AWEA Small-Wind Update addendum, May 12, 2008

 

Dear AWEA Small Wind Turbine Committee,

 

  An addendum to last week’s newsletter:

 

1.   Certification Program’s First Board of Directors Elected

2.   New Advocacy Directed Toward National Electric Code

 

_______________________

 

1.    Small Wind Certification Council Elects First Board Members


The forthcoming program to certify small wind turbines to quality and performance standards, the Small Wind Certification Council (SWCC), has elected its first Board of Directors. SWCC is an independent non-profit group chartered to certify small wind turbines to performance, safety, sound, and reliability standards.  Board members serve on a rotating, tiered schedule.  The initial Board of Directors includes:

Megan Amsler, Cape & Islands Self Reliance, No. Falmouth, MA
Mike Bergey, Bergey WindPower, Norman, OK
David Blittersdorf, Earth Turbines, Hinesburg, VT
Roy Butler, Four Winds Renewable Energy, Arkport, NY
Alan Cowan, Energy Trust of Oregon, Portland, OR
Trudy Forsyth, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO
James Glennie, Wind Energy Institute of Canada, Tignish, PEI, Canada
Ken Jurman, Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy, Richmond, VA
Ed Kennell, Clean Energy Products, Bend, OR
Charles Newcomb, Entegrity Wind Systems, Denver, CO
Mick Sagrillo, Focus on Energy, Forestville, WI

At its first meeting, the Board appointed Larry Sherwood as the Interim Executive Director.  Larry and the Board will now work to hire permanent staff and develop the policies and procedures needed to launch certification for small wind turbines by its goal of early 2009.

2.    Industry Growth Prompts More Attention to Interconnection

 

An ad hoc group has formed to develop a new article for the National Electrical Code (NEC) to clarify electrical installation and interconnection requirements for small wind systems.  The new NEC article, titled "Small Wind Electric Systems," is modeled on the existing NEC articles for solar photovoltaics (690) and fuel cells (692), but will be tailored to small wind turbines.

 

Interested parties are invited to participate in conference calls held every second Tuesday at noon Eastern.  The next call will be on May 13th. To join, visit www.wind-nec.net. The group is co-chaired by Robert Preus of Abundant Renewable Energy, and Dr. Robert Wills of www.WindMonitoring.com.

 

Small Wind events calendar

For a comprehensive list of small-wind events around the country, see the Department of Energy’s Wind Powering America site at: http://www.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/windpoweringamerica/calendar.asp  

 

 

 

Ron Stimmel

Small-Wind Advocate

American Wind Energy Association

1101 14th St. Nw, 12th Floor

Washington, D.C. 20005

Ph: (202) 383-2546

rstimmel@awea.org.