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Old 10-15-10, 10:50 AM   #1
Daox
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Default Sam’s Club First U.S. Retailer to Install On-Site Micro-Wind Farm – Walmart is Next

Not a bad idea at all IMO. Too bad it only accounts for ~5% of the store's energy usage! Lets do some calculations...

76,000 kWh = 5%

76,000 x 20 = 1,520,000 kWh per year

That is 4,164 kWh per day!?!?! Is my math off? That sounds like an incredible amount of power for one retail store.

Quote:
17 micro-wind turbines were recently installed at the Sam’s Club store in sunny Palmdale, California. The Skystream turbines, from Massachusetts-based DeerPath Energy Inc., are expected to generate about 76,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy annually or up to 5 percent of the store’s energy needs.
Sam?s Club First U.S. Retailer to Install On-Site Micro-Wind Farm ? Walmart is Next | Jace Shoemaker-Galloway


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Last edited by Daox; 10-15-10 at 11:41 AM..
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Old 10-15-10, 12:57 PM   #2
TimJFowler
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Hmmm...

Daox, the press release said 76,000 Kwh annually (which still may be very optimistic).

IF those are Skystream 3.7 wind turbines (going by the photo and looking at the manufacturer's website) I did some quick back of the napkin math:

76,000 Kwh / 17 turbines / 12 months = 372.5 Kwh per turbine per month.

According to the Skystream 3.7 product data sheet the turbines need an average wind speed of 12 mph to generate that much power.

My doubt creeps in because
1. Those turbines are quite close to a BIG and TALL building (many of those wind turbines will not be getting "clean" wind).
2. The annual average windspeed at the Palmdale, CA airport is 10.1 mph.

My cynical side asks, "Does Sam's Club sell wind turbines made by this manufacturer?"

Tim
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Old 10-15-10, 09:11 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Daox View Post
That is 4,164 kWh per day!?!?! Is my math off? That sounds like an incredible amount of power for one retail store.
Next time you're in a drug store or auto parts store, do a quick count of the number of fluorescent lamps on the sales floor, then multiply by 30W per tube, which is .72KWh/d per tube. You will end up with an unbelievably large electric bill, probably over $1000/mo. But the scientists and bean counters at corporate are correct, people have a better impression of a store with a brighter sales floor, and they come back more often.

Adding in refrigeration, HVAC, and other small loads, your math sounds pretty good to me for a Sam's.

Now on the matter of small scale turbines at Wal-Mart: I call gimmick. They're just trying to get some green cred (and maybe some wind turbine sales) with these highly visible, small scale turbines. If they wanted to make maximum environmental impact for their dollar, they'd shut up and go build a large scale wind project, or maybe put a MW turbine on the roof of a store in North Dakota instead of a few dozen KW scattered here and there.

Oh, and good on them for trying to look green, I guess.
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Old 10-15-10, 10:54 PM   #4
Solar Mike
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I agree with other posters, Sam's will be lucky to get 5% pa. of rated power output from such an installation, in other words an absolute waste of money. Perhaps if they had spent the same amount on PV and offset some of their power they would be much better off.
In NZ we call such examples above green washing.
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Old 10-16-10, 12:02 AM   #5
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I have a friend that does hvac controls He was telling me in the dead of winter the local malls will be running their AC to keep the place cool due to all of the lights inside them. They are shockingly inefficient places.
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Old 10-16-10, 11:37 AM   #6
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The sky stream turbines are used as a prime example of a turbine company putting it's machine on to short of a tower, you need to be at least 50 feet higher then anything within 500 feet! if you put a dog house up in your hay field with your wind turbine you need to then be 50 feet higher then the top of the dog house and 50 feet higher then the hay.
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Old 10-18-10, 10:53 PM   #7
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Having built a ton (well 600 or so) small wind machines, and being very enamored of them, Sams club would have been much wiser to put up PV panels.
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Old 11-18-11, 08:59 PM   #8
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Unhappy 7 Skystreams not working

I live in Palmdale. I drive by that Sams Club twice a week. 7 of the Skystreams at that Sams Club have not been turning for at least 8 months. Having been a small wind owner for nearly 10 years I can tell you these 7 Skystreams are broken. I think anyone else who shops at that Sams Club can agree with me. The other Skystreams at the Sams Club are turning, I assume their generating power.
Question is : is that company in Massachusetts willing to travel across the country to repair these non working turbines? My guess is no. Will Sams Club in Palmdale be able to FIND a company to repair these turbines in the Southern CA area? My guess is maybe, but it hasn't happened yet. Can Sams Club depend on the manufacturer, SWWP to repair the turbines? My guess is NO! SWWP customer service sucks! I know from my experience with owning one of their turbines.
8 months, 9 months, a year? We shall see when all of those SAMs Club Skystreams are turning. I will update.
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Old 11-19-11, 08:54 AM   #9
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Our BJ's store in Woburn, MA has about 120 PV panels on their roof.
I once asked a clerk about them. She had no clue they were up there..

woburn ma - Google Maps

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