Towers at Bergey

Windpower

SMART Wind ConsortiumSupport Structures Subgroup Meeting

January 14, 2015

Mike BergeyPresident & 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 kW8.2 ft Dia.

10 kW23 ft. Dia.

6 kW20.2 ft Dia.

Custom Inverters & battery chargers

Towers: Multiple styles, 60 – 160 ft.

In-House Manufacturing

ResidentialMontana

Health ClinicAfghanistan

Cell siteKenya

MilitaryAtlantic Ocean

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 Gin-Pole on Smaller Systems (>10 kW)

Periodic Monitoring of Guy-Wire Tension Required

Simple, Inexpensive Civil Works ... Minimal Concrete Requirements

Tilt-up Towers

Tilt-up Tower in the Lowered Position for Erection and Maintenance

Tilt-up Tower in the Normal Operating Position

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

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 kWGuyed 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