SMALL WIND GETS CERTIFIED

Bergey Windpower’s 10 kW Residential Wind Turbine becomes the First Certified Small Wind Turbine in America
November 22, 2011 (Business Wire)

"Bergey Windpower, the nation’s oldest manufacturer of small wind turbines,…[announced] that its best-selling BWC Excel 10 wind turbine is the first to receive full certification to the new wp-content/uploads/2011/05/AWEA_2009-Small_Turbine_Standard1.pdf"target="_blank">AWEA Small Wind Turbine Performance and Safety Standard [and its new 5 kW turbine is currently undergoing certification testing] …

"The Bergey Excel 10 is a 23 ft diameter horizontal-axis turbine designed to provide the annual energy requirements for homes, farms, and small businesses. More than 2,000 Excel turbines have been installed in 46 states and more than 50 countries. It has only three moving parts, requires no annual maintenance, and was the first small wind turbine to carry a 10-year warranty…"

The Bergey Excel 10 (click to enlarge)

"The AWEA standard was developed over a five year period by a committee of over 30 individuals drawn from industry, research organizations, universities, retailers, and users…[It] references a number of existing international (IEC) standards, has been adopted in Canada and, with some minor changes, in the United Kingdom…

"Certification of the Excel 10 turbine was granted by the Small Wind Certification Council (SWCC), an independent organization funded by several states and the U.S. Department of Energy…California, New York, Oregon and Wisconsin, which provide substantial rebates for small wind turbines, now require partial or full certification to the AWEA standard and a number of other states plan to do the same…"