Project Specs
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- Customer
- Feathered Star Inn - Bed & Breakfast
- Location: Town and County
- 6202 Hwy 42, Egg Harbor, WI 54209 Door County
- Utility
- WPS
- Grants/Incentives Received
- $63,000 Focus on Energy
- $45,750 USDA REAP grant
- $56,065 US Treasury Grant
- Total Cost of System
- $183,883
- Make and Model of Turbine
- Vestas E-15, remanufactured by Energy Maintenance Services
- kW Capacity of Turbine
- 35kW
- Tower Type and Height
- Ehresmann 110’ free-standing lattice
- Maintenance Schedule and Requirements on This Turbine
- Spring and Fall each year, beginning Fall 2010
- Expected Annual Energy Output
- 63,732kWh
- Goals for Installing Wind System
- Offset 100% of B&B’s electrical load
Wind power in Door County
Sandy Chlubna pays attention. When she noticed that the wind was a powerful force around her Bed and Breakfast, it made sense to harness it for her guests. She began planning in 2008, to make her dream reality. After a site assessment it became clear that a Vestas E15 would provide the energy she needed.
Sandy worked hard to source her turbine from Seventh Generation, and secure the funding from the USDA REAP and the Focus on Energy Wi program to finance her system. Perseverance paid off in the planning stages of a wind energy project.
Process makes perfect
Diligence made all of the pieces come together for Feathered Star. The site location on the penninsula ensured that the resource was there to power the numbers. As Sandy worked through the process she persevered through common tasks such as permitting, financing, sourcing equipment, and interconnection applications.
Her entreprenuerial nature and commitment to renewable resources provided the long-term outlook to continue in unfamiliar territory. She understood that the impact of her investment on the viability of her business was worth the short-term obstacles she encountered.
A rocky foundation
On the Door County penninsula the substrate is rock solid. When faced with the tricky foundation design to handle extraordinary circumstances, Seventh Genration's skilled project management team found a contractor prepared to get concrete in the ground.
In the end, the project team found a economically favorable solution to a complex problem. Often a degree of innovation is part of small wind project management. Each site provides a multitude of characteristics that benefit from the historical perspective of Seventh Generation.
A second life of clean energy production
The Wind system installed at Feathered Star early in 2010 was recycled from technology that was utility standard in the 80s. Remanufactured at Energy Maintenance Services, equipment taken out of service as wind farms are upgraded is re-deployed in new sites to produce clean energy "out of thin air".