Mars Hill is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually highe ...

located in Mars Hill,

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

, and gave the town its name. The mountain plays an important role in the Mars Hill community, and overlooks the Saint John Valley, in which Mars Hill is located.

Mount Katahdin Mount Katahdin ( ) is the highest mountain in the U.S. state of Maine at . Named Katahdin, which means "Great Mountain", by the Penobscot Native Americans, it is within Northeast Piscataquis, Piscataquis County, and is the centerpiece of Bax ...

is visible from the top of Mars Hill over 85 miles (135 km) away. Mars Hill also has a ski area, called Big Rock Ski Area. By virtue of its height and Northeast location, the summit of Mars Hill is the first place in the contiguous United States to see the sun rise for nearly half of the year, from March 25 to September 18. The first 50-star flag to see the sun in the U.S. was raised on July 4, 1960, at 4:33 AM. Fifty national guardsmen gave it a 50-gun salute.

Wind farm

Mars Hill underwent an $85 million

wind power Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller impact on the environment than burning fossil fuels. Historically ...

project in the fall of 2006. First Wind installed 28

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...

1.5

megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

turbines along the top and northern sections of the mountain. With a

capacity factor The net capacity factor is the unitless ratio of actual electrical energy output over a given period of time to the theoretical maximum electrical energy output over that period. The theoretical maximum energy output of a given installation is def ...

of 35%, the wind farm generates about 130 million kilowatt hours (kW·h) per year (15 MW·yr/yr). The wind turbines are assembled in multiple parts. The towers, which are composed of three support sections stacked one on top of another with a combined weight of 20,000 pounds, are 262 ft (80 m) tall. The three blades (together, a rotor) attached to the hub of the turbine each span approximately 115 ft (37.5 m), for a rotor diameter of approximately 250 feet — comparable to the

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan o ...

of a

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and p ...

747 jet-liner.

Notes

External links

*
peakbagger.com: Mars Hill

Mars Hill Wind Farm Webcam

slideshow of Mars Hill Wind Farm
{{Mountains of Maine Mountains of Maine Wind farms in Maine Landforms of Aroostook County, Maine

Wind farm

See also

Notes

External links