In this episode we discuss the effectiveness of trailing edge serrations, (branded as Dino Tails by Siemens Gamesa), and how they also change the lightning strike profile of turbine blades. Watch the YouTube version here. We also explored blade testing and what new, bigger facilities might mean for accurate testing of ever-increasing, mammoth wind turbine blades. Lastly, GE has been in a patent dispute with a number of other wind turbine manufacturers, and we explore the ramifications of continued litigation for all the involved companies.

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Full Transcript - Uptime EP24: Dino Tails, Trailing Edge Serration Tech & Advances in Blade Testing Centers

Dan: This episode is brought to you by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. At Weather Guard, we make wind turbine lightning protection easy. If you're a wind farm operator, stop settling for damaged turbine blades and constant downtime. Get your uptime back with our strike tape lightning protection system. Learn more in today's show notes or visit  weatherguard.com/striketape.

https://youtu.be/z54lHfcbBF0

Allen Hall: Welcome back I'm Allen hall. 

Dan: I'm Dan Blewett. And this is the uptime podcast where we talk about wind energy engineering, lightning protection, and ways to keep your wind turbines running.

All right. Welcome back to the uptime podcast. I'm Dan Blewett and I'm joined here remotely by lightning protection expert Allen Hall. Allen, how are you? 

Allen Hall: Great Dan, another busy week, a lot of things in the news. What do you, what do you got at the top of the list? 

Dan: So today in our episode, [00:01:00] we're going to talk about, uh, the patent dispute between GE and Siemens Gamesa, renewable energy.

Um, there's some interesting news about new testing facilities, potentially opening up in the future. Um, we're going to talk about a pretty interesting wind, uh, prototype that could potentially handle typhoon winds. And lastly, we're going to talk a bunch about dyno tails and their, uh, inspiration from the owl, which Al's are just such awesome creatures.

They're just amazing. But anyway, a dyno tales are pretty interesting. They reduce the noise. And a, of obviously turbine blades create a lot of noise or slicing through the air so fast. And if they reduce this noise, then they can potentially operate a higher speeds and still be in compliance with local laws.

So we'll chat a little bit about that. So, yeah, it's been busy, Alan. How, uh, how are things up there in Massachusetts? 

Allen Hall: Oh, it's summertime we're we're, uh, trudging along, uh, take a little ride up to, uh, Vermont. Uh, check out some of the wind turbine sites up there. There's, there's a number of wind turbine sites have been added in the last five years,