Guy-less tilt-up towers for Air turbines [RE-wrenches]

Doug Pratt dpratt at pacific.net
Fri May 3 19:09:22 PDT 2002


Hey John,

  Last fall SW sent me specs and pics of a 30' freestanding tower they
were working on, based on street lighting pole technology. It was a
slick, attractive, tapered foldover design in brushed aluminum. They
were wondering if there's a marketing niche for such a thing. I
encouraged them, although the price was sorta steep, it looked great.
Hey SW folks! Whatever happened to that project?

Best regards,
Doug Pratt
Real Goods Technical Editor


-----Original Message-----
From: John Raynes [mailto:john at raynes.com]
Sent: Thursday, May 02, 2002 4:11 PM
To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
Subject: Guy-less tilt-up towers for Air turbines [RE-wrenches]


Hello Wrenches,

I have a question for the group that's been bugging me.  I come across a
lot of potential small wind customers who will not buy if it involves
guyed
towers.  Usually they're in communities without lots of land, plus there
are the questions about how they look, people tripping over wires, etc.
I
know of the guy-less lattice towers for the larger machines, but those
are
overkill (height, weight, and cost-wise) when considering an Air403 or
Air-X.  We've searched high and low for some design that's in the 25-50'
range, readily adaptable to the Air turbines, but we're stumped.  SW
doesn't feel that this is an issue they need to address.

It seems as if the only solutions are
	1) the roof mount kit (enough's already been said about that),
	2) "just sink a pole, man", or
	3) "deal with guy wires and stop whining"

I reluctantly steer toward #2, but there are still two major
problems.  First, there's the question of access, and I always tell
folks
to plan on servicing with some regularity.  Without tilt-up, that's
often
not practical once you get above 20-25' or so.  Second, it's not an
engineered solution, and I'm concerned about liability.  I'm not a
mechanical designer, so I'm hesitant to bank on my judgement when it
comes
to tall tower structures, without going for overkill, probably way more
expensive than is needed.

Anybody aware of cost-effective solutions for guy-less Air tilt-up
towers?   I don't mind if there's 5-10' of spread at the bottom for
bracing, nor do I mind if there's pipe welding needed to reduce down
from
fatter poles at the base.  I'm just looking for a design that's been
tested
by someone who's given it the proper thought.  I'll buy plans, kits,
whatever.

Thanks,
John Raynes
RE Solar
Sandy, UT

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