Lou says....

Wind generators have intrigued me for quite a while and Val and I were very quick to accept an offer for a personal tour of the wind generator complex on BLM land near Palm Springs, CA, in the San Gorgonio Pass area.

There are currently 1246 of these monsters here and more nearby on private land. Some are more than 300 feet high generating up to 1.5 megawatts each. Plans are in the works for even higher and more powerful turbines.

The San Gorgonio Pass area area is very suitable for wind energy development due to the steady westerly winds which are funneled between the San Jacinto and San Bernardino Mountain Ranges. The constriction between these two mountain ranges results in an acceleration of wind velocity to speeds suitable for spinning the huge propellers up to maximum speed. The wide and open configuration of the pass also results in a relatively steady flow of wind without a lot of turbulence.

Thanks Kirby for the personal tour. I learned a lot and came back with some great photos.


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