWWP Skystream 5" tower adapter to sell if someone is looking for one. Used it for 8-months before switching towers. Contact me at jlrichcreek@performancewisp.com if interested.
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Hows come you have not had any hours on production chart for awhile?
Thanks
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Just been busy. Had some really big illustration jobs lately, so everything else was put on hold. Finally catching up.
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Nice post,
it dosnt look very reliable if it shuts down when its cold...
Thanks
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has anyone experienced an excesive vibration or shaking of the turbine and tower at higher windspeeds (25mph)? only recently i'm observing alot of vibration or bouncing, not sure of technical term, of the turbine and tower? has not done this in the past. tower bolts are tight but not sure about the turbine bolts?
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I have seen this once before on turbine that I installed for a customer. The blade had a crack in it and had gotten some water in it. Once the blade reached a certain speed it would vibrate and bounce up and down. Once I replaced the blade it has running been fine since. If there are people here in Michigan having problems with their Skystreams and their dealer is not willing to come back and fix it. Give me a call. I have had good luck getting them fixed. 231-715-1170
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Next time you have the turbine down, check the distance between the blade tips. They should be all the same. There is enough play in the blade bolts to vary this distance by up to an inch which creates inbalance in the system.
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could someone please let me know what all the items on the advanced diagnostic page mean? i have e mailed swwp but no response. please help.
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Does anyone knows the threshold when the turbine will shut down during high winds? When I view my turbine data,I notice that it shut down 30 - 34 miles per hour wind. Does everyone's turbine reacts the same?
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It depends on the quality of the wind. If it's very gusty, a 30-34 mph wind will have 40-50 mph gusts. The Skystream can sense these "ramp-ups" and shuts down for 5 minutes. I've seen them run continuously in 35-40 mph steady wind with no shutdowns. If there are obstructions 500-2000 ft upwind of the turbine, you will have unstable wind and shutdowns.
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