The SkyDrill VAWT is standing tall and is in the final stages of full functionality!  Tom and Roger allowed the turbine to begin spinning with no load (not generating electricity) in an 8 mph wind, which is right at the cut-in speed for the turbine.  Videos will soon be posted, so stay with us as we develop this exciting news for our company.

This last picture was taken while the sun was still clear.  Tom and Roger were busy working on the calibration of the electronic systems that allow the turbine to govern itself, when they felt the temperature drop and the wind pick up.  About the time the storm really picked up (lightning, etc.) Tom and Roger wisely decided it was time to end work for the day.

The turbine had the storm brake on, and easily endured the 40 mph plus winds.  Yesterday, Tom and Roger put a lot of hard work into the turbine to get it ready to spin and produce electricity.  Tom found a bit of irony in the whole day.  Emailing us last night, he said:

" Well, we got the anemometer to work, but when we went to test the system, the wind speed signal picked up some noise from the motor drive. After discussing with Jim from Minarik (and my 6th climb up the tower), we replaced some of the existing wires with shielded cable. At 8:30, when we were finally ready to test, the wind was blowing at 40mph+ and the system kept shutting down. At least we know the safety features work!"

Lastly, I thought I would include this photograph because I believe that it is important to a lot of our potential customers to see what the visual impact of the SkyDrill VAWT will be.  The picture below was taken from approximately one-half mile away from the turbine.  You will also notice in the right-hand side of the photograph a couple of traditional horizontal turbines being tested at the WTAMU facility.