Glendora firm producing eco-friendly wind tower
GLENDORA - When it comes to harnessing wind power, California Energy & Power is carving out its own niche.
And Rep. David Dreier, R-San Dimas, stopped by this week to take a look.
The Glendora-based company is in the final development stages of producing an environmentally friendly wind tower that can be used in both urban and industrial settings.
"It's safe for birds and it's quiet," said Michael Allawos, the company's president and chief operating officer. "Ours won't spin any faster than the wind and it spins vertically so the birds can see it."
And unlike the mega wind towers travelers see on the way to Las Vegas, these units can be placed much closer to the source of the end-user, making for a more efficient transfer of power.
"The big propellers you see out in Palm Springs generate lots of power, but they lose a lot by the time it gets back to the grid," Allawos said. "It loses power after so many feet."
California Energy's wind tower design - currently envisioned as 20 to 30 feet tall - provides for many uses in urban areas, he said.
"We have one patent that has already been issued to us, we're hoping to get another issued this year and we'll be applying for a third one in the coming weeks," Allawos said. "We hope to start the process of putting up our first units sometime next year."
Dreier, who visited California Energy & Power on Tuesday, is a big proponent of alternative energy.
"I'm very impressed with what they're doing," he said. "We want to do our doggonedest to incentivize every creative idea that's out there."
Dreier has co-sponsored legislation that would extend clean energy production incentives.
The nation, he said, is in the midst of a genuine energy crisis and its needs an "all-of-the-above" energy policy to get out of it.
"That includes alternatives like wind and solar, environmentally sound domestic energy exploration, and new technologies like coal-to-liquid," Dreier said. "Companies like California Energy & Power are leading the energy revolution with innovation and creativity."
Allawos said his company's wind tower could be used atop industrial warehouses, on commercial rooftops or even on top of cell towers.
"They will be rated at 10 kilowatts for a 28 mph wind," Allawos said. "But it really depends on the wind resources that are available. If you go to Ontario, for example, it blows pretty good out there. We have two facilities where we're monitoring the wind to see if it makes sense. We don't want this to fail."
California Energy & Power isn't the only San Gabriel Valley company involved in the production of wind power.
AeroVironment Inc., announced recently that its Architectural Wind system has been installed at Boston's Logan International Airport Office Center as part of a project commissioned by the Massachusetts Port Authority.
That installation is made up of 20 five-bladed wind turbines, which were installed along the edge of the building's roof.
The system is designed to take advantage of the natural acceleration in wind speed resulting from the building's aerodynamic properties.
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