Wind Turbine Tower Systems

There are 3 main types of tower systems.  Guyed pole towers are cheapest towers to construct and raise, when a guyed pole tower is setup properly it is a very effective method for micro turbine class wind generators.  Guyed pole towers are used in residential or light commercial class wind turbines.  Although this method is cheap, is does mean having lots of cables going down to the ground all around these towers, creating all kinds of havoc if the land the guyed pole tower is on is used by people and/or animals.  Guyed pole tower kits are usually sold without the poles, as you can obtain those locally much cheaper then having 8 foot pipes sent through the mail.  So guyed pole kits usually consist of cables, and all the connectors for connecting the cable to the tower and the mounts that are sunk into concrete blocks that anchor the wires to the ground.

Lattice towers are basically metal pipes, or angle iron welded together as pictured below center.  These towers can reach heights that guyed pole towers can only dream of, especially the lattice tower is also guyed, which would be a guyed lattice tower.  The costs associated with lattice towers are obviously much more than simple guyed pole towers based on the amount of material used and overall expense of construction and shipping.  Not only are lattice towers very strong, they also allow wind passage through them, and therefore are subjected to far less pressure from the wind than tube towers, but have all but disappeared from new tower designs, as all the larger turbines are opting for tubular steel towers.

Tubular steel towers are the current favorite among wind power projects all over the world.  Tubular towers have many advantages over the lattice towers, but are far more expensive.  Currently the prices on these larger steal tube towers are out of reach for the average residential wind projects.  Large tubular towers usually have ladders inside that allow maintenance access to the generator and most internal wind turbine components without having to take the tower down.  Steel tube towers have a tremendous strength associated to their egg-like shape.  These tubes are not cylinders, they taper down to be smaller at the top.  Usually they curve while they taper similar to curve on the surface of an egg.  regardless of which direction the wind is blowing from the tower can evenly distribute the forces exerted on it by the wind, it's fundamentally a stronger concept and can be used on a far larger scale then the lattice tower.

Poor Mans Guide to Wind Turbines