Helix Wind to acquire Venco for $3.9 million

Twister 300-T

Twister 1000-T

Vertikon H50

(Credit: Venco)

Helix Wind has signed a definitive purchase agreement to acquire Venco Power, a Germany-based manufacturer of vertical axis small wind turbines, for $3.9 million in cash and common stock, the company announced Thursday.

With Venco comes greater access to the small wind residential market in Europe, along with three new products the company plans to add to its small wind product line, according to Helix Wind CEO Ian Gardner.

While all three models are for the small wind market, each has a distinctive look and different capacities. The Venco Twister 300-T produces power at wind speeds as low as 3.5 meters per second (7.8 mph); it starts rotating at 3.0 meters per second, and its claim to fame is that it's "virtually quiet." The Twister 1000-T makes the same noise and power claims as the 300-T, but has a different look and begins to start rotating at a wind speed of 1.5 meters per second. The Vertikon H50 will begin generating power at speeds as low as 2.5 meters per second.

Venco also has an online calculator (for Java applet-friendly browsers) for estimating how much power one can expect each particular turbine product to generate. Potential customers input average wind speeds for each month of the year at their location, and can change which turbine the figures are applied to.

"We're also excited to bring German engineering talent and technology to the quest for alternative energy," Gardner said in a statement.

The news follows Helix Wind's August announcement offering a unique financial fix for the initial cash outlay that residential customers and dealers face when getting into wind power.

[WinNoMo]

I can't wait to mount one of these to the roof of my Hummer

[Joe708]

Chicago Tribune
Green Denny's: New Joliet restaurant gets national recognition for saving energy
Chain's 1st LEED-certified restaurant is built in Joliet
By Karen Sorensen Special to the Tribune

Joey Terrell likes to joke that his path to enlightenment began when the light bulb overhead burned out.

It was six years ago and he was seated at a table in his Denny's restaurant in Mokena. When a light blinked out, he started to pop in a 100-watt buld when it struck him: Maybe I should try a 12-watt compact fluorescent lamp bulb?

Six years ago CFLs were new and cost three times as much as a regular bulb, use nine times less electricity, last five times as long and provide 20 percent more light.

It seemed like a no-brainer. The next thing he knew, he was writing a $3,500 check to outfit the entire restaurant with CFL bulbs. The savings were immediate -- about $440 a month.

So when he finally found a spot to build, he decided it would be a "green" and that he would do whatever it took to get U.S. Green Building Council's LEED certification, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

In December his store became the first Denny's in the country to be LEED-certified.

It's a rigorous process and he'll have submitted thousands of pages of documentation.

Only about a half-dozen U.S. restaurants have attained the ranking. As restaurants are notoriously huge energy consumers. Food service operations are considered the most energy-intensive commercial buildings in the United States, consuming nearly three times more than an average building, on a per square foot basis according to the Energy Information Administration.

Take fryers, for example. He's switched to a model in which the oil is recycled and moved to a container to be picked up for use as biofuel or other.

The roof is covered in a white seal-coating instead of black so sunlight is reflected rather than retained. As a result, it takes far less energy to cool the outside air to 72 degrees for air conditioning.

But the feature Terrell's most proud of is the one thing that grabs you the minute you walk in the door: Four 4-by-4-foot skylights that use mirrors to harvest daylight, casting natural light on the 150-seat dining room. They were built in Downstate Arthur by Amish craftsmen.

"When I tell folks Joliet is a 'green' Denny's, they are either very excited or I see their eyes glaze over," said Terrell, who co-owns the 24-hour restaurant with his wife, Susan Clement-Terrell. "I like talking to the excited folks, as I know they will carry on what we have begun. After all, if we don't share what we have learned, then what good did we do?"

David Mackley, Joliet's director of building services, said he initially feared it would be time-consuming to work with Terrell as he searched for materials to satisfy the city's building standards. But Mackley quickly become a convert and has been called upon to address other municipal building officials about his positive experience.

"It's been a learning process for us," he said. "The products he found have been construction-friendly. They don't violate existing codes, and many of them exceed what's required."

Terrell added so many enhancements to save water that the city reduced his water and sewer connection fees by $25,000, making the cost almost negligible.

Just about every aspect of the restaurant has been considered for its "green" potential. The ceiling, drywall, even the ceramic tile are made of materials that are anywhere from 80 percent to 100 percent recycled. The carpeting is wool because it is a natural, recyclable substance. Motion sensors turn lights on and off in restrooms and storage rooms not in frequent use. All of the appliances are Energy Star-rated. The circulation system maintains air that is cleaner than what's outside. Over 75% of the build-out was done with recycled products.

With all that, the restaurant cost came in under what construction of a new Denny's typically costs, Terrell said.

Architect Victor Tvedten, whose Holland, Mich., firm contracts with Denny's to build restaurants, worked closely with Terrell. And although certain Denny's features couldn't be changed, Tvedten said the company encouraged being as innovative as possible.

Now Terrell is a registered as a speaker for the U.S. Green Building Council. He has worked with students at various Colleges and the Universitys to help them learn GREEN and gives them coupons for free "Grand Slam" breakfasts so people will check out his restaurant and learn what we have done..

Terrell plans to do a renovation of his Mokena store to meet LEED standards. Financially, he said, he would be foolish not to. After all, his Joliet store is costing him $10,000 less over last six months to operate than his 20-year-old Mokena store.

"I do hope people catch on to this," he said. "We have advice for anybody's who's willing to do it."
Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune

[dasolar]

3.9 Million seems like a pretty low number (although I have no idea what the companies sales are). If the <a href="http://www.dasolar.com/residential-wind-power">residential wind power</a> market is supposedly growing so quickly it would seem the multiple on the sales would be pretty high. The low price would indicate that they don't have many sales in Europe and that refutes the idea that they were buying the company for an entry into that market...