Parabuilt™ Foundation Technology

Parabuilt™ Foundation Technology Eliminates Concrete

A Parafold tower eliminates the need for concrete. The cost of concrete and foundation preparation varies widely, depending on location, size of the turbine, ease of access, type of soil, availability of concrete, etc., but typically adds $3000 - $15,000 to the cost of an installed wind turbine. Additionally, the use of concrete significantly lengthens the installation process. Holes must be dug, forms built, and rebar installed. Depending on soil conditions, type of tower, and rotor diameter, the excavation and foundation preparation for wind turbines over 5kW can take from 1 - 7 days. After the concrete is poured, it typically needs to cure for 28 days before the turbine can be installed.

Parafold™ Towers has developed a helical anchor foundation, the Parabuilt™ foundation, for wind turbines with rotor diameters up to 25 meters. This foundation, which includes a damping system, is used in place of a concrete foundation. In most cases, Parabuilt™ foundations do not require soil conditions to be analyzed prior to the foundation installation, and do not require core samples during installation. The damping system attenuates the amplitude of the frequency produced by the rotor RPM when it matches the natural frequency of the tower. Dynamic wind loading is attenuated up to three times using this damping system. It reacts tower loads at the tower centroid, cancelling some tensile and compressive forces that otherwise would transfer to the anchors. It eliminates creep which can occur with anchor foundations. This foundation can be installed in one day.

Parafold™ Towers has patents pending for its Parabuilt™ technology.