Was driving through Texas and came across an unexpected sight. Spotted wind turbines and solar panels outside Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club in McKinney, TX. I was really surprised to see them in such a public place and got the camera out so I could share with you guys.

In this video: 2 wind turbines, anemometers, and solar panels. The turbine makes a hypnotic sound.

The Wal-Mart store is located at:

2041 Redbud Blvd
Mckinney, TX 75069

(972) 542-9585

Bing Maps was used to show location of store in video and below…

Click image to enlarge Bing Maps view.

I checked the location with Google Earth first but the images were so old that Google Earth showed bare ground where the Wal-Mart was supposed to be.

Click image to enlarge Google Earth view.

Bing Maps actually has more up-to-date images from the bird’s eye view as of this post.  Yes, I am surprised that Microsoft has improved so much lately.

–

The large turbine produces 50 kW.  The expected annual power production is 80 MWh.

The smaller turbine is a 1 kW stand-alone turbine which powers the Wal-Mart sign.

There is just one other such store in the US and it’s in Aurora, CO.

[ Source of some data in post and in video:  renewableenergyworld.com and ashrae.org ]

I bought mine through eBay for $159.00.

Here is my unbiased, review based on 4 months of ownership.  Video is below.

More points not mentioned in video…

It seems to work better when the weather is cooler. Maybe the heat makes it produce bad wind speed data. I wonder if it will resume working better again when summer is over.

Other reviews are at Costco.  Most of the reviews agree with my experience.  Here’s a sample:

“was fabulous while it lasted, but started to have too many problems after 6 weeks. wireless sensors did not connect anymore. replaced batteries, tried the adapter, moved everything around to less than 15 feet distance, nothing worked. got tired wasting my time on this unit and returned it for refund.”

“I’ve purchased 2 of these units over the past 3 years. The first time, it was the outdoor components that failed, primarily the wind gauge. The bearings seized and the company was not at all helpful in providing a solution to repair or replace them. In the unit I own now, the indoor wireless receiver failed, and looking back it was never right from the beginning…beeping randomly in the middle of the night, flashing display in the middle of the night, followed by complete blank screen and eventual total failure. Expect to use your unit for 6 months, then expect it to fail. I will not waste my time contacting LaCrosse, I will just purchase another brand next time.”

“the La Crosse failed after a few weeks, I returned and exchanged it at costco. The replacement also failed after approx 6 months, I could have returned it again but, I decided to simply toss it and not buy this brand in the future.”

Conclusion

I do not recommend this unit, mostly because it failed after just three weeks of use.  Other people have had the same trouble, so there must be a design and/or quality issue with these La Crosse weather stations.  I am looking at other brands now.