The sign industry is full of innovation and new ideas, and the limits of what is considered signage are always being stretched.
现代标识行业出现了很多新的创意和想法，并且标识制作在某些领域倍受限制。
Keith Tully, owner of Power Wall Systems, LLC in Fishers, Indiana, has stretched those boundaries just a little further with his combined pylon signs and wind turbines.
基思塔利先生是印第安纳州费希尔斯市电墙系统公司的老板，他结合高塔广告和风力涡轮机，把这些理念延伸运用到标识的制作中。
“The hardest aspect of what I do is to convince people that they can work with my products,” he says.
他说：“最大的困难就是让人们相信我的产品并且和我合作。”
Tully, who worked for nine years in accounting sales for Federal Heath Sign Company, came up with the idea for his combination signs when he was looking for a wind turbine to power his electric mower.
塔利曾经在联邦医疗标识公司工作9年从事会计销售这一职位，当他寻找风力发电机为他的电动割草机发电的时候，他突发奇想可以做标识组合的产品。
“One client used two different colors of turbines to spell out their initials,” says Tully. “I thought, ‘Wow, it’s a wind turbine and a sign. If you could combine an illuminated sign and wind turbine, you would really have a great product.’”
塔利说：有一次看到一个客户用涡轮机的两种颜色来拼写出他们的名字。我当时很惊讶，这是一个涡轮机和一个标识。如果可以把一个发光标识和风力涡轮机结合起来，这将会是一个伟大的产品。
Through further research, Tully found a vertical axis垂直轴 wind turbine, which spins in a vertical plane垂直面. While this type of turbine has advantages in low winds and crowded areas, it also has a disadvantage in that half of the turbine spins旋转器 with the wind, and the other half spins against it.
通过进一步的研究，塔利发明了在垂直平面旋转的垂直轴风力涡轮机。这款涡轮机的优点是低风阻和占用空间少，但缺点就是有一半的涡轮机通过风旋转和另一半是是反向风转。
“My idea was to then insert the wind turbine halfway into the sign cabinet so that the sign itself would shield the portion of the rotor that spins against the wind,” explains Tully. “I made small models and tested the concept. The shielding increased the speed of the rotors by as much 270 percent.
塔利解释：我的想法是一半风力涡轮机插入在标识内阁里面，这样标识就可以保护部分反着风方向的风页。我做了一个很小的模型去测试这个想法。这样的保护方法提高风页的速度达到最高百分之270。
“At that point, I decided to apply for a patent and go into business.”
在这时候，我决定申请这项专利并且投入这个事业。
Tully’s previous career in the sign industry gave him a network to reach out to, which provided his first customer, Speedco in Dallas, Texas. Bridgestone/Firestone had purchased Speedco and was implementing a corporate-wide program to lower CO2 emissions. Speedco was very interested in the green aspects of Tully’s wind turbine sign.
塔利通过之前在标识行业工作的网络关系，给他带来了第一位客户：达克萨斯州达拉斯市的Speedco公司。普利司通/费尔斯通公司已经收购了Speedco公司，并实施一个大范围降低二氧化碳排放量的项目。Speedco非常感兴趣塔利先生绿色环保特色的风力涡轮机标识。
Dallas’s sign code even included wind turbines. “The city was enthusiastic and allowed us to grandfather in the existing pylon steel without having to meet the newer and more expensive IBC standard,” says Tully.
达拉斯城市的标识都包括了风力涡轮机。塔利说：达拉斯是一个热情的城市。从祖辈就有，迄今为止，高塔标识也一直被保留。
(Note: According to Tully, even cities with restrictive sign codes are usually open to the idea of wind turbine signs because of their interest in green energy.)
（备注：根据塔利说，就是因为城市对标识的限制性，打开了他们对绿色能源的兴趣和风力涡轮机标识的想法。）
With the wind turbine sign greenlit, Tully provided Speedco with a concept drawing and a video of what the sign would look like with the turbines spinning.
对风力涡轮标识的使用，塔利为Speedco公司提供了一个概念图和视频，让他们了解涡轮机在标识里面是什么样子的。
“I’ve never had anyone that looked at one and [not] like the way it looked,” says Tully. “The big concern is that it will draw your attention away from the main ID cabinet, but it frames the sign face rather than distracts from it.”
塔利说：我从来没有让任何一个人看一个（不）喜欢它样子的产品。最令人担忧的是它会从标识内阁吸引你的注意力，反而分散了你对标识牌的注意力。
After approval, Tully reached out to another of his previous sign clients—Frank Green, owner of Awning Innovations in Fishers, Indiana—to handle the manufacturing.
计划通过认证后，塔利拿到了他在之前标识公司的另外一个客户：弗兰克格林，他是印第安纳州费希尔斯市天蓬创新公司的老板，主要从事制作业。
In addition, Tully had mechanical and electrical engineers, as well as engineering professors and students from the local college, working on this unique project.
此外，塔利有机械和电气工程师，以及来自当地工程学院的教授和学生参与这个独特的项目。
One of the hurdles the team ran into was UL approval. To ensure compliance, the sign was built as a stand-alone illuminated sign with the turbines housed in their own housings that bolted to the main ID cabinet.
在此，我们出现了一个障碍，需要进行UL认证。为了确保得到规范，我们把它建造成一个独立的发光标识，并在外壳里安装涡轮机链接着主要的标识内部。
(Note: UL approval covers the main illuminated cabinet, and since the wind turbines are non-illuminated and attached to the sides, they aren’t considered part of the main cabinet.)
（备注：UL认证涵盖了主要的发光柜，因为装嵌在两边的风力涡轮式不发光，所以它们不被考虑在主柜部分。）
Rather than buy a costly completd wind turbine, Tully made sure the rotor blades were made from formed polycarbonate and vinyl. By making the rotors in-house, the manufacturer was also able to perfectly match them to the faces of the pylon sign.
塔利确保使用PC塑料制作风页的叶片，而不是去买一个昂贵的风力涡轮机。制造商通过在内部制作风页，这样可以很好的匹配高塔标识的外部。
The other major hurdle was finding the proper balance between the size of the rotors, inverters, and generators. A bigger generator requires a larger diameter rotor, which creates more resistance and requires a stronger wind force to move.
另外一个主要的难点，是寻找适合大小尺寸平行的风页，变频器和发电机。一个较大的发电机，需要一个较大直径的风页，这样就会产生更多的阻力和需要更大的风力才能去旋转。
The team took time to test the size of all three pieces. “We basically have good, better, and best system levels,” says Tully. “Our largest system would require sixty-inch-diameter直径 rotors to drive two 3500-watt generators. This system would be reserved for the largest pylon signs at heights of eighty feet or more in unobstructed畅通 locations.
我们的团队花时间去测试三个不同尺寸的风页。塔利说：我们基本上有了好，很好和最好这三个不同等级的系统。我们最大的系统需要60英寸的风页去驱动两个3500瓦的发电机。这个最大的系统将被使用在80英尺高以上，两边路面都畅通的高塔标识。
“Our smallest system, with only 500 watts per generator, will produce a small fraction of that power and may not produce enough to power just the sign.”
我们最小的系统，每个发电机只有500瓦，只能产生一部分的电力，并且不足以供给标识。
So just how exactly do the wind turbines work?
那风力涡轮机究竟是如何工作的？
“The wind spins the rotors,” says Tully, “and the rotors spin generators connected below each rotor. The generator generates electricity in a wide range of voltages and amperages, depending on how fast or slow the generators spin.
塔利说：风使风页旋转，风页转动链接着发电机的风页，发电机在大范围的电压和电流下发电，产生电量的多少取决于发电机转动的快慢。
“The ‘wild’ electricity is sent through the sign cabinet and down the pipe管 where it’s brought into a box on the base of the sign. There the electricity is first rectified改正 to direct current直流电, then the power is sent to an inverter变频器 that changes the electricity back to alternating current交流电. A dedicated circuit专用电路 is sent from the panel box to the inverter.”
风能产生的电力通过标识箱，输送到管下面标识盒子里。电力首先改变成直流电，然后能量被输送到变频器，改变电流回到交流电。那么专用的电流就从板箱输送到变频器。
From there, the grid线路系统 tied连，与 inverter synchronizes同步 the electricity with the grid’s “utility grade实用等级” AC electricity交流电. The power is sent back to the panel box to be used as needed to offset抵消 the location’s overall electrical consumption.
从那里，输电线路连着变流器与输电线路交流电的电力同步。电量被输送回面板盒使用已补充整个地区的电量消耗。
That is an important distinction—because wind speeds are so unpredictable, the wind turbines aren’t meant to be the sole power supply for the sign; they’re only meant to generate supplemental energy. Some customers have even worked out a deal with the utility company to sell back the extra power.
这是一个非常重要的区别-因为风速是不可预测的，而风力涡轮机并不是标识唯一的电源；它们只是作为后备电量补充的一种方式。一些客户已经已经和公共事业公司签订合作，向他们出售额外的电量。
The system also features built-in safeguards.
该系统还内置了安全装置。
“In the case of a power outage停电, the inverter will read the drop in power in the line and will divert转移 the power from the turbine to a ‘dumpload,’” explains Tully. “A dumpload is simply a heater coil加热线圈 that is used to burn off燃烧 excess or unwanted power.
塔利解释：在停电的情况下，当变流器读到电量下降到标准线以下，涡轮机就会供给电量无论是加热线圈消耗超出或者电量不足。
“In addition, a disconnect switch is located on the side of the box to allow the system to be disconnected for maintenance work on the turbines.”
此外，在做涡轮维修工作的时候，可以使用在电箱的旁边有一个开关断电。
AI Innovations also fabricated制造 the double-sided cabinet the turbines attach to.
人工智能创新链接涡轮机两面内箱。
The cabinet framing system for attaching the faces couldn’t stick out too far, since the turbines had to be bolted to either side and manufacturers didn’t want the turbines to have to be unbolted to service the faces. The solution was to make the face retention system flush with the cabinet so the turbines didn’t have to be touched.
内阁框架系统不能离表面太远粘贴，因为涡轮机的其中一边都被拴住固定，并且制造商不想在维修表面的时候把固定的螺栓弄开。这个解决方案对表面保留系统，以及内阁箱子进行清洗时，涡轮机就不会受到影响。
High-output fluorescents were used to illuminate the cabinet, since LEDs were cost-prohibitive 成本过高in such a large cabinet.
对于大的箱柜来说，使用LED成本会很高，因此使用高输出的荧光灯被用作箱柜的发光。
The cabinet is concave凹形, which also proved challenging when figuring out how to populate it so that light dispersed分散 properly. Templates模板 from lighting manufacturers were no help because they assume the cabinet is square. So the lighting was laid out by hand through trial and error.
箱柜是凹进去的，怎么安放光源，使发光分散的分布也是其中一个具有挑战的事情。光源制造商的模板没有起到作用，因为他们箱柜是正方形的。因此，箱柜的光源都需要人工设计和试验怎么安放。
Before transporting the sign to the install site, the team made sure everything fit together. “[The rotors] actually fit attached to the generator, which is attached to the base of the sign; it’s bolted to the steel inside the sign and then it fits into a bearing up above,” says Tully. “We made sure that it would spin freely.”
在把标识配送到安装地点之前，工作人员必须保证产品所有部分连在一起都是没有问题的。塔利说：“（风页）实际上适合连接在发动机上，并且也连接着标识的底座；钢被固定在标识里面并且安装在轴承上面，这样我们就可以保证自由旋转了。”
The formed faces of the rotor were then removed for transportation so they wouldn’t be spinning at high speeds as the sign was transported down the highway.
风页的形成面被拆除后再运输，这样标识就不会因为在高速公路运输的过程中快速旋转。
National Signs and Service of Fate, Texas handled the installation. Tulley did some work ahead of time to make the install as smooth as possible, like pre-installing the wind turbine equipment in boxes that would be mounted on the pylon steel.
根据国际标识服务条约，达克萨斯州政府负责安装标识工作。因此，塔利提前做了一些工作，使安装流程尽可能的顺畅。例如，预先把将安装在钢塔上风力发电设备在箱子里安装好。
“The wiring from the generators to the equipment boxes were also prewired into the sign cabinet,” he says. “The installer only needed to run the wiring down the pole and into the boxes.
塔利说：从发电机到设备箱的接线被提前接在标识箱内。安装者只需把线连拉到杆下面和箱子链接就可以了。
“The wiring was then completed and the circuit was left open until approval from the power company had been received.”
“只要线路安装完成，电路被打开，直到收到来自电力公司的通过就可以了。”
Because of the integrated design, both the pylon sign and the turbines are eligible for a 30 percent immediate federal tax credit.
因为这是一个结合设计的产品，所以高塔标识和涡轮机都可以分别得到30%的联邦税减免。
“This lowers the cost of the sign and turbines to less than the cost of a standard pylon sign of the same size,” says Tully. “The break-even point, when you add that extra 30 percent tax discount, is under $10,000.
塔利说：“这样大大降低了涡轮发电标识的成本，比买一个同样尺寸的标识和发电机更划算。”在盈亏平衡的点上，如果在加上额外30%的优惠，价格就达到了$10000以下了。
“So if a sign is $10,000 or more, it’s either going to be cheaper or the same price to go with a wind turbine sign.”
“因此，如果一个标识价格在$10000或者以上，那风力发电标识的价格将会差不多或者更便宜。”
By Ashley Bray
All photos: Power Wall Systems, LLC.
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