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DOE and NYSERDA Fund SWCC
| SWCC thanks the U.S. Department of Energy, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, and other sponsors for financial assistance they have provided to SWCC to assist with the start-up of the small wind turbine certification program.
Click here for a list of all SWCC funders.
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Greetings!
Achieving important milestones of accreditation and seven certifications issued, the Small Wind Certification Council (SWCC) continues to make progress promoting apples-to-apples comparisons and advancing mainstream acceptance of small wind technology. A crucial step in enabling reciprocity between North America and the rest of the world, SWCC's accreditation by A2LA is opening important doors for our applicants.
With two full certifications and five Conditional Temporary Certifications, SWCC and our applicants are making significant strides in helping to strengthen the industry's reputation and promote consumer confidence in small wind technology. Eleven other SWCC applicants have either started or completed certification testing, and a total of 22 small wind turbine models are currently certified under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) in the UK.
With SWCC certifications representing a significant share of the North American residential wind market, our certification ratings and labels are allowing easier comparison shopping, aiding incentive programs with setting payment levels, and leading toward national requirements.
SWCC is working with each Applicant to facilitate the process and to push forward and ensure that SWCC is not the cause of delays. Our Certification Commission, Board, organizational structure and staffing remain poised and ready to quickly process several additional testing reports expected in the coming weeks and months, spurred in part by the new Interstate Turbine Advisory Council's pre-requisite for listing.
As always, I'm available if you have questions or comments about SWCC activities.
Larry SherwoodExecutive Director |
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Major Milestone: Accreditation by A2LA Allows International Recognition of SWCC Ratings
The Small Wind Certification Council (SWCC) has obtained ISO Guide 65 accreditation from the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) to certify small wind turbines to AWEA Standard 9.1-2009.
Accreditation to ISO Guide 65 ensures the universal recognition of SWCC turbine certifications worldwide, while ensuring that certification activities are conducted impartially, systematically and in a uniform manner. Guide 65 ensures that the resulting product certifications are consistent with international standards and based on objective testing.
A2LA's accreditation of SWCC in accordance with the recognized International Standard ISO/IEC Guide 65:1996, General requirements for bodies operating product certification systems, "demonstrates technical competence for a defined scope and the operation of a quality management system," according to A2LA President & CEO Peter Unger.
SWCC's accreditation certificate number 3299.01, valid through June 30, 2014, and accreditation scope are available at http://www.a2la.org/scopepdf/3299-01.pdf. |
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Two More Turbine Models Receive SWCC Conditional Temporary Certification
Two more turbines pursuing certification through the SWCC have beengranted Conditional Temporary Certifications: the Kingspan Renewables KW6 and the Gaia Wind GW 133 - 11 kW. Conditional Temporary Certification indicates that SWCC has granted a time-limited certification with labels, certificates, and summary reports pending for a  small wind turbine that has been tested and analyzed according to the IEC 61400 series of Standards or the BWEA Standard (certain requirements of the AWEA Standard have not yet been met).
Currently, five SWCC Pending Applicants, listed on the SWCC website, have achieved Conditional Temporary Certification status. Twenty-nine turbines are on the SWCC applicant list, two of which have received full certification: the Bergey Excel 10 and the Skystream 3.7.
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ITAC Releases Unified List of Turbines Eligible for Incentives
The Interstate Turbine Advisory Council (ITAC) released and has updated the first version of its list of small wind turbines eligible for incentives with participating programs in April 2012. ITAC, an alliance of clean energy programs and utility incentive providers, considers progress toward certification in its application review. The ITAC list is meant to streamline qualification of small and mid-size turbines that meet performance, reliability, acoustic, warranty, and customer service expectations of incentive providers. Other ITAC requirements include marketing material accuracy, installation training, and resolution of technical problems, failures, and customer or dealer complaints.
Currently, eight state programs participate in ITAC. Prior to the inception of ITAC, individual programs kept unique, often overlapping, lists of qualified turbines.
The ITAC website provides the current list of turbines, including links to summary reports from the SWCC and the United Kingdom's
Microgeneration Certification Scheme. Turbines that were in the process of certification and on track to receive certification within six months were eligible for consideration in the first version of the ITAC list. Currently, eight turbines meet ITAC's criteria for listing, six of which are either fully or conditionally certified through SWCC.
ITAC is reviewing mid-sized turbines (with rotor swept areas greater than 200 square meters) and plans to release a second version of its list in the fall of 2012.
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AWEA Launches Update and Promulgation of Standard
The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) Standards Development Board announced on June 6 that the AWEA Small Wind Performance and Safety Standard will be promulgated as a U.S. national standard via the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). This effort will be led by Troy Hewitt of Intertek, Brent Summerville of SWCC, and Jeroen van Dam of NREL. The existing AWEA Standard will be used as the initial draft and circulated to industry stakeholders for official comments during this process. The AWEA Standard will be updated per industry comments while maintaining harmonization with the IEC 61400 Standards as well as the BWEA Small Wind Performance and Safety Standard, which are also currently being revised. After more than two years of use and application, affected parties will be invited to provide comments on the AWEA Standard to improve clarity, address any problems and close gaps within a defined scope of work. Small wind testing organizations, manufacturers, certification bodies, end users, academic institutes and other stakeholders will participate in the ANSI process of revising and promulgating the Standard. Distributed Wind Energy Association (DWEA) membership will provide input and direction on revisions to the standard. |
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Board Member Profiles
Trudy Forsyth
As an SWCC Board member since its inception in 2008, Trudy Forsyth was voted in as President of the SWCC Board in March 2012. She has worked in the small wind industry since the mid-1990s, and currently is an independent consultant with Wind Advisors. Previously, she led the Distributed Wind program on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and the industry. She was also a part of the DOE/NREL Wind Powering America team, which works to break down barriers to wind energy
Forsyth's work has been influential in the small wind industry. In 1995, she began working with NREL's National Wind Technology Center and U.S. small wind manufacturers to design new small wind turbines and test prototypes. She was the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Golden Field Office liaison and coordinator of NREL's technical support for the Small Wind Turbine Field Verification Project, overseeing testing of small turbines to International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards. She co-authored the IEC technical standards to the AWEA Small Wind Turbine Industry Roadmap, and served as an IEC secretary for the second and third revisions of the IEC small wind design and safety standards.
In addition to the SWCC Board, Forsyth serves on the boards for the Women of Wind Energy, and the American Solar Energy Society (ASES). She also served as a co-chair of the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners. In March 2012, she was presented the Women in Solar Energy Award at the ASES annual award banquet. She is a regular presenter at industry conferences and forums for small wind turbine technical and state policy/market information.
Megan Amsler
SWCC Board Secretary Megan Amsler has been ingrained in sustainability and environmental causes since her days growing up on an organic farm, where sustainability was a way of life. She teaches Renewable Energy Sources at Cape Cod Community College for the past 8 years. For more than 11 years, Amsler has been the Executive Director of Self-Reliance, a non-profit organization with a mission is to promote environmentally sound technologies and sustainable practices. She conducts educational outreach, installation workshops as well as feasibility work on wind, from residential-scale to utility-scale projects.
Previously, Amsler worked in ecological wastewater treatment field, including a remote project that required small wind and photovoltaic solar panels to run the pumps.
In addition to her educational work, she has been instrumental in the adoption of suitably sited renewable energy in Massachusetts. She established Cape Cod as a Million Solar Roofs partnership, facilitated more than 3500 solar installations in the region and has been working on various wind power projects in Massachusetts since 2001. Amsler has also been influential in the installation of numerous small wind turbines in the Cape Cod area. She has also worked with the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust, now the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, on the revision of its small wind program.
Amsler is chair of the Falmouth Energy Committee, and the treasurer of the Cape & Islands Renewable Energy Collaborative. In addition to the SWCC board, she is a member of the board of directors for the Wind division of the American Solar Energy Society.
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