Wind Farms - Before pictures

[Steve Smith]

Solar panels work off the suns radiation 100% of the time.

Even at night?!!


Steve.

[Steve M Hostetter]

Even at night?!!


Steve.

I stand corrected I should have said 100% of the daylight hours thx steve

If you figure in the stored energy created you could say that they work 24-7

[Sirius Glass]

I imagine them as a sky perch for high angle l'scape shots or ultra brave base jumpers or just as you say, rusting 300' hulks -- we shall see.

Cordless Bungee Jumping

No pesky equipment
Makes a great impact
Large expansive coverage after

[Bill_1856]

Somebody told me that they are incredibly noisey. True?

[Steve M Hostetter]

No Bill they make the same noise as a persons voice talking.

That noise is just from the blades cutting through the air. They regularly grease the bearings so there is never any squeaking noises.

[Frank Petronio]

Maybe it sounds like someone talking if your Mother-in-Law moans on endlessly.... To me the most similar feeling is sitting in coach near the engine of a commuter jet.

But $20K per tower, per year makes it sound quieter, amazing....

[Dakotah Jackson]

The latest generation of Iberdrola Energy are two miles from us... You can hear the damn things. In a gentle to moderate wind, you can hear them. The gear grumbling and the blades rotating in the air. In higher wind they are overpowered by the wind in the trees - a natural sound that is just fine.

The blinking lights of 70+ towers screws up the night sky and horizon. It screws up sunsets - but I try to make the most of it. (attached photo) As long as the damn things are here I might as well try to make something from them.

Most frustrating part is that the most reliable wind is OFFSHORE winds along the coastal areas. They could anchor hundreds of towers offshore and have the power close by and not have to rely on coal plants from other areas. A few shutdowns for really high winds and the few days of dead calm each year, but 90% of the time the offshore breezes are reliable.

And Steve, solar panels lose a lot of efficiency when the sun is not hitting them directly. One big downfall for small solar is a reliable tracking method to keep them facing the sun - that is not cost prohibitive. Spending $10,000 to save $1000 still doesn't add up.

[Steve Smith]

Most frustrating part is that the most reliable wind is OFFSHORE winds along the coastal areas. They could anchor hundreds of towers offshore.

They do in England: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scroby_Sands_Wind_Farm

I'm sure they do in other places too.


Steve.

[Sevo]

In twenty years, once this generation of wind turbines become rusting 300' hulks and the corporations charged with maintaining them skip town, let me know how you like them then....

Given the high number of people among us photographing derelict remains of past industrial periods (from steam age to space age), I suppose the then generation of landscape photographers will be loving them...

[Two23]

I believe that solar is a much bigger threat. There are limited places to profitably cite wind turbines,

No wind turbines are anywhere near "profitable." None will even return their cost. I see them as a short lived fad, just another way for politicians to hand other people's money over to their supporters. It's much like ethanol subsidies etc. Solar is even worse from a cost/reward benefit. It's all window dressing, something to allow politicians to speak "happy talk".


Kent in SD