The annals of wind energy are filled with examples of arrogance, hubris, and hype about products that failed to deliver on their promoter’s promise. One long forgotten example is the Schachle wind turbine. However, unlike the Internet wonders that bedevil us today, the Schachle wind turbine was a real piece of hardware not merely electrons floating in the ether.
In 1932 British Pathé filmed a newsreel of the Soviet Union’s recently installed wind turbine at Balaklava near Yalta on … Read more
It was common knowledge on California wind farms in the 1980s that one way to stop the rotor from spinning out of control was to somehow get a rope tangled in the rotor. The rotor would then wind up the rope, wrapping it tightly around the main shaft, slowing the rotor if not stopping it. To get the rope into the rotor, it was necessary to shoot an arrow towards the rotor with a line attached. If successful, the spinning rotor would do the rest.
This is an update of an article I first posted in 10 November 2018. It follows on a series of articles about historical films of wind turbines. In 1980 the Department of Energy published a short film titled Wind: An Energy Alternative. The 12-minute film was produced by the Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI) probably in 1979.
I’ve updated a post from May 19, 2022 of three videos of historic wind turbines in operation: Ulrich Hütter’s StGW-34, … Read more
I had this video digitized for its historical content from a video cassette provided by Mark Haller from his collection … Read more
This is a 23 second video of NedWind wind turbines operating on the Whitewater Wash near Palm Springs, California in … Read more
This is a nearly 30-minute video of a Danish Wincon wind turbine running away in the San Gorgonio Pass some … Read more
This is a 33-minute video of an Enertech E44 running in overspeed in the Altamont Pass in the late 1980s. … Read more
While archiving articles I’d written for the American Wind Energy Association’s newsletter, Wind Energy Weekly, I came across this one about Fayette’s restructuring in 1990. At the time I was the west coast representative for AWEA in Tehachapi. There’s not a lot on my web site about Fayette. (I do mention them in my books and in articles on capacity factor and how this figure of merit can be so misleading.) Consequently, for historical reference I am posting the article with the original date that I submitted it to AWEA. See Fayette Reborn in Major Restructuring.
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