Truth About Skystream & SWWP

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  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    #242
    Re: Truth About Skystream & SWWP

    competition,
    feel free to go to the for sale thread,
    http://forum.solar-electric.com/showthread.php?16275-For-Sale-Thread
    and offer them up. for only 9 sets of blades that aren't available anymore i don't feel there's a problem with it being posted there. reason i say that is we don't like commercial sales to be put in there as it is geared for us guys just cleaning house or making room for stuff on a personal level. put all info you have on them into the post and asking price. make all transactions and contact info private via pm. if you post your phone number, address, or email address we can't be responsible for it and you'd post personal info here at your own risk. changes to and updates to the post cannot be done long after the post has been made due to spam putting attachments or changes into their posts long after it was posted. if it is a case of a change needing to be made you can contact us moderators or even use the report post method of contact and use the report post method too if you like just citing the purpose of the report. if it is sold out before the 2 month expiration (give or take as we are sometimes late in our deletions) you can notify us and we can mark it as sold for a period of time so you won't be inundated with inquiries for periods afterwards.
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  • GaryB
    GaryB Registered Users Posts: 1
    #243
    Re: Truth About Skystream & SWWP

    Bottom line................ is there anyone out there who can do repairs on the Skystream 3.7 ? We are on our second one and it worked for about 2 years and then stopped. We have the 2.0 software but it never has functioned. Sny help out there ?
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,613 admin
    #244
    Re: Truth About Skystream & SWWP

    In this thread, there are a couple companies that have some level of support for Skystream Turbines (no warranty support, separate companies making parts/kits, as I understand):

    Skystream Parts

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • mahendra
    mahendra Solar Expert Posts: 188 ✭✭✭
    #245
    Re: Truth About Skystream & SWWP

    all that i have read here seems touching about swwp on both sides i don't doubt that there are money hungry investors within the company and angry/cheated employees but from experience the air series of swwp performed decently given all the skepticism of small wind turbines performance and FYI skystream and air is now owned by Primus wind .i think their problem is more with management and the engineering.that seems to be acceptable and normal in these times i.e ceo's and managers can mess up all the timeI AM NOT LIFE COACH BUT ADVICE FOR THOSE DISMISSED EMPLOYEES FORM YOUR OWN COMPANY SOMEHOW .TAKE AN EXAMPLE FORM MINDNITE SOLAR THOSE GUYS ARE DOING WONDERS AND THERE SUPPORT IS 2ND TO NONE.NAWS IS IN ITS OWN CLASS.
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  • halfcrazy
    halfcrazy Solar Expert Posts: 720 ✭✭✭
    #246
    Re: Truth About Skystream & SWWP

    Xzeres has purchased the rights to the SkyStream and I believe the whisper 100. I am not sure what their plans are, but I can guarantee they will not honor the warranty on existing SkyStream's
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  • mahendra
    mahendra Solar Expert Posts: 188 ✭✭✭
    #247
    Re: Truth About Skystream & SWWP

    that really sucks because i was planning to get a whisper turbine but it doesn't seems like any retailer stocks them only a few and those are probably old stocks that carries no warranty and there is no positive vibe on replacement parts in the far future for those who may need it.i still dont get it how can a successful product go out of business like that?where i live 90 percent of the turbine are southwest wind.
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  • europe calling
    europe calling Registered Users Posts: 1 ✭
    #248
    Re: Truth About Skystream & SWWP

    I do power electronics. When I saw the Skystream turbine for the first time in Europe in a trade show I was scared. This happened about three years ago in Husum Germany.

    Why?

    Mechanics -> It is very hard to make a hermetically isolated enclosure with a slip ring and an revolving axis, almost impossible. Condensation happens always, you just have to live with it and prepare for it. Drill holes to get the water out and double coat all of the PCB's inside the chassis. Do temperature calculations. Non of these were taken care of properly. It was clear that problems are ahead.

    Electronics -> Yes, we have lots of sensitive electronics in our cars which withstand vibration. They work, but why? It's because they are not power electronics, the heat problems are exponentially larger if you do transfer power not signals!

    I give all the mnfr's of wind turbines an example for free:

    1. If blades transfer power 2.0 kW to the axis
    2. Bearing losses 0.5 to 2.0 % max 40 W (remaining power 1960 W)
    3. PMG with good efficiency (92 %) max 157 W (remaining power 1803 W)
    4. Converter with low losses (95 %) max 90 W (remaining power 1713 W)

    Now after the 2000 W power generated with the blades we are getting only slightly more than 1700 W power to the grid. What happens to the rest? The rest should be transferred out of the enclosure to prevent overheating. 10 Celsius increase in the nacelle temperature from the component specification which is usually 20 C with most electric components means decrease ratio of 50 % in lifetime, 20 C rise means 75 % decrease in lifetime and 30 C leads to 87.5 decrease. This happens even it the turbine is stand still!

    Does Skystream have forced cooling? AFAIK no. Please for the sake of small wind industry take the electronics down.
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,613 admin
    #249
    Re: Truth About Skystream & SWWP

    The company that made the Skystream has been out of business earlier this year... The smaller turbine rights (AirX and such?) have been sold another small wind company.

    Southwest Windpower
    Southwest Windpower is a wind turbine manufacturer established in 1987 based in Flagstaff, Arizona. The company specializes in small, reliable battery charging wind generators that complement photovoltaics (solar energy or PV) in supplying energy to rural areas.[1] Southwest Windpower closed for business in the first quarter of 2013.[2]
    The remaining Skystream assets were acquired by Xzeres wind in July of 2013. Xzeres CEO, Frank Greco was previously the CEO of Southwest Windpower.[3]


    Wind turbines, at high power levels, typically have pretty heavy winds--So they generally do not need forced air cooling.

    However, moving outside air through the turbine brings water, dust, snow into it--Which is not good either. Adding big heat sinks to a moving system at the top of a 30+ meter tall tower--I don't want to be nearby if anything fails.

    Interestingly, even with all of the problems (poor reliability, inability to properly track wind, etc.)--When the turbine was working, it appeared to be one of the highest producing "small turbine" out there--It just did not do it very long before something broke/went out of adjustment.

    Personally, I am not a fan of "small wind" (or wind at all, a different post)--"Europe Calling", do you have any experience with "good" wind turbines/manufacturers?

    We still get people looking for good products and reasonable history--short of having to build the turbines themselves (currently, the only good source of small wind turbines--it appears). And even "good quality smaller turbines" mounted on a 3 meter pole are probably not going to generate very much useful power.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • mcconnel
    mcconnel Registered Users Posts: 0 ✭
    #250
    Holy thread resurrection, Batman.

    Cheers old SWWP folk.

    I was there back in the early 90s.

    Michael McConnel. The mouthy kid with a lot of blonde hair, ideas and attitude. :-)

    Would love to reconnect with any and all. Stories to tell from decades past... and I am back in AZ again!

    Message me.

    :-)
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  • archsabino
    archsabino Registered Users Posts: 4 ✭
    #251
    Hi Truth Squad,

    Thanks for creating this thread. Change is inevitable especially when new people takes the center stage, but it's either you adjust to it or you leave. It's pretty clear what your decision was, and I respect that. I wish you all the best, and I even wish you good luck for your new employment.
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  • Cheyennewind1
    Cheyennewind1 Registered Users Posts: 3 ✭
    #252
    I have numerous calls concerning Skystream 3.7 wind turbines. We still service them and have over 250 of them in the field still operating flawlessly.
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,613 admin
    edited January 2018 #253
    Cheyenne Wind,

    Have you created your own upgrades, tower changes, adding tails to turbines or such?

    Keeping the turbines running reliably is a great achievement.

    Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,613 admin
    #254
    The old "Jane Skystream" data got hosed again in the archive... A copy I recovered:

    It looks like the forum conversion lost Jane's monthly data (only long term, small wind, installation performance numbers I have heard). Very important historical information (In my humble opinion):


    JAN
    FEB
    MAR
    APR
    MAY
    JUN
    JUL
    AUG
    SEP
    OCT
    NOV
    DEC
    Total
    2007
    n/a
    n/a
    n/a
    n/a
    n/a
    n/a
    n/a
    n/a
    n/a
    175
    225
    0*
    400
    2008
    98*
    292
    		308
    		246
    		228
    		153
    		9284
    		97164
    		2464722,480
    2009
    		265348244371182869084250100194131*2,345
    2010
    		101130










    * December, 2007 - Skystream shut down from software problem with cold and would not restart.

    * January, 2008 - Skystream down until the 27th. Produce 98kWh in the 5 days remaining in the month.

    * December, 2009 - Skystream shut down several times and would not restart on it's own, production very low for wind speeds.

    * January, 2010 - Production very low for wind speeds.
    * February, 2010 - Production very low for wind speeds.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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