Welcome to the website for Schmidt Equipment Incorporated's

Wind Tower Technology Div.

We are developing an exciting new fluid-actuated telescoping wind turbine support tower that has a number of advantages over conventional monopole types of towers. These benefits vary depending on whether the tower is being used to support very large utility size turbines or smaller ones, typically in the 20kW to 100 kW range.

When used to support very large turbines the benefits include:
- No extremely expensive giant crawler crane is required to erect this new tower - all that's required is a much less costly very large truck or all-terrain crane
- After the turbine has been put in service no giant crane is required to bring it back down to the ground for major repairs - again, only a very large truck or all-terrain crane is needed
- This new tower makes it possible for large generators to be elevated to any hub height - it is not limited by crane capability and therefore opens up the possibility of turbines operating at higher than presently attainable elevations when incorporated into hybrid designs
- It offers significant benefits in both onshore, and offshore fixed and floating platform types of applications
- It can potentially make possible the installation of large 4 to 6MW generators in the upper Great Lakes, which cannot presently be done using conventional monopole towers
- It offers estimated savings of up to $400,000 per tower for 2MW and larger onshore generators
When used to support smaller turbines the benefits include:
- Near total assembly at the factory (all except the blades), which eliminates a lot of costly field labor and results in (a) better quality, (b) fewer total hours to build due to more efficient production, and (c) a lower average hourly labor rate.
- Being able to transport the almost fully assembled turbine and tower to the erection site (with the generator already installed) on a standard semi-truck with no special permit required
- Being able to transport the turbine and tower assembly in a special cradle that tips the assembly upright and sets the tower onto its foundation without any crane being required
- Ability to economically elevate the turbine assembly to higher operating heights, even when mounted on a tilt-up base
- Savings resulting because this new tower can be secured to a smaller foundation than required for conventional towers used in tilt-up applications

Interested? See the poster we presented at WindPower2017

You can get more information about using this new tower in situations where very large turbines are being supported by looking at our presentation describing benefits when used with utility-scale turbines. There is also a short summary of the benefits when used to support smaller turbines. We will have a more complete presentation focused on use with smaller turbines in the near future.

This new tower is protected by US Patent # 8,959,870 and a patent is pending in Canada.

For further information, contact:

Schmidt Equipment Inc
Geneva, OH
Phillip Schmidt
Phone: (440) 466-6414