Up Close - GE 1.5 MW WTG - Wind Turbines on the Farm

The GE 1.5 MW Wind Turbine is one of the world's most popular utility scale WTGs. This past weekend,  I had the opportunity to meet with a wind farm land owner, tour the grounds, and to experience a little bit of "life on the farm".

I recorded the video (below) to give you a sense for the sounds that come from one of the machines at close range.   I used a Canon EOS 7D and a Rode stereo microphone (with a wind muff) situated about 20 yards from the base of one of the turbines.

The sound of crickets, the blades flexing and spinning in the wind, the whoosh of the air as the blades go by are all separately distinguishable. The camera's audio has an automatic gain control that was turned all of the way up for this recording.   I was surprised by the relative quiet of the machine. 

These are massive structures, standing nearly 400 feet above the ground at their highest point. 

Stairs at the base lead to a doorway that the maintenance crews use to access the tower

Back at the house, sitting on the deck, we could hear the faint sound of the turbines spinning in the summer breeze.

The 8 year old facility, located near Waymart, PA, also presents an interesting case study on the RF interference that can be caused by WTG's to over the air TV households in the valley below and the measures that were taken by the wind farm developer to mitigate that interference using UHF repeaters.

For more on our research: www.BroadcastWind.com