Pika Energy operated out of Ben Polito’s basement until one year ago. The company’s roots stretch even further back, with its true beginning in 2010, when Polito, company president, and Joshua Kaufman cofounded the company with support from local Maine investors. Now, Pika employs 10 people and is housed in a small commercial facility in Portland, Maine. Pika began to install turbines in the spring of 2014.
“We built a turbine suitable to power an energy-efficient home and we use the wind in combination with solar panels in a microgrid or hybrid energy system, which give you benefits from both the wind and the solar, to give more even power throughout the year and the day,” said Polito. “It’s important to have a steady flow of power, so the hybrid does a better job than either source by itself could do.”
Pika Energy is part of an even bigger movement revolving around the consumer and energy’s future. Until a few years ago, American manufacturing was viewed as a dying industry. Now, it’s still early, but Pika Energy is part of the change to bring jobs not only back to America, but to rural areas. “It’s still challenging, but people are seeing with the right, high-tech product that requires sophisticated manufacturing and top-quality people doing the work, responsive to the market, domestic-based United States manufacturing is in the early stages of what looks like a rebound,” said Polito.
A perfect fit for Maine
Their dream would not have been possible if Polito and Kaufman had not left their hometowns to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Both grew up in rural farm country, with Polito’s family working a farm on Georgetown Island, off the coast of Maine, and Kaufman’s family cutting wheat and seeing the possibility for wind energy in Kansas.
Returning to Maine to build the company was an obvious choice for several reasons. Wind energy is a rural technology, and Maine is not only a largely rural state, but offers a supportive local network that provides advice and financial help. Additionally, Polito is aware of the lack of quality jobs in Maine for those interested in technology. Pike Energy hopes to continue to grow, bringing people back to Maine who left because of the lack of technology-based opportunities. And, of course, there was the Polito family to consider. Four generations of the Polito family currently call Maine home.
As a child growing up without electricity, Polito built small wind turbines out of old motors and scrap wood. His experiments were a success and he was able to produce a small amount of electricity. “I was excited [to learn] how to make more. I wanted to learn how to build better wind turbines and make better electricity,” said Polito. “We had kerosene lamps for light and a hand pump for water out of the well and an outhouse instead of indoor plumbing, and you can imagine how cold that is in the middle of winter in Maine to go outside to use the outhouse. Electricity was this magical technology that I knew was out there that other people had that we didn’t have because we were so far outside of the beaten path.”
The end product
When electricity is readily available, appreciation is lost. One person, without electricity, would not be able to drive a car, produce heat for a home, or even shop for groceries. Energy multiplies a single person’s strength and ability. Being aware of the value and finding alternative means of providing energy plans for a future when fossil fuels are depleted. “In general, I think it’s one of the greatest challenges our world faces,” said Polito. “We’ve developed a dependency on having ample supply of cheap and readily available energy in order to do most of the things we all love to do, and right now, the vast majority of that energy comes from unsustainable, polluting sources that are increasingly becoming scarce and cause harm to the planet. For anyone who looks at the data, it’s obvious that we needs to transition to more sustainable sources.”
Polito has found that clients love making their own power and taking responsibility for their future. “It’s just fun and rewarding for people to make their own electricit,” he observes. “People feel dependent on a source of power they can’t control, and they worry that it won’t always be there. Making their own electricity from the wind and the sun helps them feel more independent, doing their part and taking control of their energy future.”
By Elizabeth Silverstein, guest writer for the Distributed Wind Energy Association
With Acquisition, Renewable Energy and Wireless Services Leader Becomes Ethos Distributed Solutions, Expands Operations to Nearly All 50 States
Ethos Distributed Energy and Rev1 Renewables have now joined forces to become Ethos Distributed Solutions. With the acquisition of Rev1 Renewables, Ethos solidifies itself as a leader in the installation, operations and maintenance of distributed renewable energy systems.
“We are really excited about the marriage of these two businesses,” says Paul Roamer, President of Ethos Distributed Solutions. “By combining resources and talent with Rev1 Renewables, this acquisition allows Ethos to provide competitive professional services nationwide and increase our effectiveness with our current clients. Additionally, our name change better reflects the inclusive spectrum of services we provide in both the renewable energy and telecommunications industry.”
Ethos leads the way in distributed maintenance, system upgrades and engineering consulting within the wind, solar and wireless markets. Adding the portfolio of projects from Rev1 Renewables compliments Ethos’ current work with renewable energy systems. Ethos currently serves 50 KW to 2.5 MW wind systems, solar systems up to 20 MW, and maintenance, repair, upgrades and installs for telecom clients.
Ethos is one of only a few companies operating in the nexus of renewable energy and telecom. The synergy in expertise and operational structure between the three business segments allows Ethos to efficiently schedule its field service crews throughout the United States, providing customers with superior technical knowledge and competitive pricing.
“We are very optimistic about our company’s future,” says Roamer. “The renewable energy market will continue to grow in the United States, and as these systems age, uptime and healthy operation of these assets will be of upmost importance. Likewise in telecom – with competition between carriers heating up, we see service upgrades occurring at a higher frequency than in the past. Protecting these renewable investments and maintaining the competitiveness of our telecom customers is where Ethos shines.”
About Ethos Distributed Solutions
Ethos was founded in 2009 in Colorado to provide cost-effective and reliable renewable energy solutions and support to distributed generation systems and telecom markets. Expertise and engineering backbone is what separates Ethos from other service providers. Our cross-training between renewable O&M and telecom creates a technical competency that is unmatched in the market. For more information, visit: www.ethossolutions.com.
The Distributed Wind Energy Association (DWEA) today announced that it has entered into a formal partnership with the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) that will enable the organizations to strengthen their representation of the small and community wind industry here in the United States. The two associations will collaborate on building the distributed and community wind markets nationally, as well as coordinating on federal and state policy initiatives.
Community wind is characterized by local participation, usually in the form of ownership and control. Individual landowners have a personal stake in the success of this industry and are looking for ways to maximize the value of wind for their communities. Local communities, including agricultural and rural economic development interests, can help build the industry’s success in their backyards. A variety of business models and applications have emerged in this growing form of wind energy development.
Applications can be “behind the meter” (providing electricity directly to the home /business/school), or mini-wind farms selling power to the local utility. Community wind projects usually range in size from less than 1 megawatt (MW) to 20 MW, and are sometimes larger. Wind projects owned by public power entities (cooperatives and municipalities) are considered community wind, as they are owned by the local electricity customers.
“This partnership will serve to strengthen our relationship with DWEA while better serving our collective members through efficiencies and communication,” said Tom Kiernan, AWEA CEO.
“We are pleased to partner with AWEA on their distributed and community wind work.” said DWEA Executive Director Jennifer Jenkins. “We look forward to fostering a collaborative network of community and distributed wind members and continuing to build and expand this growing industry together.”
By joining forces, AWEA and DWEA will be able to more effectively secure and allocate resources to support the growing community wind energy market. As members of both DWEA and AWEA, distributed and community wind companies, will have even greater opportunity to take advantage of targeted publications, reports, policy initiatives and networking opportunities offered by both organizations.
“All sizes and models of development are important if the US wind industry is to grow to at least 20% of our nation’s electricity portfolio. AWEA encourages all business models so that more people have a stake in the future of this technology,” said Kiernan.
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About the Distributed Wind Energy Association
The Distributed Wind Energy Association is a collaborative group comprised of manufacturers, distributors, project developers, dealers, installers, and advocates, whose primary mission is to promote and foster all aspects of the American distributed wind energy industry. Distributed wind is the use of wind turbines at homes, farm and ranches, businesses, public and industrial facilities, off-grid and other sites connected either physically or virtually on the customer side of the meter to offset all or a portion of local energy consumption or to support grid operations. DWEA seeks to represent members and associates from all sectors with relevant interests pertaining to the distributed wind industry. For more information on DWEA, please go to www.distributedwind.org. Follow us on Twitter @DWEA and like us on Facebook
About the American Wind Energy Association
AWEA is the national trade association of the U.S. wind energy industry, with over 1,000 member companies, including global leaders in wind power and energy development, wind turbine manufacturing, component and service suppliers, and the world’s largest wind power trade show, the AWEA WINDPOWER Conference & Exhibition. AWEA is the voice of wind energy in the U.S., promoting renewable energy to power a cleaner, stronger America. Look up information on wind energy at the AWEA website. Find insight on industry issues at AWEA’s blog Into the Wind. Join AWEA on Facebook. Follow AWEA on Twitter.
For more information:
Lauren Glickman Communications Manager
Distributed Wind Energy Association
Email: Lglickman@distributedwind.org Phone: 504-258-7955
Lindsay North
Manager, Media Relations and Outreach
American Wind Energy Association
Email: lnorth@awea.org
Phone: 202.431.4587
SMALL WIND, Planning and Building Successful Installations is a new book written by R. Nolan Clark to provide a cohesive guide to achieving successful installations of wind systems that are less than 100 kW in size. The wind industry has grown to the point that there are different focuses and needs for the various segments that depend on the size and potential use of the wind power generated. Most small wind machines are connected on the user side of the electric meter rather than to the main grid lines as with larger machines and thus has different requirements, regulations, and management issues. Other small machines are operated totally independent of the electrical grid and have another set of requirements and management issues. This book addresses these small wind system issues and focuses on what many people consider the two main concerns that cause installation to be unsuccessful or low performers. Site selection is one of the items that cause many good machines to perform poorly. Small Wind: Planning and Building Successful Installations gives detailed information about selecting an optimum site for a wind turbine, including selecting the right tower height for the location. Having the wind turbine in the right location to harvest the wind resource is of upmost importance.
Secondly, methods for selecting the right equipment to meet the anticipated loads are also provided. Information is provided for meeting loads for grid connected systems depending on the type of interconnection contract that is available and suggestions how to manage the loads to better match the wind resources are given. Now that small wind certification reports are available for many small machines, information is given how to use these reports to select machines that are reliable, have low noise, and measured performance.
Information is given on what is required to install a small wind machine including permitting, interconnection contracts, foundations, and contracting with installers. Information is also included about what is required after the machine is installed and how to manage and maintain the machine for a long life and achieving the best possible energy production.
Small Wind: Planning and Building Successful Installations is written for engineers who are called upon to plan small wind projects and foundations. It identifies and explains the critical issues for small wind installations, including siting, turbine choice, applications and permitting, economics, load management and grid integration. It would also be useful to dealers and installers to use with knowledgeable customers to guide them through the planning and building phases of a project.
R. Nolan Clark has worked as researcher and development engineer in the wind industry for 35 years and has had extensive experience in operating small wind machines for many applications including grid connected machines, remote water pumping systems, and wind-diesel systems. Much of his work was funded by the US Department of Agriculture and the Department of Energy. He currently is a small wind systems consultant and is a certification commissioner with the Small Wind Certification Council.
The book is published by Elsevier Publishers and is available in hardback printed copies or in an electronic version. The ISBN No. is 978-0-12-385999-0. The list price is $79.95.
