April - June 2009

Alternative energy sources gaining popularity as cost savers

Jacksonville Business Journal
June 12, 2009

Florida isn’t called the sunshine state for no reason. The sun is brighter in this state than a lot of other areas around the country, so this is an ideal location for using solar energy technology in business...“Everyone thinks of Florida as the sunshine state, not as the wind state,” he said. “But there is a lot of wind that comes in from the coasts. And we are really starting to see things pick up with all of the incentives from the stimulus and the government.”... Read More

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Will your small wind investment pay off?

Items to consider before diving into a small wind project
June 5, 2009

Small wind turbines – those with power ratings of less than 100 kW – are being installed at a rapid pace.  Unfortunately, a large fraction of these projects produce less energy than advertised as a result of insufficient upfront planning and analysis.

WECC's "Common Mistakes to Avoid in Your Small Wind Project" provides simple steps that can be taken to ensure a more viable project from the performance and financial perspectives. Have you done your homework?…Learn more about how to realize a positive economic return from your small wind project. 

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Wayne Hildreth addresses the economic viability of wind projects along Georgia’s coast

Midway & Savannah, Georgia
May 21, 2009

Wayne Hildreth, President and CEO of Wind Energy Consulting and Contracting Inc. (WECC), made two presentations to audiences in the town of Midway, Georgia and later in the day at the Oatland Island Wildlife Center in Savannah, Georgia, addressing the potential for single turbine and small distributed energy wind projects in and around coastal Georgia.  The potential is strong based on studies completed by WECC and other entities to design economically viable wind projects along coastal Georgia that will positively impact and mitigate monthly electrical expenditures for commercial facilities, school districts, municipalities, or any structure that consumes electricity. Mr. Hildreth was invited to speak on behalf of Rita Kilpatrick, the Georgia Policy Director for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. WECC has continually and actively participated in the Georgia Wind Working Group and the Georgia Offshore Wind Working group for the past two years as led by the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.

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Use of Wind Turbines to Capture Energy from Air Exhaust
May 21, 2009

There are several air exhaust applications where large volume of air is pumped externally continuously. Examples are: Coal mines; covered parking lots; and, industrial air handling systems. The first two applications extract contaminated air necessary to maintain satisfactory air quality, and the third application is to use air to transport materials, remove moisture, etc.

Using the above examples, a natural assumption is that the exhaust emissions can be captured and converted into useable energy. Read More

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Now is the time to communicate with our elected officials!
May 21, 2009

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, also known as the “Economic Stimulus” package provides several alternatives for improving the economics of potential wind projects. Now is the time to let your elected officials know of your interest, and what you are doing about it. Read More

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Energy, Economic Impact of the Stimulus, and Enthusiasm
May 18, 2009

An Overview of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 – The Stimulus Legislation… in recap form is now posted on our website “from beginning to wind.com.” It relates to both the features of the stimulus legislation that apply to the tax-paying segment and features that apply to the tax-exempt segment is now posted on our website It provides an update on the extension of the Production Tax Credit and the expanded Investment Tax Credit are described here. In addition the update describes some additional aspects of the incentives and features of the stimulus package that are favorable for those involved in wind energy projects. Read More

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IEC Classification of Turbines: Selecting the right turbine for the site based on wind data
May 13, 2009

The International Electro technical Commission (IEC) creates and publishes standards for wind turbines among other electrical and electronics equipments. The IEC 61400 deals with wind turbine generators (WTG). This blog entry will explain turbine classes. Turbine classes are determined by three parameters the average wind speed, extreme 50-year gust, and turbulence. The following table explains the classifications. Read More

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Wind Energy from Rooftop Turbines—Does it make sense?
May 12, 2009

There is immense interest in capturing wind energy with turbines installed on rooftops. This blog entry and the associated whitepaper will answer the questions: Does it make sense to place a wind turbine generator on a roof?

Examples of prominent rooftop installs include: Twenty 1KW Aerovironment turbines at Boston's Logan Airport, the Brooklyn Naval Shipyard, and on top of comedian Jay Leno's garage. Read More

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Dr. Pramod Jain set to speak at WINDPOWER 2009 Conference and Exhibition

Chicago, Illinois
May 7, 2009

WECC's Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Pramod Jain, will present "Met-tower and SODAR Hybrid: Reducing Cost and Improving Accuracy of Wind Measurements" during Wind Power's scientific session. WINDPOWER 2009 Conference and Exhibition is the largest annual wind conference and exhibition in the world featuring over 13,000 attendees and over 776 exhibitors. Each year, wind energy professionals gather at this event to learn about the latest industry developments and technologies, review new products and services, and network with leading industry decision makers. Read More

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Cassidy Moulton speaks at the IAHSA Annual Spring Conference and Exhibitor Showcase

Iowa Events Center, Des Moines, IA
May 6, 2009

WECC Wind Consultant Cassidy Moulton will be speaking on the topic of "Wind Energy Opportunities." Cassidy will explain the steps of a wind project and how to make wind a reality for you. The presentation will be held from 11 AM to 12:30 PM on Wednesday, May 6. Read More

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WECC answers questions about LEED building

LEED building with or without renewable energy?
April 30, 2009

Often when a "design and build" company evaluates alternative design options in order to reach a LEED certification goal, renewable energy components drop out because they are too costly.  However, upon completion of a more sophisticated financial analysis, a LEED design with renewable energy can be less costly in the long run.

WECC's "Renewable Energy and LEED Certification" describes the connection between renewable energy and LEED points and describes ways to finance a renewable energy project that does not impact the cost...Learn more about incorporating clean, renewable energy into your LEED design.

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Increasing the accuracy of your wind studies during prospecting

WECC explains the benefits of using SODAR (Sonic Detection and Ranging) to gather wind data
April 29, 2009

When prospecting for sites that are suitable for a wind farm, a developer must evaluate a large number of sites and narrow them down to ones that have the highest potential. WECC's "SODAR for Wind Projects" explains that with SODAR based measurements, a developer is able to evaluate multiple sites with an order of magnitude higher accuracy compared to traditional methods.

Although SODAR may seem like an expensive option, it is not only cost effective in the prospecting phase; it also provides the basis for layout of turbines that can yield higher energy production over the entire lifetime of a wind farm...Learn the other benefits of using SODAR; an innovative, economical, and flexible solution.

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Should you believe what the manufacturer is telling you?

WECC explores how to verify claims of turbine manufacturers
April 28, 2009

A growing number of business owners, school administrators and civic leaders are seeking to develop wind energy projects of various sizes. Among the challenges in piecing together a wind project is the selection of a wind turbine. There are several factors used to determine the appropriate wind turbine for each project. Primary among these is using the manufacturer’s rated capacity to estimate energy production. However, some turbine manufacturers claim higher energy production than what a customer will realize.

WECC's "Truth in Rate Capacity of Turbine" is a concise analysis of what a turbine’s rated capacity means, how the rated capacity is determined, and how to quickly verify a manufacturer’s power rating and power curve...Learn how to verify if a turbine's actual production will ever measure up to its claim.

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Renewable Energy and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certification
April 28, 2009

In the recent years there has been a big push toward attaining LEED certification of buildings. In this entry I will describe the connection between renewable energy and LEED points, and describe ways to finance a renewable energy project that does not impact the cost.

When a "Design and Build" company proposes a LEED design to a developer, it chooses the most cost effective components of the design such that the points add up to the desired LEED level. For instance, if a designer wants to achieve a Gold level of LEED certification, then it needs 39 to 51 points. Inserting renewable energy generation into a project is a very expensive way to achieve this Gold target. There are several other significantly less expensive design options to accomplish the same goal. Read More

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SODAR based Wind Measurements for Prospecting
April 28, 2009

Sonic Detection and Ranging (SODAR) is a ground based remote sensing technique for measuring wind speed in the three directions. It is based on Doppler shift in the frequency of the sound waves that are backscattered by temperature fluctuations in the atmosphere.

As the hub heights and blade lengths of turbines have increased, met-tower based measurements at 40, 50 and 60 meters, or sometimes 80 meters height are inadequate to provide an accurate estimate for wind speed at the hub height, let alone over the entire turbine rotor. With both hub heights and rotor diameter above 85m, met-towers of height 150m or more would be required to measure the wind speed over the entire turbine rotor. This would be cost prohibitive. SODAR provides an economical method to measure wind speed in this range of heights. Read More

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A Florida wind company proves entire county is ripe for development

New Study Tactics prove that Graham County could be a developer's dream
April 27, 2009

With the help of Jacksonville, Florida's Wind Energy Consulting & Contracting, Inc. (WECC) Graham County, Kansas has taken the initiative to show the earning potential of their land...Read More

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Truth in Rated Capacity and Power Curve of Turbines
April 27, 2009

Among the challenges in piecing together a wind project is the selection of a wind turbine. Several factors are used to determine the appropriate wind turbine for each project. Primary among these is using the manufacturer's rated capacity to estimate energy production.

Some turbine manufacturers claim higher turbine name-plate capacity and therefore higher energy production than what a customer will realize. We have observed this most frequently in smaller vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT) and less frequently in horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWT). This is a particular problem if power ratings and power curves are not certified by an independent agency. Read More

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Cost of Energy for Small Wind Projects
April 17, 2009

In this entry I will talk about the cost of energy for small wind projects. The previous blog addressed how the cost of energy is computed and presented the cost of energy generation for utility scale turbines. The focus of this blog entry will be on turbines that are rated 10KW or less.

To recap, the cost of energy production depends on average annual energy production (AEP), total cost of installation, recurring cost for operations and maintenance, and the discount rate. Read More

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Forum called to look at ways TVA can increase use of renewable sources

KnoxvilleBiz.com
April 17, 2009

Marie Eckstein, an executive with Dow Corning, held up a glittering chunk of metal before the audience gathered Thursday for a TVA Congressional Caucus on renewable energy. "You won't see this in nature," she said, as light flickered off silver facets of the fist-sized object...Read More

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Cost of Producing Wind Energy
April 10, 2009

In this entry I will describe how the cost of generating energy is computed, compare the cost of alternative sources of generating energy, and provide estimates for cost per kWh of energy from distributed wind projects of size 1MW to 3MW.

The debate about comparing costs of energy can become heated.  People with vested interests in a project naturally want to predict lower cost per kWh for their favorite generation method and predict higher cost per kWh for the rest.  In this article we will present a range of costs for comparison purposes.  WECC understands wind energy and is very familiar with the various wind energy project costs; we rely on independent sources for costing information about non-wind projects. Read More

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Glenn Mauney invited to participate in the Charlotte Energy Summit

Charlotte, North Carolina
April 6, 2009

The Charlotte Energy Summit is a collaborative effort of the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce, the Charlotte Regional Partnership, and Duke Energy. The summit is intended to bring together approximately 45 energy-related companies to develop a strategic action plan that will position the region as a nationally recognized Energy Cluster. Read More

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WECC sponsors and speaks at the IFMA Industries Forum 2009

Vancouver, B.C., Canada
March 31- April 2, 2009

IFMA's third annual Industries Forum will provide in-depth educational sessions relevant to more than 10 industries including corporate facilities, environmental health and safety and manufacturing.  WECC's attendees at the event will include Glenn Mauney, Director of Business Development East and Dr. Pramod Jain, Chief Technology Officer.  Along with sponsorship of the event, WECC's Dr. Pramod Jain has been invited to host an educational session on the topic of wind solutions for facility managers. Read More

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