Joshua Janes.com: Recent Comments

Comment on Sleeping Beauty - Keepsake Story Series

Max Sullivan — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 04:49:00 GMT

Absolutely marvelous review....
Tanks for sharing the superb review.

Max Sullivan,
Women's Beauty Portal

Comment on Cintiq 21" - a digital artist's dream come true...

Web developer — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:03:34 GMT

Hey, that was interesting,

Keep up the good work,

Anyway, thanks for the post

Comment on SKYSTREAM 3.7 WIND TURBINE UPDATE

Doug Jones — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 03:49:43 GMT

While our SWWP 3.7 took a direct hit from lightning here on the 15th of November. Probably not much you can do to prevent the damage to our unit. The directions for installation did not suggest an appropriate ground. We put a #8 gauge wire and #8ground wire. Should have installed probably a #2 ground.

The lightning hit literally blew apart our PVC piping in two locations. Thecharge literally pulled a bolt out of our house as it entered the house to go to ground. Spoke with a local contractor who worked installing local phone towers. He said a much larger ground wire would have helped.

Important to add coverage for the wind turbine to your homeowners policy.

We are at the top of a hill that is much higher than surrounding ground. How can I protect my wind turbine from lightning strikes? Not sure my insurance company will cover me if I do not provide additional protection.

We have some new help from AES Energy in Tortola. The previous owner passed away before before we had installed our turbine so we were left on our own and probablymade some mistakes, Located the wind turbine too close to our house, undersized the wire from the turbine to the meter room and lost about 7% of the generated electricity. Several ground wires would help and make sure the ground rod is close to tower.

Hope some of this information helps.

Comment on SkyStream 3.7 up and running.

ken — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:35:34 GMT

has anyone had any issues with excessive pole and turbine "wobbling" in higher winds (25mph range)? My pole and turbine was wobbling/shaking intermintently during higher winds, did not look good.....

Comment on SKYSTREAM 3.7 WIND TURBINE UPDATE

Howard Carp — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 04:05:00 GMT

Skystream is more a marketing company than anything else..taking US funding for R&D, US customers for testing, and then offshoring production to China. Could have been a good unit, but the payback would still be huge.

Probably only worthwhile for those totally off-grid, and with solar as backup.

Comment on SKYSTREAM 3.7 WIND TURBINE UPDATE

software development london — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:05:26 GMT

Quite inspiring,

It is good to see some one who shares an interesting in gree energy resources, keep up the good work,

Thanks for writing, most people don't bother.

Comment on SkyStream 3.7 up and running.

Tom Gallery — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 00:56:49 GMT

I've had a Skystream for 18 months. There have been two failures. The first was a communications board failure which prevented software upgrades. They sent me a new turbine. Virtually all Skystreams with the original (non-XBee) boards failed.
The second unit failed after 12 months in service - slip ring yaw brushes failed. They promised to send me a new unit but it's been a month and they still don't have a ship date. Brush failure in one year is very troublesome. It can't be locally serviced - the entire unit needs to be replaced.

Comment on SKYSTREAM 3.7 WIND TURBINE UPDATE

Ken A. — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:50:23 GMT

I have two skystream 3.7 on 35' monopoles in central Texas. I've had them running since mid May 2009. I've had nothing but trouble since day one. In 10 to 20 MPh winds they will shut down and restart. Combined they are producing appx. 40 kw per week. I installed a meter mid Sept. and10-11-09 they had produced 95 kw. With a $30,000.00 investment only God could live long enough to break even.Save your money and pay it too the utility company.

Ken A.

Comment on SKYSTREAM 3.7 WIND TURBINE UPDATE

James Ferguson — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 19:31:00 GMT

George

I plan to install a Skystrean on a Rohn tower 70' high. My main concern is how do you adapt it to fit the top of the tower. How did you adapt the Skystream to your tower? Thanks James Ferguson

Comment on SkyStream 3.7 up and running.

L. Alexandria — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:13:29 GMT

Hi all,

We are getting ready to have a SkyStream installed - hopefully by September. We actually started this project last Summer but it took 3 months to get our Building permit approved since we are the first in our township in Lancaster, Pa. to install a Wind Turbine. So in October of '08 we had the Electric company mark our power lines and found out that they were in the way and have to be moved. Then winter came and we had to wait until warmer weather to start excavating.

I am glad I found this blog as there are so many negative comments from individuals on the web that it clouds ones judgment on the positive aspects of the product. Now actually seems like a better time with the current tax credits and Grants available. I am interested in hearing how those individuals who have had the Skystream up and running for more than 1+ years are fairing with the Equipment & software?

I look forward to reading any additional comments or feedback concerning the Skystream. I have been researching turbines for several years and find that the balance of Cost/Value of the Skystream and the rewards both financial and environmental appear to be the most rewarding for an individual or homeowner. Since it is hard for the average homeowner to afford the larger systems that do produce higher KW, they also come with a much larger price tag in the $50K to $125K region. Which is not practical with the condition of the countries current economy.

I do have to vent, I apologize in advance. As our falling Automobile Industry is in dire straits, one has to wonder why we do not convert empty factories and unemployed (and starving) Americans into factories to feed and fuel our Alternate energy projects for the US to drastically reduce our dependence on fossil fuels!! Not only would we be reviving a sluggish economy, but with a large supply on hand we would make Wind & Solar more affordable for the average American household. Sorry...Sorry....I stopped, I have more to say on this topic but do not wish to dwell on the subject.

I look forward to reading all your comments and I am truly happy for everyone who has taken this step, LOVE the pictures and stories.

Thanks,
LA