Transcript Overview of Bergey Windpower Co.

Towers at
Bergey
Windpower
SMART Wind Consortium
Support Structures
Subgroup Meeting
January 14, 2015
Mike Bergey
President & CEO
160 ft. Guyed-Lattice Install for Bergey 10 kW by
Niagara Windpower, Upstate New York, 2014
Bergey Windpower Co.
A World Leader in Small Wind
 Established in 1977, sole focus on
small wind turbines for distributed
applications
 Pioneered “sophisticated simplicity”
turbine architecture and numerous
component technologies
 Turbines have 3-4 moving parts,
require no scheduled maintenance,
and have demonstrated 20+ years
with 100% availability and zero
O&M costs – unique in industry
 Longest warranties in industry
 Over ~10,000 installations,
covering all 50 States and over
100 countries
Bergey Products
1 kW
8.2 ft Dia.
6 kW
20.2 ft Dia.
10 kW
23 ft. Dia.
Towers: Multiple
styles, 60 – 160 ft.
Custom Inverters &
battery chargers
In-House Manufacturing
Military
Atlantic Ocean
Health Clinic
Afghanistan
Residential
Montana
Cell site
Kenya
Grid-Intertie Markets
Towers for Small Turbines
 Putting a Wind Turbine on a
Tower That is Too Short is Like
Mounting a Solar Module in the
Shade
 Towers Should be 18 m (60 ft)
Minimum
 Towers of 24-37 m (80-120 ft)
Recommended
 Taller Towers Cost More, But Nearly
Always Lower Life-Cycle Costs Due
to Performance Improvement
 Hot-Dip Galvanized Steel is the Most
Common Tower Material
 Effective Tower Grounding is an
Important Part of Lightning
Protection
Guyed-Lattice Towers
 Least Expensive Type ...
Efficient Use of Materials
 Good Siting Flexibility
 Easily Erected with GinPole on Smaller Systems
(>10 kW)
 Periodic Monitoring of
Guy-Wire Tension
Required
 Simple, Inexpensive Civil
Works ... Minimal Concrete
Requirements
Tilt-up Towers
 Cost is ~30% More Than
Non-Tilting Tower
 Easy to Erect Without a
Crane
 Must have 4-Way Guying
 Raising With Hand Winch
Possible
 Good Choice for Typhoon
Affected Areas
Tilt-up Tower in the Lowered
Position for Erection and
Maintenance
Tilt-up Tower in the Normal
Operating Position
Self-Supporting Towers
 System Cost is ~15-30%
More Than Guyed-Lattice
Tower
 Requires Substantial Civil
Works
 Smallest “Foot-Print”
 Must be Heavy Duty to
Provide Proper Stiffness
 Growing popularity in
active markets with robust
subsidies
~ 1 kW
Guyed
Tubular
Tower
Guyed-Lattice Towers for 10 kW
10 ft. GL Tower Sections
“Guasti 6-Pack”
BWC Tower Experience & Trends
 Sales trend towards self-supporting towers
 Tower heights creeping up: 140’ for 10 kW now
common
 Resonance/dynamics issues have caused noise
but not failures
 Good, but not perfect, success with customer
supplied towers (using published requirements)
 No personal injury claims to date
 Path to lower tower production cost is understood
– just need volume
 Anchoring is a market barrier – cost, time, hassle
– better solutions needed