World leading Small Wind turbine manufacturer today launched a revolution for turbine owners: the ability to monitor production from home, in car, or even down the pub!
Speaking at the International Small Wind Conference in Gateshead, CEO Johnnie Andringa revealed details of the Gaia-Wind remote turbine monitoring system which offers turbine owners cost effective, real time, ability to access and organise all the data needed to:
• Monitor and improve the effectiveness of their turbine
• Minimise downtime
• Demonstrate the energy they are producing to others
He said:
"The ability to check on the status of a machine ’on the go’, or even receive status alerts, means that our owners can get on with their busy lives without having to physically check their turbine’s performance – something that can often mean an inconvenient trip to a distant property."
This is the latest in a stream of achievements for Gaia-Wind Ltd. He said:
• "As the new financial year starts it is useful to review what we have achieved over the last year:"We have grown from a handful of hard working people in an Innovation Centre to our brand new Global Hub, integrating all aspects of the process from R&D, design engineering, production and testing, as well as global distribution and supply chain management;
• "The Hub was formally opened by Energy Minister Jim Mather who said ’I am impressed with Gaia-Wind’s rapid development, ambitious growth plans and commitment to use the local supply chain’:
• "Production increased to four turbines per week in Q1 2011 from a fraction of this at the same time last year. Q2 is set for a minimum of 5 turbines per week and we are on target to be producing more than twice that many by the end of 2011.
• "We have now more than three hundred turbines installed worldwide delivering a combined operational time of some nine million hours.
• "Overseas sales have shot up with turbines being installed almost weekly in the USA and orders growing from Italy, Turkey, Belgium and France.
• We have continuously improved our product and services:
o The Gaia-Wind 133-11kW turbine is the best producing small wind turbine in its class by a significant margin with a repayment period of around five years
o It is the first saleable? UK product of this capacity to achieve the vital Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) accreditation
o The US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) testing on "estimated annual power production", showed it outperformed a similarly rated machine by a factor of 2:1. * and
o The turbine is now being certified by the US’s Small Wind Certification Council (SWCC),
o Our work with University of Glasgow researchers found that crucially, larger blades, like those unique to the Gaia-Wind 133 were more efficient at generating electricity in lower wind speeds.
o Gaia-Wind Ltd was also named Most Promising Emerging Business by the Hillington Innovation Awards, one of the UK’s most prestigious business awards.
"Looking forward we are committed to growing our business based on quality, excellence, innovation all along the supply chain and value. "Remote monitoring, which provides truly definitive data, is now moving to centre stage as an important aspect of wind turbine management. This ensures that manufacturers have to live up to their claims.
As part of our commitment to efficient partnership with turbine owners we are now deploying cutting edge technology to enable us to offer a dedicated remote monitoring service enabling Gaia-Wind Ltd to take a more proactive role in the management of turbine performance.
"So a Gaia-Wind owner can access their dedicated online monitor at any time, to check the status of their turbine. They can also check in with the Gaia-Wind team to see if any action is needed. All this information can be accessed by mobile phone, so no need to pull on the wellies and physically visit the site.
Personally, although it’s not a very technical point, I am attracted to the idea of monitoring my turbine, or even "showing off" its performance to friends while in the pub!"
