Southwest Windpower Unveils Small Wind Turbine for Home Use
Southwest Windpower, a supplier of distributed wind generators, unveiled its newest and most efficient small wind turbine– Skystream 600 – which could put wind energy in thousands of homes and businesses worldwide.
The Skystream 600 produces 74% more energy for commercial and residential use than its predecessor – making it what the company says is the most efficient power grid-connected turbine in its class, providing an average of 7,400 kWh of clean, low-cost energy per year per household in 12 mph average annual wind speeds.
Depending on the wind resource, siting and energy efficiency, a Skystream 600 could provide up to 60% of an average home’s energy requirements. Skystream 600 will be the first fully smart grid-enabled wind turbine when available to the public in April 2011, making it easy for consumers to connect their homes or businesses to wind-generated electricity. With its state-of-the-art interactive Skyview® system, users can monitor exactly how much energy the wind turbine is producing from anywhere internet access is available.
"Through multiple upgrades – including larger blade design, enhanced software and an improved integrated inverter – Skystream 600 provides users with a more efficient and affordable small wind system," said Dixon Thayer, chief executive officer of Southwest Windpower. "By reducing electric bills, Skystream 600 helps provide affordable independence and stability to users while producing clean energy that won’t hurt the environment."
GE invested in Southwest Windpower in early 2009 through its energy investing arm, GE Energy Financial Services. As part of GE’s ecomagination clean energy business strategy to drive growth and solve the world’s energy challenges, GE has committed to invest $10 billion in clean technology R&D by 2015, doubling the amount it spent in the past five years.
"In many applications, Southwest Windpower offers the most economical distributed renewable generation technology," said Kevin Skillern, Managing Director of Venture Capital at GE Energy Financial Services. "Through our investments in the company, GE Energy Financial Services is helping bring this new product to market."
