[RE-wrenches] Skystream 3.7 experiences?

Matt Tritt solarone at charter.net
Tue Dec 23 18:17:54 PST 2008 

Roger, etc.,

All reports that have come my way basically concur; with one interesting 
exception - that being from a SkyStream owner (and "urban wind dealer"). 
They are claiming about "500 kWh/per month" from their machine, which is 
located smack-dab in the urban heart of San Francisco. This is on a 45' 
tower, by the way, right next to a house. Since this reported production 
rivals the best turbines in the same rotor size class in a really great 
wind site, the report is either extremely misread, or this part of the 
city has one hell of a wind regime! It is also interesting to note that 
they won't sell any more SkyStreams after having "a negative experience" 
with SWWP.

Matt T

roger dixon wrote:

> I support and second the thoughts and comments Roy has voiced, as the 
> real world experience does not yet marry up to the projections and 
> subsequent client/owner expectations.  Without a customer production 
> meter, owners are basically happy with their units (they rotate so 
> they make power J).   With production meters you will find a different 
> reaction.  Reality sets in with the numbers on those meters.  I do not 
> install ANY wind turbine without a customer side, production meter and 
> I monitor that with annual inspections and maintenance.  I am hopeful 
> that refinement of the Skystream turbine, electronics and software 
> will prove to be fruitful and live up to those projections and 
> expectations.
>
>  
>
> *Roger Dixon*
>
> */Certified Wind Site Assessor/*
>
> *Skylands Renewable Energy, LLC*
>
> *908.337.2057 cell*
>
> *908.730.6474 fax*
>
> *roger.dixon at att.net*
>
>  
>
> *From:* re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org 
> [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] *On Behalf Of *Roy 
> Butler
> *Sent:* Tuesday, December 23, 2008 5:25 PM
> *To:* RE-wrenches
> *Subject:* Re: [RE-wrenches] Skystream 3.7 experiences?
>
>  
>
> Phil and all,
>
> The industry insiders have a great saying that sums this all up....
>
> Skystream owners without production meters love their turbines.
> Those with meters hate them.....
>
> Let's hope SWWP does what it must to turn this around and do what's 
> right for
> the industry. Hey...I can dream can't I??
>
>
>Roy Butler
>
>NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer®
>
>NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer 
>
>Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC
>
>8902 Route 46
>
>Arkport, NY 14807
>
>607-324-9747
>
> 
>
>www.four-winds-energy.com <http://www.four-winds-energy.com>
>
>www.nationalsolarsupply.com <http://www.nationalsolarsupply.com>
>
> 
>
>Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, 
>
>a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
>
> 
>
>
>
> Phil Schneider wrote:
>
> Our experience with the Skystream here in Wyoming has been good so 
> far.  We have installed 6, the oldest one being in operation for about 
> 14 months.  One is part of a battery based grid-tie system, and 
> operated well when tested.  One of the turbines is in world-class wind 
> in Southeast Wyoming.  I just checked with the owner and it produced 
> about 480 kWh in the last month on a short tower (with a hundred miles 
> of sagebrush to the windward side) at almost 6000 ft elevation. 
>  Unfortunately this turbine doesn't have an anemometer/data logger, so 
> we don't know if it is performing as expected.  My guess is that it 
> spends a lot of time self-regulating.
>
> One of the turbines was in the recent batch of recalls and was dealt 
> with by a SWWP-hired contractor.  This involved a potential leak in a 
> seal of the electronics compartment in the nacelle (although for some 
> reason they are replacing the whole turbine).  While reaching somebody 
> at SWWP tech support has been nearly impossible, this turbine swap was 
> handled fairly swiftly.
>
>>From the others' experience, sounds like we should keep our fingers 
> crossed.
>
> P.
>
> *Phil Schneider*, system engineer
> Creative Energies
> www.CreativeEnergies.biz <http://www.CreativeEnergies.biz>
> 307.332.3410 Lander, WY
> 208.354.3001 Victor, ID
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> *From: *Kurt Albershardt <info at es-ee.com> <mailto:info at es-ee.com>
> *Reply-To: *RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> 
> <mailto:re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
> *Date: *Tue, 23 Dec 2008 08:26:38 -0800
> *To: *RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> 
> <mailto:re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
> *Subject: *Re: [RE-wrenches] Skystream 3.7 experiences?
>
> --On Monday, December 22, 2008 6:23 PM -0500 Roy Butler 
> <roy at four-winds-energy.com> <mailto:roy at four-winds-energy.com> wrote: 
> > > In a nutshell.....this unit is not ready for prime time yet. Lots 
> of bugs and glitches. > Not to mention much lower than expected energy 
> production. --On Monday, December 22, 2008 5:13 PM -0700 Louis 
> Woofenden <louis at woofenden.net> <mailto:louis at woofenden.net> wrote: > 
> > We've installed a couple of Skystream units here in southern 
> Arizona. We know the tilt-up tower works quite well--we've had to 
> bring each unit down 2-3 times for various problems with electronics. 
> Added to this was SWWP's extremely poor customer service. They took 
> several days to even call us back, didn't send promised parts, etc. Of 
> course, these two installation sites are one and two hours from our 
> shop. We had one customer who was just about ready to throw the unit 
> in the back of his truck, and drive it the five hours up to Flagstaff. 
> > > It looks slick, the installation was no problem, but if it doesn't 
> work reliably, none of that really matters, in my opinion. I was 
> hoping SWWP would get this one right, but I don't think it's there 
> yet. Given the long and well documented SWWP history, I was afraid of 
> this. Has anyone successfully coupled a Bergey Xl.1 to a grid-tie? 
>  Anything else to recommend in the 1-5 kW range? thanks... > Might 
> have something to do with those little fence posts they call towers 
> ;-) > > And that Smart foundation only works on towers 60' or less. > 
> Too short for most sites and not a good height for energy production 
> anyway. > > Believe me.....most of us would love to see plug and play/ 
> modular tower > and turbine systems but there's no such beast yet! > > 
> Best advice......take a wait and see approach. > > Roy Butler > NABCEP 
> Certified Solar PV Installer® > NYSERDA eligible PV & wind installer 
> Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC > 8902 Route 46 > Arkport, NY 14807 > 
> 607-324-9747 > > www.four-winds-energy.com 
> <http://www.four-winds-energy.com> > www.nationalsolarsupply.com 
> <http://www.nationalsolarsupply.com> > > Although no trees were killed 
> in the sending of this message, a large number of electrons were 
> terribly inconvenienced. > > > > > Kurt Albershardt wrote: >> Anyone 
> have realworld experience with the SWWP Skystream 3.7 they can >> 
> share? >> >> The AnemErgonics foundation kit looks fairly well thought 
> out. >> >> >> >> > > _______________________________________________ > 
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