All Posts Tagged With: "Rogue River Wind"
V-LIM launch date coming soon!
All this time I thought research and development and prototype design was the hardest part (and believe me it isn’t easy), but the procedural side of launching a new product is pretty damned intense. The brain power required from conceptualization to production is not only extensive but the diversity required puts the old ‘thinking ten moves ahead’ process in a chess game to shame.
There are so many facets to consider and I am so grateful to have backers, partners, friends, lawyers, accountants and employees capable of contributing so much to this effort. This is both an exhilarating time and a critically demanding time but I love what I am doing and look forward to each 16 hour day.
These stills will be animated into some educational videos describing how the LIM works and placed on the Rogue River Wind website that is also being professionally designed.
The above is fun but there is also the nuts and bolts paperwork side, shareholder agreements, manufacturing contracts, procedural manuals and regulatory issues. Tracking regulatory changes and legislative issues like investor owned utility PG&E trying to make competition illegal.
The state wants to encourage power-company competition, green energy and lower rates with the Community Choice law.
So, how does Pacific Gas & Electric Co. respond to these threats to its monopoly?
The utility giant bankrolls a deceptive June ballot initiative that seeks to rewrite California’s constitution, kill upstarts in their tracks and block the expansion of municipal utility companies such as the one saving money for residents of Sacramento.
Considering that Congress hasn’t been able to accomplish much requiring a 60 vote filibuster proof majority rather than the old 51 votes, PG&E’s request to require two-thirds of voters to approve an alternative energy option, dooms renewable energy in California to painful and costly death. Grrrr!
Okay, back to business and the website will carry all our technical information soon and will provide an energy blog with updates just like the one above.
Rare earth shortages may put China in the drivers seat on green energy
As I have been writing for some time, China controls the rare earth magnet market. With the push for more wind farms and electric vehicles and China’s own growth in these industries, China may stop exporting except within a completed manufactured product.
“Countries and companies that have or plan to develop industries that need rare earth minerals to make products are concerned about China’s growing consumption, which they fear will eliminate China’s exports of rare earths,” said W. David Menzie, chief of the international minerals section at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
China has also encouraged companies that use rare earths to locate their manufacturing facilities in China, Menzie told TechNewsDaily. But some companies fear moving because of concerns about intellectual property protection, he added.
China is fast becoming known, rightly or wrongly, as the king of IP ripoffs and few companies want to take the chance of partnering with them, especially on their own turf. Then, of course, for socially conscientious companies that want to create manufacturing jobs in the US, moving to China is not an option.
There is some pressure on Congress to provide incentives to support the mining of existing rare earth deposits in the US but the technology to process it still lies with the Chinese. Some are speculating the next resource wars will not be held over oil but rare earth metals.
Rare earth neodymium magnets are critical to the wind industry, including the V-LIM, and while there are plans to reopen Mountain Pass in California for rare earth mining, there is no ready solution in sight despite neodymium being a critical part of all weapons guidance systems and homeland security.
As one of the worst polluters on the planet, knowing the future of green energy, homeland security and the weapons and guidance systems on everytank, fighter jet and aircraft carrier relies on foreign relations with China is a bit scary.
V-LIM update from Portland
Image is everything, so I am told, so Rogue River Wind is working with a couple of firms up in Portland to develop our website and produce educational videos of the LIM and the wind industry in general. This will be done in stages but I invite you to take a look at what each of these firms do and you will know why I am so excited!
The World does a nice write up on the V-LIM wind turbine
Just in case you didn’t see it you can read it here
Mary Geddry, CEO of Coquille-based Rogue River Winds, said the ultra-efficient, low-profile, sturdy wind turbine with a built-in generator called the V-LIM, is generating interest.
She’s gearing up production. But don’t expect any local manufacturing jobs to spin out of it — at least not anytime soon.
“There just isn’t the infrastructure in Coos County at this time,” she said.
After attempts to get the V-LIM off the ground locally failed, Geddry relocated the project to Portland where a prototype was in the works, before she again relocated it to Cottage Grove where it was completed and may be manufactured.
She said some manufacturers in Alaska and the East Coast have expressed interest in producing it, as well.
Federal agencies including the DoD are under heavy pressure to meet 25% of their energy needs from renewable sources.
Driven by new government requirements that call for each military branch to purchase or generate at least 25 percent of the energy they use from renewable sources by 2025, the project is funded by a $4 million federal investment under the 2010 Defense Appropriations bill…
One factor causing concern with wind energy is the belief that traditional wind turbines interfere with radar, hence the interest in a low profile system like the V-LIM.
New Years catch up #2 the V-LIM wind turbine
Rogue River Wind is very proud to announce the successful development of a high bandwidth wind powered generator capable of working in turbulent, gusty wind at all speeds utilizing the increased aerodynamic efficiencies of ducted fan technology. To be specific what we mean by high bandwidth is that unlike typical power curves where the turbine only produces power between 22 and 29mph for example, the LIM turns on at 8mph but more importantly continues to produce power at 80 or 90mph. Since the power output of a turbine is proportional to the cube of the velocity, every time you double the wind speed you get 8 times the power.
We did it. We will be build one more pre production prototype before beginning the full production V-LIM here in Oregon but what is most exciting is the scalability of the generator.
With a few adjustments generators now being purchased with American tax dollars from China could be built right here in the US with much higher efficiencies and providing American jobs. Something to think about with respect to the new $1.4B Oregon Shepherd’s Flat wind farm slated for 2012. While the LIM generator coupled to the standard open bladed wind turbines will not operate at a high bandwidth because open bladed fans simply cannot, the generator can be stacked and perform much better than the Chinese generators based upon 1930’s technology…. AND MADE IN AMERICA!
We will be making some noise about these jobs going offshore when we can build them right here, providing long term family wage jobs in Oregon, in the coming days and weeks. Please watch the news and contact your representatives to keep American tax dollars in the US.
It has been painful, it has been hard, but boy am I a happy camper!
V-LIM Power curves
The first power curves for the V-LIM are done and I will publish them here after some additional verification soon. We have learned a lot from these tests, have changed the magnet topology for a more focused flux and will segment the stator for faster saturation in the production models. Even without these changes we outperform our competitors and after such a long hard struggle, I can’t tell if I am happy or just relieved to be past this point. Am definitely exhausted.
More data soon to come, here and at Rogue River Wind.
The V-LIM is making a big splash
This week I filed my patent with the PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) through the World Intellectual Property Organization. The USPTO allows an inventor the option of whether to publish the application or not, I chose not to to avoid the IP being exposed as long as possible. The PCT does not afford such an option and the patent is now ‘out there’ for all to see.
The consequence of this is that organizations that monitor new filings have flooded me with inquiries. All to the good but coming at a time when we are fine tuning the generator to spin up and test.
Needless to say, as a new inventor, I am pretty excited.
Mountain Pass rare earth mine reopening in California
As noted here before, the Chinese have a near monopoly on the production of high-gauss neodymium magnets crucial to the production of electricity. Now, a once abandoned mine in Mountain Pass, California is being reopened to try and minimize the dangers of geopolitical concerns and the supply of rare earths.
These minerals, such as samarium and neodymium, are prized for chemical properties that make them indispensable in a variety of industrial and military uses, including polishing glass, oil refining and manufacturing missile guidance systems.
They also play a crucial role in the development of “green” technologies such as hybrid cars, wind turbines and compact fluorescent lightbulbs. Heat-resistant magnets made with rare-earth alloys are key components of the electric motor in the Toyota Prius, for example.
Mining operations ceased at Mountain Pass in 2002 amid environmental concerns and cut-rate competition from China, although processing of previously dug ore continues. [Emphasis mine]
Given my company, Rogue River Wind, Ltd, hopes to manufacture our products in the US we are hopeful that environmentally safe mining practices can be maintained in Mountain Pass to provide the neodymium magnets we presently buy from China.
Slowly, too slowly, getting things caught up
Been suffering from a bit of information overload, lately. Must admit, everything I am learning is of utmost interest to me and I love reading more and more on my favorite subjects, energy, economics (which I used to hate) and ecology. There is no limit to the information available and I am tasked by virtue of business demands to disseminate all of it into a comprehensive plan and series of articles.
Doing all this cuts into my personal life, however, and compounded with all the travel I find myself getting further and further behind on everything including my salvation, exercise and family and friends. Schedules are looking to get worse before they get better so I am not too sure how well I will keep up with this blog although I will be publishing the articles mentioned above here as well as elsewhere.
One thing to note, my experiment with barefoot running seems to be working though I have only logged 12 barefoot miles so far. For other runners, I suggest you give it a try as it completely takes the pressure off your hips and lets your foot perform like a foot is supposed to perform. Pretty cool!
Join me at the Coos County Fair Oak Grove at 12 noon
Will be talking about empowering local communities with renewable energy. The venue is outdoors under an awning but I don’t believe there will be a screen or projector to allow for a power point presentation so I am just going to wing it with some photos, etc..
Transporting the V-LIM stator for wiring
Engineers at a faciity in Portland transport the V-LIM stator to be properly wired in anticipation of the first testing of the new generator.
Sadly, the coils wound in Coos County had to be rewound. The ceramic insulation applied by a local powder coater cracked and failed and mitigation attempts to ease the sharp edges of the coil core by the former local fabricator were inadequate causing multiple shorts. All the money invested using local talent may have helped the local economy, I don’t know, but my company has nothing to show for it and is almost a year behind schedule.
Happily, we are making great strides and hope to invite Oregon Department of Energy for the first spin test of the new generator before the end of August. It has been a long hard haul made all that much harder trying to do it here in Coos County… no more!
Catching things up a bit
Between having my girls’ father, Stan, in the hospital in Coos Bay and running up to Portland for meetings and some looming patent deadlines I have fallen behind on the blogosphere but hope things may lighten up here soon.
Stan will move from the hospital to an extended care facility for a few days and then to an apartment close enough for the girls to visit him every day. Our job will be to make sure he takes all his medications and eats correctly. He will continue his patent work and as technical adviser to Rogue River Wind.
On the turbine front, most, if not all the parts paid for and fabricated in Coos County have proven to be less than adequate and are being replaced and redesigned, more than doubling the cost of the prototype. At least now, it is finally getting done by real professionals and not people masquerading as such. If I sound angry, I am.
In my opinion, Coos County is clearly not ready for any manufacturing setup and the capital costs make it prohibitive anyway. My company will contract with existing manufacturers elsewhere to meet our sales demands. There will still be job opportunities in Coos County with installation and maintenance but after two disastrous attempts to build something using local talent, RRW will not sink another dime locally.
Another preview of the V-LIM wind generator
Another CAD perspective of the V-LIM wind generator that is being assembled up in Portland. We expect to spin the generator within three weeks and develop a power curve then bring it back to the coast for testing in a gusty, blustery marine environment.
Preview of the V-LIM Wind turbine direct drive DC generator
The V-LIM wind generator is working to completion in Portland and we can’t get it done too soon as we have pending orders awaiting only the data collected from the field tests.
Did I just hear you say "little" Trinity? I think not ! She's half-grown !
Congratulations to you all ...
http://www.larryvanelsberg2010.com/index.html 
Thanks, Den, this is very useful 