How to Clean Wind Turbine Blades

Occasionally your turbine's blades might benefit from some cleaning.

While a wind turbine should need little maintenance--most residential wind turbine manufacturers say their turbines should need little to no maintenance for about 20 years--certain parts, like the turbine blades, might get covered with dirt or other detritus over time that could weigh it down and slow its ability to generate in lower breezes. But this maintenance should be relatively easy, similar to cleaning fan blades with a few extra steps.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Cleaning spray (Simple Green or another household cleaner should be fine).
• Rag or sponge
• Nylon brush
• Crescent wrench

1. Failure to unplug the turbine could result in injury. Black plug image by oddech from Fotolia.com

   Whenever doing maintenance on a turbine or anything related to electricity, detach it from its power source first. Failure to do so could result in shock or injury.

2. Remove the turbine from its tower. Whether your turbine is on top of your roof or on a tower, to do maintenance on it, it's best to remove the nautilus (the head unit, where the generator is housed) from the tower. If you have a drop tower, drop it down. If you have another type of tower, climb up it to remove the nautilus.

3. Use a crescent wrench to remove the bolt holding the blades in place. steel wrench image by Warren Millar from Fotolia.com

   Remove the turbine blades and hub assembly from the nautilus. You may need to remove a cap on the hub before accessing the bolt holding the turbine blades to the hub. (The cap could be screwed into place or force-fit into place. Refer to the turbine's manual to find out how it is secured.) Use the wrench to remove the bolt. Then remove the blade assembly for cleaning.

4. Squirt the turbine assembly with the cleaner (Don't use too harsh of a cleaner; you may hurt coatings on the fan blade). Then wipe it off with the rag or sponge. Difficult spots might necessitate use of a nylon brush. Once the blades are clean, reverse the steps and reassemble the turbine.

Tips & Warnings

• Before taking any of these steps do a visual inspection of your turbine to make sure you're not cleaning the blades in vain.

• Do not use harsh abrasives; they could damage the turbine blades.

• Remove the turbine from the power source before doing any maintenance.

• Always be careful when climbing a ladder or tower; make sure someone is watching you.

References

• AWEA: Wind System Operation and Maintenance Cost
• AWEA: How reliable are wind turbines? Will I have to perform much maintenance?