WEICan elected to Board of Small Wind Certification Corporation

20 February 2008
Establishing small wind turbine consumer ratings will facilitate the growth of wind power as a source of clean renewable energy. Funding such a certification program is critical to the maturation of this under-financed residential and farm-scale wind market segment of the economy. The Small Wind Certification Corporation (SWCC) was established to fill this need and the following provides some detail on the SWCC, the recent Board elections and WEICan's role within it.

Small wind turbines have great potential to serve increasing demands for distributed generation, providing cost effective electricity for many farms, schools and other end-users. Small wind turbines offer increased security of supply, reduced fuel costs (particularly for remote communities) as well as a unique 'hands on' tool for educating people about renewable energy systems.

However several obstacles have hindered the greater use of small wind systems: Including;

- Performance specifications are not standardized
- Consumers do not have user friendly tools to allow for ready comparison of different turbines
- Consumers and funders need greater assurance of safety, functionality, and durability in order to justify investing.

The SWCC was set up to address these shortfalls in the market. The SWCC, as an independent certification body, will certify that small wind turbines meet or exceed performance, durability and safety standards. The Board of the SWCC has just been elected and consists of the following entities.

Government/Laboratory sector
James Glennie - Wind Energy Institute of Canada
Trudy Forsyth - National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Ken Jurman - Virginia Department of Mines
Public/Organization Sector
Mick Sagrillo - Sagrillo Power and Light
Alan Cowan - Energy Trust of Oregon
Megan Amsler - Cape & Islands Self-Reliance (Cape Cod)
Industry Sector
Charles Newcomb - Entegrity Wind
Mike Bergey - Bergey Windpower
David Blittersdorf - Earth Turbines
Installer Sector
Roy Butler - Four Winds Renewable Energy
Ed Kennel

The newly elected Board will be working hard in the coming months to get the SWCC ready to certify its first batch of turbines towards the end of this year. These first turbines are currently about to begin testing in Canada at WEICan's North Cape facility (details) and in America at NREL's National Wind Technology Center in Boulder, Colorado.

Information about the SWCC ( 50kB)

WEICan contact for additional information:
James Glennie
Office: +1-902-882-4128