Buy A Turbine with Federal Government Help Now

The deadline is close for a major federal renewable energy grant and loan guarantee program. VAWTPower Management, Inc. invites our U.S. customers to participate in The Rural Energy for America Program (REAP).  REAP provides assistance to agricultural producers and rural small businesses to complete wind turbine and other renewable energy projects.

The REAP grant program funds up to 25% of qualifying projects. The REAP loan guarantee program expands the existing private credit structure by providing a credit enhancement via a loan guarantee of up to 85% of the project cost.

The 2013 expected REAP deadline is April 30. There maybe slippage in this deadline due to delays in the Notice of Fund Availability. Please contact us at jimimack(at)vawtpower(dot)com or
your local USDA Rural Development Office.

VAWT Meets iPhone

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The summer monsoon rains have turned the Eastern New Mexico prairie from brown to a lush green. The 3-bladed VP100 spins to get the multiple-blade effect by an iPhone camera. (Click to zoom.)

Turbine in Winter

Clines Corners Turbine Running with Anemometer Pole in the Foreground ....

Severe winter weather presents challenges for mechanical equipment and wind turbines are no exception. Much of the Great Plains in the central U.S. is having a cold and snowy winter. Our 60 kW turbine will need a transmission oil heater to operate when the temperature drops. We expect to have the new heating equipment installed in the next few weeks.

Turbine Before The Squall

The prototype VMI VP100 vertical axis turbine generating three-phase 480 volt electricity from the approaching July storm on the western edge of the Great Plains in Clines Corners, New Mexico, USA. The eighty-three foot tall turbine is running better than ever with recent improvements including a strengthened top bearing assembly, an automatic brake wear monitoring system, and control software refinements.

Video: VP100 Wind Turbine at Full Power

VMI To Host Booth at RENEW 09 Conference

June 23 – 24 VMI will host a booth at RENEW 09 in Tucumcari, New Mexico. RENEW 09: Empowering the Land is the only conference of its kind in the nation specifically designed to match landowners, ranchers, and developers with industry leaders in the rapidly emerging, renewable energy sector. RENEW 09 is designed to be a “nuts & bolts” conference that is packed with “actionable” information on how you can best capture wind, sun and other alternative energy sources to reap an economic return.

For more information about the conference go to www.empoweringtheland.com

Sandia National Lab Testing

Sandia National Lab scientist, Todd Griffith, strikes the turbine tower with an instrumented sledgehammer to excite structural vibrations for analysis.