Drive Shaft and Bearing Installation
Cantilevering Model 3.1’s 170 square meter rotor (1830 sq. ft.) requires a large diameter and long drive shaft with three equally large bearings made by SKF. A roller thrust bearing holds up the weight of the rotor and the upper and lower radial bearings keep the rotor and drive shaft straight as the wind pushes the rotor downwind. Our optimization efforts on the design of the rotor assembly enable the use of a notably smaller drive shaft for the Model 4.0. This in turn will allow for smaller and less expensive bearings, all of which reduce the cost of forging, machining and assembly of these critical components.
Roller thrust bearing and its race
Bearing installed in housing
Roller thrust bearing installed on shaft
Drive shaft with bearing housing installed onto tower top plate.
Contact: Jen Hoover, jhoover@windharvest.com
Wind Harvest International, Inc. is a California-based renewable energy technology company, founded in 2006. The company makes, sells, and develops projects for its Wind Harvester brand of H-type turbines, the only known product designed to harvest the highly energetic, turbulent wind that blows 15-80 feet above the ground. Wind Harvest’s wholly-owned financial subsidiary Wind Harvest Pilot Project Inc. raises funds and loans it to the parent company.
