However, how it is broken, when it broke, and how long will it be down are also important factors. There are thousands of parts on a wind turbine, electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, and pneumatic, and they all interact in the highest of technologies available in the last 20-years. Computers, electronics, high pressures, brakes, limit switches, all interacting, and all subject to reaction to another part, or the environment itself. Wind, moisture, sand, polution, birds, insects and sun all can effect the life of parts and systems. Then again, routine maintenance , utility shutdowns, curtailments, too high winds, and not enough wind sometimes makes the wind turbine stop, making it look broken in error.
All wind turbines track the wind.
Others employ natural means, letting the wind itself rotate the direction by the way the wind pressures effect the propellers as the wind passes over the generator before hitting the propellers. The windmills, called wind turbines, are owned by a variety of entities including individuals, corporations, developers, utilities and governments. Smaller domestic companies like SeaWest Power, Whitewater Energy, Wintec, York Energy, Oak Creek Energy and EUI own and develop properties. Most of the current and past technologies installed were designed and manufactured in Denmark and northern Europe while most of the US manufacturers have fallen away due to design and financial problems. Several other US manufacturers are attempting to get going, and Denmark's NEG-Micon is assembling in Illinois as a step toward manufacturing.