Click photo to enlarge
Powerhouse Wind business partners Bill Currie (left) and
Wayne O'Hara hold the blade of their dismantled small wind
turbine prototype they were repainting before presenting it
to the public yesterday. Photo by Peter McIntosh.
Rather than focusing on a "gloomy" post-peak oil future,
a trio of Dunedin engineers is looking to pluck some positives
out of thin air.
Today, Bill Currie, Wayne O'Hara and Richard Butler's company
Powerhouse Wind will unveil its small wind turbine prototype
to a group of engineers and designers at Otago Polytechnic.
Constructed with a teetering single 1.8m blade, it features
two equally-spaced counterweights that allow the machine to
operate dynamically like a three-bladed windmill while
maintaining the advantages of having a solo rotor.
One of these is protection of the turbine in high winds,
because as the wind speed increases, the blade adjusts
accordingly to control the power and torque output.
Working on the project full-time for the past 16 months,
former Fisher and Paykel engineers Mr Currie and Mr O'Hara
also called on Mr Butler, their third business partner, for
his electronics engineering skills.
The three men have invested $200,000, which was topped up by
$100,000 from the Foundation for Research, Science and
Technology, and a Dunedin City Council grant.
Operating under the working title Thin Air for its products,
Powerhouse Wind has designed a family of four wind turbines.
Positioned in the 2kW to 10kW market segment, they were big
enough to power remote, primarily single households by
harnessing the wind's energy.
The finished prototype needs further testing and development
and the company is seeking financial backers, who will
determine the speed with which it can proceed.
Patents are being established for the re-scalable turbine
design, which its creators believe has not been replicated
identically anywhere.
The timing of the prototype launch on World Environment Day,
hosted by New Zealand this year, was strategic.
The "kicking the carbon habit" theme fits in nicely with
Powerhouse Wind's ambition to establish itself as a leading
producer of small wind turbines that use a force of nature to
create an alternative energy source.
"People quite often see post peak oil and the future as being
potentially a bit gloomy but I don't think that's necessarily
true.
"Take advantage of wind flowing over houses and sun falling
on roofs and you end up with a better lifestyle but use less
energy," Mr Currie said.
