The UK company behind an "inaudible" wind turbine
The problem with wind-powered turbines is that their effectiveness relies on long, uninterrupted and predictable wind patterns. Unfortunately, wind is anything but. The British Isles is one of the windiest places in Europe, but a wind map of the country will more often than not reveal arrows of all sizes pointing in every conceivable direction. It's an unpredictable energy source, even in the Scottish highlands. Wind is even more erratic in urban environments, but that's where London start-up Quiet Revolution comes in. Its re-engineered turbines perform best in built-up landscapes where the wind is unpredictable at best.
"If you have the space, and you can get planning permission, go and get the biggest turbine you can find. Where we come in is where big wind can't happen, or the nature of the wind is very different," says Quiet Revolution CEO and commercial director Julia Groves. That's primarily at sites near, around or on top of buildings, where air-flow is gusty, turbulent and constantly changing direction. Conventional Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbines (HAWT) must rotate to pick up the prevailing wind, but Quiet Revolution turbines can collect wind from all directions without tracking. Groves says they are 20-40 per cent more efficient in turbulent winds than HAWT models.
Greater efficiency also comes with the promise of less noise. Quiet Revolution turbines are designed to "whisper", says Groves. "The curve and tapering of the blade helps the wind to be shared across the turbine more evenly," Groves explains. One of the company's 75 UK installations is on top of the science block at Kings College school in Wimbledon. "It is absolutely inaudible from below," she says.
The roll-out of wind turbines has been greatly helped by new building regulations, which for many builds mean renewable energy sources, such as turbines, must be found. Groves says the company has received solid support from council planning departments all over the country. Orders are also coming in from outside the UK, but Groves prefers slower, steadier growth. "This is my fourth start-up," she says, "and if I've learned anything, that's not to run before you can walk. We need to grow at a sensible rate and focus on the core product. There's still a long way to go for the turbine to reach its full potential. We need to only sell and install as many as we can support."
Because it's an expensive product to develop, Groves must make sure that the time and money invested in R&D aligns with the overall strategy for the business. "The moulds we make to build the turbines from are quite expensive," she says. "Plus carbon fibre isn't cheap. The boys are all engineers and like putting extra stripes down the side, but at some point you have to say 'stop'. There's a healthy tension between the commercial side of the business and the engineers," she adds. "We're all madly addicted to the product and hugely believe in the potential of the market. The prize is definitely there at the end."
With the company only three years old, Groves prefers "first generation" to "in beta" as a product description, but she insists that two years from now the company's turbines will "mark significant progress." Cost of energy—"that's a combination of what you pay for the turbine and squeezing as much energy out of it as you possibly can"—is the main battleground. "There is massive scope for cost reduction once we have sufficient purchasing power from bigger volumes." Long-term, she adds, "we want to be in a position where there is only a small premium between the electricity you buy from a grid and what you would get from the turbine."
Posted 29 July 2009 : Director.co.uk
