GENESEO — A Finger Lakes business has begun selling a new style of wind turbine it believes will eliminate the complaints and issues common with traditional wind turbines. Sky Wolf Wind Turbines, founded in 2010 by Gerald Brock, offers turbines that are smaller, quieter, minimize the risk of throwing a blade or ice chunks, and […]
GENESEO — A Finger Lakes business has begun selling a new style of wind turbine it believes will eliminate the complaints and issues common with traditional wind turbines.
Sky Wolf Wind Turbines, founded in 2010 by Gerald Brock, offers turbines that are smaller, quieter, minimize the risk of throwing a blade or ice chunks, and are better at harnessing the wind’s power, Brock contends.
“I developed a wind turbine that meets all the criticism of conventional wind-turbine technology,” and allays that criticism, Brock, Sky Wolf’s president, says.
A traditional wind turbine averages about 140 feet in height, requires about an acre of land for its structure, and can collect wind energy from winds starting at about 7 miles per hour, according to Brock.
A Sky Wolf turbine edges out traditional turbines in all three of those areas, Brock stipulates. First, his turbines are just 30 feet high. Second, they require just a 10-foot by 10-foot piece of land. And third, they start collecting energy in winds of just 5.5 miles per hour, he says. His claims, he states, are backed up by a test turbine Sky Wolf installed and operates at TSS Foam Industries Corp. in Caledonia (Livingston County). A live video feed of that turbine in action is available on the company’s website, www.skywolfwindturbines.com.
With those advantages, Brock has launched sales of his turbine with his eye initially on the upstate New York market. The Great Lakes region, in particular, is well suited for his turbines, but any area that has a good steady wind has potential, Brock says. He could also see municipalities, sports facilities, golf courses, school districts, farms, and other businesses benefitting from what Sky Wolf turbines have to offer.
“For a business, this really makes common sense,” Brock says. Businesses may be eligible for benefits under the federal Modified Accelerated Cost-Recovery System (MACRS), which provides corporate depreciation benefits for a variety of “green” systems to eligible commercial, industrial, and agricultural businesses.
While his turbines are more costly than a conventional turbine, their efficiency combined with the MACRS benefits, mean the system could pay for itself in three to five years, Brock contends. While he didn’t detail the exact cost of one of his Sky Wolf turbines, Brock did say that selling 50 units would generate about $5 million in revenue for the company.
In 2014, the company’s first full year of sales, Brock hopes to reach $7 million in sales. To launch its sales efforts, Sky Wolf has begun advertising in print media around the state, including the Rochester area and Central New York. Sky Wolf is also working with Better Power, Inc. of Rochester as a distributor and ABB, a Switzerland–based automation and energy technology company with a Latham office, to search out potential target markets.
Headquartered at 156 Court St. in Geneseo, Sky Wolf employs four people besides Brock. His son Jesse Brock serves as operations manager while his daughter Amy Brock is the company’s corporate secretary and office manager. In addition, Sky Wolf employs an electrical engineer, Aaron Christ, and a mechanical engineer, Raymond Fiore.
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