California: Wind Farms Retrospective - Wind Power for the World: The Rise of Modern Wind Energy - page 523

turbines were added in 1983. The largest addition was in 1985
with a plus of 4 989 new wind turbines. The new wind farms
spread like wildfire. Though California was not considered as a
large test field for dozens of diferent designs, it was in practice.
Despite all the research that was done before the wind rush, wind
turbines still did not have the technological maturity they should
have. In the mid-1980s no one was completely sure which design
or which type would succeed in the end. The whole world of wind
power was gathered in California. Thus, the rush always included
some kind of “Darwin attitude”.

Sixty-five kilowatt Lolland wind turbines manufactured by
Danish Windpower Productions installed at Tehachapi. In the
1980s it had the reputation of being the “Rolls Royce of Danish
wind turbines”. It is based on the late 1970s “Blacksmiths”
design developed by NIVE. In this issue an important key
person was Preben Maegaard of the Nordic Folkecenter for
Renewable Energy (Photo: Arne Jaeger).

Figure 23.4

With rising numbers of installed machines came a growing
demand for larger units. Larger machines promised more cost
reduction and higher tax revenues. In the early years the average
size was around 50 kW, but in 1985 it reached 100 kW. Especially
for Americans rapid up-scales were common. Manufacturers