St. Thomas Episcopal Church :: Trinity Wind Test Project

Trinity Wind Test Project

SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Wind has long been regarded as a sign of the presence of God’s Spirit upon the earth.

Desiring to be better stewards of creation and to lead by example we began pondering the merits of a wind turbine test project at St. Thomas in 2005. Noting an often constant mostly southerly wind at our location in the cooler months, and excited by the educational opportunity afforded by the high visibility that such a project would enjoy adjacent to the Interstate-540 corridor (Approximately 68,000 vehicle instances per day!), we began putting the project together the next year.

Three electricity-producing Skystream 3.7 wind turbines, each expected to produce more in the late fall, winter, and early spring months, in a wind regime having an estimated average annual wind speed of approximately 9 - 10 mph.

Three towers, one 60-feet tall and two 45-feet tall, expressing trinitarian faith

Installed cost, $42,000 supplemented by significant donations of time, energy, and expertise.

Project includes field testing of turbine performance, behavior, and maintenance.

Two grants (Including an evangelism grant from the Diocese of Arkansas) and generous support from individuals have underwritten the project.

A Frequently Asked Questions section including, but not limited to, both an electricity production history and an operational status history is presented below. If after review you'd like more information or have unanswered questions please contact Stephan Pollard, PhD, Project Administrator, by email at Stephan.Pollard@Trem-Wel.com.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Why do one or two of the turbines turn and the other(s) not? Wind velocity varies across the installation. Since the blades are moved by the wind each turbine will move at a different rate. Other reasons turbines may not be spinning when there seems to be enough wind include out-of-level mounting, turbine maintenance or malfunction. The turbines are heavy and must be mounted as close to level as possible so that the wind may easily pivot them in the direction the wind is blowing towards. The more out of level a turbine mount is the harder the wind must blow in order to push the turbine around so that it may spin with the wind. In high wind conditions the turbines may shut down to prevent damage.

Does the array of wind turbines produce enough electricity to offset the church's consumption? Operation of the church results in a considerable level of electricity consumption that far exceeds the capability of the three small turbines. The church knows there are obtainable pathways to energy efficiency and actively pursues them.

Does the church get paid for the electricity the turbines produce? At the end of each of Ozarks Electric billing periods any quantity of electricity produced by the turbines that is leftover (i.e., not consumed by church operations) is credited at the retail price to the following month's bill. This has never happened at the church, however, because it consumes far more electricity than the turbines produce.

At what wind speed do the turbines start producing electricity? When average wind speed reaches 8 miles per hour (3 meters per second). The faster the wind speed the greater the electricity production. Maximum output is achieved at 29 miles per hour (13 meters per second).

What type of electrical current is produced and where is the inverter? Power is generated in Direct Current (DC). In order to use it to operate all kinds of electrical appliances and such an inverter housed in the nacelle of the turbine changes it to conventional Alternating Current (AC).

Is the turbine connected directly to a utility electric meter? No. Wiring runs underground from the installation site directly to the main breaker panel inside the church where it is mixed with electricity coming from the grid.

Does the electric meter run backwards as a result to the turbines? Yes, but only when the turbines are producing more electricity than the church is using. This might occur in windy early morning hours when no one is at the building using appliances that require electricity. All other windy times it is more likely that the electric meter is turning slower than it otherwise might.

Does the wiring from the turbines go into the building’s electric meter? No. The wiring goes directly into the building’s main breaker panel. It is helpful to think of the breaker panel as a swimming pool that gets its water (in the turbine case electrons) from two sources. The more water (electrons) being produced on site the less that is pulled/drawn from elsewhere (i.e., the grid).

Was a site assessment performed as part of the turbine installation decision and is having one performed necessary? Yes, an evaluation was performed and while it isn’t absolutely necessary it is strongly advised.

How fast do the blades turn? Depending on the wind, the blades (12 foot rotor diameter) rotate between 50 and 360 revolutions per minute.

What kind of permitting was required? The church is located in a City of Springdale planning zone that does not have height restrictions so conditional use permitting was not required. The church did, however, have to get the building inspector to sign off on the project and it was necessary to sign paperwork (interconnection contract) from Ozarks Electric Cooperative.

The average monthly electricity consumption of Arkansas households was 1,179 kWh in 2011 (Most current data available from U.S. Energy Information Administration; http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=97&t=3).

How much electricity have the turbines produced? Take a look!

Apr 2013

204 kWh – North 45' (153 kWh Apr '12; 328 kWh Apr '11; 246 kWh Apr '10)

204 kWh – South 45' (160 kWh Apr '12; 344 kWh Apr '11; 254 kWh Apr '10)

? kWh – 60' (Communication lost sometime during May '12; 192 kWh Apr '12; 402 kWh Apr '11)

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? kWh - Month Total

Mar 2013

190 kWh – North 45' (231 kWh Mar '12; 222 kWh Mar '11; 227 kWh Mar '10)

188 kWh – South 45' (238 kWh Mar '12; 223 kWh Feb '11; 232 kWh Mar '10)

? kWh – 60' (Communication lost sometime during May '12; 276 kWh Mar '12; 276 kWh Mar '11)

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? kWh - Month Total

Feb 2013

150 kWh – North 45' (174 kWh Feb '12; 153 kWh Feb '11; 111 kWh Feb '10)

153 kWh – South 45' (170 kWh Feb '12; 166 kWh Feb '11; 101 kWh Feb '10)

? kWh – 60' (Communication lost sometime during May '12; 218 kWh Feb '12; 195 kWh Feb '11)

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? kWh - Month Total

Jan 2013

159 kWh – North 45' (236 kWh Jan '12; 104 kWh Jan '11; 114 kWh Jan '10)

174 kWh – South 45' (246 kWh Jan '12; 102 kWh Jan '11; 097 kWh Jan '10)

? kWh – 60' (Communication lost sometime during May '12; 290 kWh Jan '12; 134 kWh Jan '11)

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? kWh - Month Total

Dec 2012

174 kWh – North 45' (113 kWh Dec '11; 150 kWh Dec '10; 172 kWh Dec '09)

176 kWh – South 45' (117 kWh Dec '11; 188 kWh Dec '10; 165 kWh Dec '09)

? kWh – 60' (Communication lost sometime during May '12; 144 kWh Dec '11; 207 kWh Dec '10)

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? kWh - Month Total

Nov 2012

137 kWh – North 45' (266 kWh Nov '11; 203 kWh Nov '10; 121 kWh Nov '09)

140 kWh – South 45' (268 kWh Nov '11; 219 kWh Nov '10; 114 kWh Nov '09)

? kWh – 60' (Communication lost sometime during May '12; 324 kWh Nov '11; 265 kWh Nov '10)

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? kWh - Month Total

Oct 2012

143 kWh – North 45' (101 kWh Oct '11; 89 kWh Oct '10; 133 kWh Oct '09)

148 kWh – South 45' (105 kWh Oct '11; 93 kWh Oct '10; 119 kWh Oct '09)

? kWh – 60' (Communication lost sometime during May '12; 139 kWh Oct '11; 120 kWh Oct '10; 59 kWh Oct '09)

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? kWh - Month Total

Sep 2012

51 kWh – North 45' (32 kWh Sep '11; 68 kWh Sep '10; 52 kWh Sep '09)

59 kWh – South 45' (53 kWh Sep '11; 80 kWh Sep '10; 39 kWh Sep '09)

? kWh – 60' (Communication lost sometime during May '12; 65 kWh Sep '11; ? kWh Sep '10; 67 kWh Sep '09)

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? kWh - Month Total

Aug 2012

73 kWh – North 45' (71 kWh Aug '11; 58 kWh Aug '10; 77 kWh Aug '09)

80 kWh – South 45' (69 kWh Aug '11; 63 kWh Aug '10; 69 kWh Aug '09)

? kWh – 60' (Communication lost sometime during May '12; 95 kWh Aug '11; ? kWh Aug '10; 094 kWh Aug '09)

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? kWh - Month Total

Jul 2012

62 kWh – North 45' (36 kWh Jul '11; 55 kWh Jul '10; 58 kWh Jul '09)

62 kWh – South 45' (35 kWh Jul '11; 54 kWh Jul '10; 50 kWh Jul '09)

? kWh – 60' (Communication lost sometime during May '12; 52 kWh Jul '11; ? kWh Jul '10; 72 kWh Jul '09)

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? kWh - Month Total

Jun 2012

88 kWh – North 45' (139 kWh Jun '11; 74 kWh Jun '10; 095 kWh Jun '09)

92 kWh – South 45' (139 kWh Jun '11; 81 kWh Jun '10; 096 kWh Jun '09)

? kWh – 60' (Communication lost sometime during May '12; 171 kWh Jun '11; 095 kWh Jun '10; 122 kWh Jun '09)

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? kWh - Month Total

May 2012

122 kWh – North 45' (212 kWh May '11; 122 kWh May '10; 97 kWh May '09)

131 kWh – South 45' (218 kWh May '11; 127 kWh May '10; 85 kWh May '09)

? kWh – 60' (Communication lost sometime during May '12; 270 kWh May '11; 148 kWh May '10; 122 kWh May '09)

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? kWh - Month Total

Apr 2012

153 kWh – North 45' (328 kWh Apr '11; 246 kWh Apr '10; 298 kWh Apr '09)

160 kWh – South 45' (344 kWh Apr '11; 254 kWh Apr '10; 282 kWh Apr '09)

192 kWh – 60' (402 kWh Apr '11; 290 kWh Apr '10, 345 kWh Apr '09)

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505 kWh - Month Total

Mar 2012

231 kWh – North 45' (222 kWh Mar '11; 227 kWh Mar '10; No data available for Mar '09)

238 kWh – South 45' (223 kWh Mar '11; 232 kWh Mar '10; 331 kWh Mar '09)

276 kWh – 60' (276 kWh Mar '11; 266 kWh Mar '10; 358 kWh Mar '09)

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745 kWh - Month Total

Feb 2012

174 kWh – North 45' (153 kWh Feb '11; 111 kWh Feb '10)

170 kWh – South 45' (166 kWh Feb '11; 101 kWh Feb '10)

218 kWh – 60' (195 kWh Feb '11; Only partial month's production for Feb '10)

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562 kWh - Month Total

Jan 2012

236 kWh – North 45' (104 kWh Jan '11; 114 kWh Jan '10)

246 kWh – South 45' (102 kWh Jan '11; 97 kWh Jan '10)

290 kWh – 60' (134 kWh Jan '11; No Production Jan '10)

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772 kWh - Month Total

Dec 2011

113 kWh – North 45' (150 kWh Dec '10; 172 kWh Dec '09)

117 kWh – South 45' (188 kWh Dec '10; 165 kWh Dec '09)

144 kWh – 60' (207 kWh Dec '10; No Production Dec '09)

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374 kWh - Month Total

Nov 2011

266 kWh – North 45' (203 kWh Nov '10; 121 kWh Nov '09)

268 kWh – South 45' (219 kWh Nov '10; 114 kWh Nov '09)

324 kWh – 60' (265 kWh Nov '10; No Production Nov '09)

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858 kWh - Month Total

Oct 2011

101 kWh – North 45' (89 kWh Oct '10; 133 kWh Oct '09)

105 kWh – South 45' (93 kWh Oct '10; 119 kWh Oct '09)

139 kWh – 60' (120 kWh Oct '10; Incomplete month Oct '09)

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346 kWh - Month Total

Sep 2011

32 kWh – North 45' (68 kWh Sep '10; 52 kWh Sep '09)

53 kWh – South 45' (80 kWh Sep '10; 39 kWh Sep '09)

65 kWh – 60' (No Report kWh Sep '10; 67 kWh Sep '09)

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150 kWh - Month Total

Aug 2011

71 kWh – North 45' (58 kWh Aug '10; 77 kWh Aug '09)

69 kWh – South 45' (63 kWh Aug '10; 69 kWh Aug '09)

95 kWh – 60' (No Report kWh Aug '10; 94 kWh Aug '09)

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235 kWh - Month Total

Jul 2011

36 kWh – North 45' (55 kWh Jul '10; 58 kWh Jul '09)

35 kWh – South 45' (54 kWh Jul '10; 50 kWh Jul '09)

52 kWh – 60' (No Report kWh Jul '10; 72 kWh Jul '09)

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123 kWh - Month Total

Jun 2011

139 kWh – North 45' (74 kWh Jun '10; 95 kWh Jun '09)

139 kWh – South 45' (81 kWh Jun '10; 96 kWh Jun '09)

171 kWh – 60' (95 kWh Jun '10; 122 kWh Jun '09)

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449 kWh - Month Total

May 2011

212 kWh – North 45' (122 kWh May '10; 97 kWh May '09)

218 kWh – South 45' (127 kWh May '10; 85 kWh May '09)

270 kWh – 60' (148 kWh May '10; 122 kWh May '09

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699 kWh - Month Total

Apr 2011

328 kWh – North 45' (246 kWh Apr '10; 298 kWh Apr '09)

344 kWh – South 45' (254 kWh Apr '10; 282 kWh Apr '09)

402 kWh – 60' (290 kWh Apr '10; 345 kWh Apr '09

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1,074 kWh - Month Total

Mar 2011

222 kWh – North 45' (227 kWh Mar '10; No data Mar '09)

223 kWh – South 45' (232 kWh Mar '10; 331 kWh Mar '09)

276 kWh – 60' (266 kWh Mar '10; 358 kWh Mar '09)

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721 kWh - Month Total

Feb 2011

153 kWh – North 45' (111 kWh Feb '10; No data Feb '09)

166 kWh – South 45' (101 kWh Feb '10; 198 kWh Feb '09)

195 kWh – 60' (100 kWh Feb '10; 255 kWh Feb '09)

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514 kWh - Month Total

Jan 2011

104 kWh – North 45' (114 kWh Jan '10; No data Jan '09)

102 kWh – South 45' (97 kWh Jan '10; 129 kWh Jan '09)

134 kWh – 60' (No data Jan '10; Incomplete data Jan '09)

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340 kWh - Month Total

Dec 2010

150 kWh – North 45' (172 kWh Dec '09; 253 kWh Dec '08)

188 kWh – South 45' (165 kWh Dec '09; 249 kWh Dec '08)

207 kWh – 60'

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544 kWh - Month Total

Nov 2010

203 kWh – North 45' (121 kWh Nov '09)

219 kWh – South 45' (114 kWh Nov '09)

265 kWh – 60'

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687 kWh - Month Total

Oct 2010

89 kWh – North 45' (133 kWh Oct '09)

93 kWh – South 45' (119 kWh Oct '09)

120 kWh – 60'

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303 kWh - Month Total

Sep 2010

68 kWh – North 45' (52 kWh Sep '09)

80 kWh – South 45' (39 kWh Sep '09)

? kWh – 60' (Inverter not operational until Sep 29, 2009; 67 kWh Sep '09)

Aug 2010

58 kWh – North 45' (77 kWh Aug '09)

63 kWh – South 45' (69 kWh Aug '09)

0 kWh – 60' (Inverter not operational; 94 kWh Aug '09)

Jul 2010

55 kWh – North 45' (58 kWh Jul '09)

54 kWh – South 45' (50 kWh Jul '09)

? kWh – 60' (Communication with inverter lost sometime during Jul '10; 72 kWh Jul '09)

Jun 2010

74 kWh – North 45' (95 kWh Jun '09)

81 kWh – South 45' (96 kWh Jun '09)

95 kWh – 60' (122 kWh Jun '09)

May 2010

122 kWh – North 45' (97 kWh May '09)

127 kWh – South 45' (85 kWh May '09)

148 kWh – 60' (122 kWh May '09)

Apr 2010

246 kWh – North 45' (298 kWh Apr '09)

254 kWh – South 45' (282 kWh Apr '09)

290 kWh – 60' (345 kWh Apr '09)

Mar 2010

227 kWh – North 45'

232 kWh – South 45' (331 kWh Mar '09)

266 kWh – 60' (358 kWh Mar '09)

Feb 2010

111 kWh – North 45'
101 kWh – South 45'
100 kWh – 60' (Inoperative from about Oct 20, 2009 through Feb 11, 2010)

Jan 2010

114 kWh – North 45'
97 kWh – South 45'
0 kWh – 60' (Inoperative from about Oct 20, 2009 through Feb 1, 2010)

Dec 2009

172 kWh – North 45'
165 kWh – South 45'
0 kWh – 60' (Inoperative from about Oct 20, 2009 through Jan 1, 2010)

Nov 2009

121 kWh – North 45'
114 kWh – South 45'
0 kWh – 60' (Inoperative from about Oct 20, 2009 through Dec 1, 2009)

Oct 2009

133 kWh – North 45'
119 kWh – South 45'
59 kWh – 60' (Inoperative from about Oct 20, 2009 through Nov 1, 2009)

Sep 2009

52 kWh – North 45'
39 kWh – South 45'
67 kWh – 60'

Aug 2009

77 kWh – North 45'
69 kWh – South 45'
94 kWh – 60'

Jul 2009

58 kWh – North 45'
50 kWh – South 45'
72 kWh – 60'

Jun 2009

95 kWh – North 45'
96 kWh – South 45'
122 kWh – 60'

May 2009

97 kWh – North 45'

85 kWh – South 45'
122 kWh – 60'

Apr 2009
298 kWh – North 45'

282 kWh – South 45'
345 kWh – 60'

Mar 2009
320 kWh – North 45'

320 kWh – South 45'

355 kWh – 60'

Total Production by Turbine Since Dec 1, 2008
7,663 kWh – North 45'
7,775 kWh – South 45'
? kWh – 60' Loss of communication sometime during May 2012, inverter problems that were worked on in early Spring of 2010; a nearly four month period of turbine non-operation (inverter problem) that began on or about Oct 20, 2009; and a two-and-a-half month period of turbine non-operation (problem with one of the turbine's brushes) that began on or about Jul 15, 2010 and ended Sep 29, 2010 prevent reporting of an accurate production.

What is the operational status history?* 02-15-08 — Construction of the Trinity Wind Test Project begun.

* 04-07-08 — Turbines raised on towers and switched ON.

* 04-08-08 — The tallest tower’s turbine, for unknown reasons, shutdown for a period in excess of several hours.

* 04-09-08 — The north 45-foot tower’s turbine stopped functioning entirely.

* 04-13-08 — Despite turbine problems dedication of Trinity Wind Test Project held.

* 04-14-08 — Told by manufacturer that the communications technology received from them was faulty and that they were awaiting Underwriters Laboratory (UL) approval of a new communications device. Data logging device returned to manufacturer.

* 04-15-08 – Community dedication of Trinity Wind Test Project.

* 06-17-08 – Replacement turbine installed on north 45-foot tower.

* 06-18-08 — A set-point patch file and the most current (2.0 firmware) up-dater file received and installed in the new turbine on the north 45-foot tower. New communications technology was also received but only works for the new turbine on the north 45-foot tower. Still no communications with the other two tower’s turbines and therefore no 2.0 firmware upgrade for them. The 60-foot tower’s turbine continues to operate with frequent intermittent shutdowns. Continued inability to communicate with the 60-foot tower’s turbine (and the south 45-foot tower’s turbine) continues to prevent diagnostics on the 60-foot tower’s turbine. South 45-foot tower’s turbine continues to appear to function normally.

* 06-23-08 — Communication enabling radio frequency cards placed in the south 45-foot tower’s turbine and the 60-foot tower’s turbine (a third card for the north 45-foot tower’s turbine should have been installed but was forgotten by the manufacturer). The south 45-foot tower’s turbine and the 60-foot tower’s turbine get set-point patch file and 2.0 firmware upgrade. The 60-foot tower’s turbine intermittency is observed to be getting worse.

* 06-27-08 — Somewhere about this date the 60-foot tower’s turbine stops functioning entirely.

* 09-09-08 — Replacement of inverter/hatch cover assembly and wireless PC 2.4 GHz communications technology/kits-upgrade received and installed on all three turbines. The 60-foot tower’s turbine remains inoperative.

* 11-19-08 — New turbine placed on 60-foot tower. Excessive vibration noted on north 45-foot tower’s turbine with a lesser amount noted on the south 45-foot tower’s turbine. For the first time since original installation back in April all three turbines appear to be consistently operative.

* 11-21-08 — All towers trued up using magnetic torpedo levels.

* 12-15-08 — About this time it was noticed that production from the 60-foot tower’s turbine was sub-standard relative to that of the two 45-foot tower’s turbines and shutdowns of the 60-foot tower’s turbine were noticed.

* 01-17-08 — The 60-foot tower’s turbine and the two other turbines get an inverter software update to Version 2.02 intended to correct any erroneous high wind speed shutdown issues. After installation of the software update shutdown’s of the 60-foot tower’s turbine continued to be observed.

* 01-19-08 — The church receives notice from the manufacturer that Code 11 (grid voltage) errors are occurring on the 60-foot tower’s turbine.

* 01-20-09 — The church receives notice that the vibration problems have two possible causes: 1) a blade problem, such as improper balance, and 2) chord difference due to installation inaccuracies but that it won’t really be possible know the answer until the blades are examined.

* 02-01-09 — Noticed that communication could not be acquired with the north 45-foot tower’s turbine. Closer inspection of the turbine revealed that the communication antenna had detached and was lost somewhere in the field below.

* 02-04-09 — As result of “voltage spikes” being observed in the tallest tower’s performance data a set-point-adjusting file was loaded into the turbine in order to resolve what appeared to be a wiring issue.

* 03-04-09 — As a result of the north 45-foot tower’s communication antenna having detached itself (likely the result of observed excessive developing turbine vibration) sometime during the later part of January a new antenna was installed. New blades were placed on all three turbines in an attempt to solve worsening excessive turbine vibrations that were first noticed on November 19, 2008 on the north 45-foot tower’s turbine and then later on the south 45-foot towers’ turbine. Newly released Skyview 2.0 communications, display, and data logging software from manufacturer were installed.

* 04-24-09 — Adjustments to some set-point values made to each turbine to counter the tendency of the turbines to shut down (when they shouldn’t (Fault 110)) for brief periods in high winds.

* 10-20-09 — On or about this date the inverter of 60-foot tower's turbine became inoperative for unknown reasons and remained inoperative until Feb 11, 2010.

* 02-11-10 — A manufacture's representative replaced a relay board in the inverter of 60-foot tower's turbine and brought the turbine back online. The original board showed heat damage on one of its connections evidenced by cracking at the said connection. The representative hypothesized that excessive heat could have been the result of the turbine turning itself on and off as a result of trying to push more voltage through wire than the wire was capable of during high wind events, a problem addressed using a work-around fix involving increasing the voltage tolerances with an adjustment to the set points a year or more previous.

* 07-15-10 — On or about this date the inverter of 60-foot tower's turbine became inoperative for unknown reasons and remained inoperative until Sep 29, 2010.

* 09-07-10 — Received word from the manufacturer that the issue concerning the inverter of 60-foot tower's turbine was a broken brush and that the brush is what allows power to flow in and out of the turbine where the turbine yaws. Without power the uptower radio doesn't work.

* 09-29-10 — TREC Energy, an outfit out of Missouri licensed by the turbine manufacturer to repair product installed replacement parts in the inverter of the 60-foot tower's turbine resulting in a full restoration of operation.

* 06-01-12 — It was discovered during the monthly data download that the 60-foot tower's turbine antenna had disappeared. A few days later it was noticed that the turbine was not operating. An inspection of the circuit breaker revealed that it had tripped to OFF. It was then flipped back to ON and production resumed. It is theorized that the antenna was struck by lightning sometime in late May. With the loss of the antenna data retrieval from the tower's turbine is not possible. There is no plan to replace the antenna given the expense of ascending the tower.

For more information please contact Stephan Pollard, PhD, Project Administrator by email at Stephan.Pollard@Trem-Wel.com.