By: Deborah Johnson Wood
Despite the lack of attention to energy innovation at the state capitol, the push is on in West Michigan to put the region's manufacturing skills to work innovating components for the alternative energy industry.
Cascade Engineering is one of the companies geared up to grab a share of the booming global market. The company currently is designing and tooling the rotor blades and diffuser ring for a residential wind turbine, the Swift Rooftop Wind Turbine. The turbine will help offset electricity costs for homes.
"It's projected that one turbine produces 2,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year," says Jessica Lehti, Cascade spokesperson. "I have a medium size house and the turbine will power about 40 to 45 percent of my home's electrical needs. A larger home or one that's not as energy efficient could offset about 20 percent per year."
Renewable Devices, a Scotland-based company, manufactures the turbines. Cascade Engineering partnered with the company to bring the turbine to the US and will assemble the turbines for shipment to alternative energy dealers in the states and Canada.
"The turbine will be about $10,000 installed," Lehti says. "Different companies throughout Michigan can do energy assessments to find out how much energy is being used in a home. And homeowners can rent an anemometer to measure the speed of the wind at their home, to see if a turbine is an option for them."
Lehti expects the first US-made turbines will be on the market in May 2008.
Source: Jessica Lehti, Cascade Engineering
Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at
[email protected].
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