Abstract: A method installs a wind turbine. The method provides an assembled turbine in a non-vertical orientation. The turbine includes a tower, and a nacelle coupled to blades at the top end of the tower. The blades define a strike zone when the turbine is assembled. The method forms a hinged connection adjacent to or at the bottom end of the tower. The hinged connection is configured so that the assembled turbine may be tilted upwardly about a pivot point of the hinge. The method also controls a force distribution fixture to apply a force to the tower about the pivot point of the hinged connection to tilt the tower upwardly. The fixture includes a tension member. The tension member is tensioned between the fixture and the strike zone. The tension member at least in part counteracts a bending moment caused by the weight of the assembled turbine during tilt-up.

Abstract: A method ships a wind tower by nesting a plurality of sections of the tower. The plurality of nested sections includes a radially outermost section. Each of the sections has a bottom end configured to be closer to a bottom of the tower, and a top end configured to be closer to a top of the tower. Each of the bottom ends has an internal flange and/or an external flange, and each of the top ends has the other of the internal flange and/or the external flange. The method mounts a removable force distribution fixture to the radially outermost section. The fixture suspends the radially outermost section to form a single shipping unit. The fixture is configured to distribute force along the tower when it is attached to a hinge and tilted up using a force generating member. The shipping unit is configured to ship as a single unit.

Abstract: A method assembles a wind turbine in a non-vertical orientation. The turbine has a nested wind tower with a plurality of tower sections, including a first inner tower section radially inward of an outer tower section. Each of the tower sections has a wall with an inner surface and an outer surface. The first inner tower section has a connection interface at or near its bottom end, and the outer tower section has a counterpart connection interface at or near its top end. The tower has a friction reduction member configured to reduce friction between the first inner tower section and the outer tower section as the first inner tower section is extracted in a non-vertical orientation. The first inner tower section is extracted in a telescoping manner until the connection interface contacts the counterpart connection interface. The method also secures the connection interface and the counterpart connection interface together.