When the wind turbine just off Route 95 at the New England Institute of Technology automotive campus isn’t turning, it’s not for academic reasons.
The wind has to blow at least 7.8 mph for the blades to turn.
Or the wind could be blowing too hard. “When it reaches 56 mph, it brakes,” said Michael Petit, chairman of the electrical technology department, who helped develop the institute’s green technology program.
Another time the blades won’t turn is when the tower unwinds itself. The turbine, made by Northern Power Systems in Vermont, automatically turns. “It will spin and circle with the wind,” Petit said. After four or five turns, “it will stop and rotate the other way so the cable doesn’t get twisted around.”
The tower spins so slowly that “you wouldn’t notice it, driving by,” Petit said.
Students don’t usually go inside the turbine, except for a peek. And they aren’t allowed to climb the rungs inside. Anyone who climbs has to be trained by the Occupational Safety & Health Administration, and “it’s an expensive operation to get certified by OSHA,” said Petit, who is 60 and lives in Exeter. He hasn’t been to the top. “If there’s not an elevator, I’m not going. I’m the kind of guy, I’d get to the top and I’d forget why I’m up there.”
The turbine is run entirely by Northern Power, said Trevor Atkinson, a salesman and engineer for the company, which has its headquarters in Barre, Vt.
On its website, New England Tech has a link to an animated drawing that shows how fast the wind is blowing and whether electricity is flowing from the turbine to the automotive building, or, if the turbine isn’t moving, from the power grid to the automotive building. (See for yourself here.)
The turbine rarely makes more energy than the automotive building uses, Petit and Atkinson said.
“It’s not in a real good wind spot,” Petit said. “It’s not there to make money.”
It’s there for demonstration.
When it first went up, in August 2009, “people stopped along the highway to look at it,” Petit said. “It’s educational to the public and students.”
