Tubular towers and PV mounting [RE-wrenches]

[Ian Woofenden, Home Power]

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Hi Daryl,

This doesn't make any sense to me. I'm no engineer, but it seems like 
the side load on the wind turbine rotor is not insignificant. The 
machines we are considering have lateral thrust ratings from 250 to 
2,250 pounds. So the tower has to deal with side loads, and at the 
point where they have the most leverage.

Obviously, we want to choose a tower that can handle the loads we're 
putting on it. This will mean a tower that is stouter than we would 
specify for the turbine alone. But the PVs will be below the tree 
line and at 1/2 to 2/3 of the tower height, so they will not have as 
much affect on the engineering as the turbine's lateral thrust, I 
would think.

Please tell me if/where my thinking is wrong.

Thanks,

Ian

At 3:54 AM -0800 11/15/03, Darryl Thayer wrote:
>I would not mount a load on the side of a tower of
>this type.  The tower is meant only for a vertical
>load the side load of the PV would comprimize the
>tower strength.
>Daryl
>--- "Ian Woofenden, Home Power"
><ian.woofenden at homepower.com> wrote:
>>
>>  Greetings Wrenches,
>>
>>  Kelly Keilwitz of Whidbey Sun & Wind and I are
>>  planning for a project
>>  that will be the installations for both the SEI PV
>>  and wind workshops
>>  here next October. We're looking at a 140 to 160
>>  foot tower with a
>>  12-15 foot diameter wind turbine and 2 to 3 KW of PV
>>  mounted at 60 to
>>  90 feet up the tower.
>>
>>  The customer is interested in a tubular tower for
>>  aesthetic reasons.
>>  I have no experience with these, and prefer the idea
>>  of a
>>  three-legged freestanding tower like the Rohn SSV,
>>  both for mounting
>>  PVs on and for climbing. On the other hand, I'm
>>  always up for a new
>>  adventure, so I need to find out if a tubular tower
>>  is practical for
>>  this project.
>>
>>  Do any of you have experience with:
>>  * Tall tubular towers
>>  * Putting PVs on tubular towers
>>
>>  Please share your experience, recommendations,
>>  warnings, hopes, and dreams. ;-)
>>
>>  Thanks,
>>
>  > Ian

-- 

Ian Woofenden <ian.woofenden at homepower.com>, Senior Editor
Home Power magazine, The Hands-On Journal Of Home-Made Power
My use of words is just some antics.

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