Small wind manufacturers "must co-operate to survive"
Friday 24 April 2009
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| Iskra has a "safe siting" policy that means its turbines are not placed in inappropriate locations |
Small wind manufacturers must co-operate and work together to develop a full system of standards and certification, if the industry is to survive.
That was the view of a number of companies currently battling to compete against the solar photovoltaic industry to provide "human-scale" renewable electricity for households and businesses.
Speaking at a key gathering of the industry in Watford yesterday, manufacturers were warned that both customers and investors are being "burned" by devices that do not generate the power claimed by their makers.
One of the key solutions to the problem is to devise trustworthy standards that turbines must meet.
But, the huge array of different small wind turbine designs means that these cannot easily be drawn up, particularly if manufacturers are unwilling to put their machines up for official trials.
The small wind turbines industry has set itself back 10 years, according to the Energy Saving Trust, which is currently concluding a major trial of small wind turbines itself.
Terry Rowbury, head of products and service development at the government-funded organisation, said there was potential in small wind technology, but that manufacturers were "stuck in the early stages of development".
He said feed-in tariffs would become important drivers of the technology, but that manufacturers had to get the marketing right, and work with independent organisations like the Energy Savings Trust to reassure consumers that the products work.
Mr Rowbury was speaking at the International Small Wind Conference, run by the British Wind Energy Association and BRE, the Building Research Establishment.
Standards
Manufacturers speaking at the conference stressed the need for certification and standards to be harmonised across the globe.
David Sharman, of Britain's oldest surviving small wind manufacturer Ampair, said small wind turbines manufacturers are "up against the solar industry", but that the solar industry was bigger, with more resources and more lobbying power.
"We can win, and they can win as well, but that is not the certain outcome," he said.
In a plea to his colleagues, Mr Sharman said: "In order to survive, we have got to co-operate - firstly through certification, and that means standards, and that means testing."
Mr Sharman is part of an industry group working to revise and improve standards for small wind turbines, since the technology is currently only included as an appendix of large wind turbine standards.
Members of the International Energy Agency and the Institution of Engineering and Technology are meeting over the next few days at the BWEA headquarters in London to discuss small wind turbine standards.
We have got to co-operate - firstly through certification, and that means standards, and that means testing.
The UK's own system of standards drawn up by the BWEA under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme could form the basis of a global standard. Manufacturers in the UK are having to become certified under the MCS before this December if their devices are to continue to be eligible for government grants.
With recent trials of small wind turbines proving very disappointing, partly because they are using urban or semi-urban sites, some manufacturers yesterday were advising against the sale of devices for sites that are not rural.
Pete Allen, chief executive of Loughborough-based Iskra, said his company required approved installers to site turbines in appropriate locations, and did not allow building-mounted options.
He said: "Our safe siting policy has put us at a disadvantage as a company, but now it is massively gratifying to see that the rest of the industry is getting on board with this."
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