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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!
 Recently, SWCC issued our fourth full certification to Kestrel and issued a new Conditional Temporary Certification to Eoltec, bringing the tally to nine turbine models now SWCC certified. As three additional manufacturers have submitted final reports for certification, more full certifications are likely soon. With SWCC certifications representing a significant share of the North American small wind market, our certification ratings and labels are allowing easier comparison shopping, aiding incentive programs with setting payment levels, and leading toward national requirements.
Wind turbine certification is gaining momentum globally - you can learn about upcoming meetings to advance international certifications below. We also report on efforts by the Distributed Wind Energy Association to include certification requirements in U.S. federal programs.
As always, I'm available if you have questions or comments about SWCC activities.
Larry SherwoodExecutive Director |
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Upsized SWCC Program: Wind Turbine Performance Certification
SWCC has expanded its scope and now offers power performance and acoustic certifications for turbines with a rotor swept area that is greater than 200 m2. SWCC Wind Turbine Performance Certification represents that performance testing of the turbine conforms with the requirements identified in IEC 61400-12-1 (Power Performance) and/or IEC 61400-11 (Acoustics). Applicants may choose to pursue Power Performance Certification, Acoustic Performance Certification, or both.
This new SWCC program was previously described as serving 'medium' wind turbines. Our policies are directly tied to industry standards and at this time, the standards do not define a 'medium' wind turbine. Therefore, this new program has no upper size limit.
This new SWCC Performance Certification program is immediately useful in meeting the new Medium Wind Turbine requirements of the Interstate Turbine Advisory Council (ITAC). ITAC currently defines a Medium Wind Turbine as a wind turbine with a swept area between 200 and 1000 m2.
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New SWCC Certifications Reflect Global Interest
On February 14, 2013, SWCC granted full certification to the Kestrel e400nb from Eveready/Kestrel Renewable Energy. The Kestrel e400nb is designed and manufactured in South Africa and has also achieved certification according to the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) using TUV-NEL as the certification body. SWCC has signed a reciprocity agreement with TUV-NEL which enabled us to use much of the work conducted in the UK for granting our own certification to AWEA Standard 9.1-2009. The Kestrel e400nb, a 3-blade, upwind, horizontal axis wind turbine with a swept area of 12.6 m2, has an AWEA Rated Annual Energy of 3,930 kWh, AWEA Rated Sound Level of 55.6 dB(A) and an AWEA Rated Power of 2.5 kW at 11 m/s. The SWCC Consumer Label, Certificate and Summary Report can be found here.
We are pleased to announce that the Eoltec Scirocco E5.6-6, a French small wind turbine that is currently certified by BRE Global in the UK for MCS, is now under contract with SWCC for certification to the AWEA Standard. Given their MCS certification and since SWCC and BRE Global have signed a reciprocity agreement, SWCC granted the Eoltec Scirocco E5.6-6 Conditional Temporary Certification (CTC) by SWCC on March 19, 2013.
Three small wind turbines seeking SWCC certification have submitted reports for review in the past month. The Kingspan KW6 is currently certified in the UK by TUV-NEL for MCS and has now submitted test and design reports to SWCC for certification to the AWEA Standard. The Evoco 10 is certified in the UK by BRE Global and has also submitted reports to SWCC for full certification. The Bergey Excel 6, a relatively new turbine design from Bergey Windpower, was tested at the Alternative Energy Institute at West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas and has now submitted reports for SWCC review.
These updates demonstrate how, with a strong network of North American testing organizations and partnerships with Certification Bodies abroad, SWCC is able to work with manufacturers to meet global certification requirements.
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International Meetings Focus on Small Wind Certification
In April 2013, a series of conferences and meetings will take place in Spain - all related to the global testing, design and certification of small wind turbines. SWCC's Technical Director Brent Summerville will participate in these meetings.
The 2nd International Small Wind Association of Testers (SWAT) conference, to be held April 22-24 in Soria, Spain, will provide technical collaboration between global testing organizations and certification bodies that work to provide labeling and certification of small wind turbines.
Following the SWAT conference, the International Energy Agency (IEA) Task 27 working group will meet on April 25-26 in Soria to work on their new project of developing a Recommended Practice for Design of Small Wind Turbines in the Built Environment. This group has previously published Recommended Practices for Wind Turbine Testing and Evaluation: Consumer Label for Small Wind Turbines and launched the Small Wind Association of Testers.
The final meeting will take place April 29-30 in Madrid and will be the first meeting of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Wind Turbine Certification Advisory Committee (WTCAC) Small Wind Turbine subcommittee. This committee will discuss the current state and future needs of global small wind turbine certification efforts.
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DWEA Prioritizes Certification Requirements for Federal and State Incentives
As one of its top priorities for 2013, the Distributed Wind Energy Association (DWEA) is engaging numerous federal and state agencies including the U.S. Treasury, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Department of Energy's Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP), and the California Public Utilities Commission in efforts to adopt certification requirements and recommendations for wind turbines that receive funding assistance.
DWEA points out that support of non-certified wind turbines through incentives, such as the U.S. Investment Tax Credit and the USDA Renewable Energy for America Program (REAP), has led to customer dissatisfaction when the products did not perform as marketed. Several state programs have been suspended or scaled back in recent years due to complaints and safety concerns. Requiring certification to a performance standard for eligibility helps ensure that neither consumer investments nor taxpayer and ratepayer dollars are misused. Leveraging resources across programs, the Interstate Turbine Advisory Council (ITAC), an alliance of clean energy programs and utility incentive providers, has established a unified list of small and medium wind turbines that meet the performance, reliability, acoustic and warranty service expectations of incentive providers.
DWEA recognizes the urgency of implementing wind turbine certification requirements at the Federal level and across more states to help increase consumer protection against fraudulent claims and faulty equipment, and build the industry's reputation.
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