TOUR THE TURBINES |
||||
See the region ’ s massive wind turbines up close and learn about their history and cutting-edge technology by booking a self driving tour curated by Palm Springs Windmill Tours Tour Manager Randy Buckmaster . This interactive tour , which takes about an hour , will guide you with an audio program and marked destinations throughout the first commercial wind farm in the United States . Starting with a display yard of nonoperating wind turbines of successes and failures , along with a stop at a real generating wind turbine where you can get up close and take pictures , the tour continues to the old Enron machines . The company asks that visitors respect others by not gathering at the marked destinations and allow cars ahead of you to finish their exploration before your turn . For reservations , visit windmilltours . com . |
||||
|
Wind turbines power the desert in Palm Springs .
TECHNICAL MARVELS
Today ’ s wind turbines are far more efficient than those using 1980s technology , Buckmaster notes . The largest are 262 feet in height ( up to their hubs ) and their 144-footlong blades each weigh 14,000 pounds . Their older counterparts are only 80 feet tall , with 25-foot blades .
Wind speeds that allow for optimal energy production range from 17 to 18 mph , Buckmaster says . About 6 to 10 mph is the minimal speed range , although these numbers vary from system to system .
|
Taller turbines capture stronger wind and , Buckmaster stresses , the newest gearboxes can convert only 16.1 revolutions per minute into 18,000 RPMs used to generate energy . By com-parison , the older turbines produce far less energy despite spinning at 47 RPMs . Newer , slow-er-turning blades also reduce noise — although , Buckmaster says , “ they make very little noise anyway ”— as well as reduce risks to birds and last longer .
“ The largest turbines here produce up to 3 megawatts ,” he says . “ The newest can produce 5.8 ; we hope to add those in the near future .”
|
Today , as the older , smaller turbines are phased out , fewer of the newest systems are required to produce more energy . “ And , in some cases ,” Rader says , “ an older system ’ s understory [ ver-tical post ] is retained and newer , more efficient gearboxes are installed .”
Future wind farms , she adds , may be located off California ’ s coast . One system would help SoCal immensely . “ Transmission cables from off-shore San Luis Obispo [ County ] could extend south to the retired San Onofre nuclear plant to serve the Orange County area .” ( calwea . org ) PC
|
TOP : DREAMFRAMER / SHUTTERSTOCK . COM ; BOTTOM : SEBASTIAN KIENITZ / SHUTTERSTOCK . COM SIDEBAR : OBSCUR / SHUTTERSTOCK . COM |