Originally posted at PortlandTribune.com
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MAX terminus using mini wind turbines
TriMet banking on solar, wind to power site

By Jim Redden

Pamplin Media Group, Jan 15, 2009

When the new MAX light-rail line through downtown Portland opens this fall, it not only will provide an efficient transportation link between Union Station and Portland State University. It also will include a renewable-energy demonstration project that could reshape urban developments in the future.

Plans call for an array of solar panels and small wind turbines at the South Terminus, the southern end of the line near PSU, between Southwest Fifth and Sixth avenues at Market Street. The panels and turbines will generate an estimated 50 kilowatts of electricity – about 75 percent of the power required to light and operate the site, not counting electricity used by the trains.

“It will not only reduce our energy costs, but give us hands-on experience with renewables that can help with future projects,” says TriMet project architect Bob Hastings.

Perhaps the most innovative parts of the project are the wind turbines, which stand just under four feet tall. They are being designed and built by Oregon Wind, a Portland company founded in 2002 by local developer Brad Malsin and inventor Toby Kinkaid, who came up with the design.

Compared to solar panels that have been installed for years on homes and other buildings, wind turbines in urban settings are a relatively new idea.

If the turbines prove successful, Malsin hopes to incorporate them into future projects, such as the Burnside Bridgehead, the proposed five-block development at the northeast end of the Burnside Bridge. The Portland Development Commission asked Malsin’s company to revive the stalled project when the original developer pulled out last year.

“I can see a time when urban wind turbines can help make buildings and developments energy self-sufficient, where such projects can generate more power than they use,” Malsin says.

A handful of companies already sell small wind turbines, but most are far larger than the prototype being developed by Oregon Wind. Most look like small versions of the turbines found on industrial wind farms. Kincaid’s turbine uses a vertical design with elongated sail-like wings instead of a traditional propeller. According to Malsin, this reduces vibrations and allows it to be more easily installed in confined urban areas. The design also eliminates the threat to birds, Malsin says.

The original prototype turbine generates a maximum of 40 watts when the wind blows at 28 miles per hour. An improved version is being finalized that will generate 80 watts, says Sattie Clark, an Oregon Wind partner who also co-owns Eleek, a local sustainability-oriented lighting company. Clark also is on the board of the PDX Lounge, the public-private partnership started by the city Office of Sustainable Development to promote local green businesses.

As Clark sees it, the environmental benefits of Oregon Wind’s turbines go far beyond the clean energy they will produce. For example, the wings are made out of recycled plastic car bumpers. Made of high-impact thermal plastic olefin, they are currently piling up in storage yards because the global market for used plastic and other recyclable materials has declined during the economic downturn.

Clark says there is a tremendous potential market for Oregon Wind’s turbines. In addition to cutting their electric bills, businesses that install them on their buildings will realize an immediate public relations payoff.

“They will be a flag for sustainability, like hybrid cars,” she says.

According to Clark, Oregon Wind hopes to began producing a “beta run” of at least 50 windmills in the near future. TriMet will install 22 of them at the South Terminus. Discussions are underway to sell the others to the Oregon Zoo and Multnomah County. Clark says the company ultimately could employ 20 to 30 people in good-paying urban manufacturing jobs.

The first 50 or so windmills are expected to cost between $3,500 and $5,000 each, Clark says. If the demand is high enough for them to go into mass production, she predicts the cost could drop to just a few hundred dollars each, making them realistic options for a wide range of applications, including streetlights.

The demonstration project grew out of a relatively mundane need, says David Byrne, an architect with Hennebery Eddy Architects Inc. Portland design guidelines prohibit TriMet from encasing its operating equipment in unadorned prefabricated buildings.

So to help TriMet site the equipment in the urban landscape, Byrne and his associates came up with the idea of wrapping it in a modern-looking structure that includes solar panels and wind turbines. The proposed photovoltaic panels are Sanyo HIT Double Bifacial PV Modules.

Although project details still are being finalized, TriMet plans to sell the power generated by the project to Portland General Electric, which will deduct it from the regional transit agency’s overall electricity bill.

The solar panels, wind turbines and related equipment are expected to add about $200,000 to the cost of the South Terminus, Hastings says. The agency is currently working with PGE and others to raise the funds, which may include renewable energy tax credits offered by the state of Oregon.

Because the project is the first of its kind for TriMet, Hastings does not know how long it will take to recoup the investment in energy savings. Regardless of the ultimate bottom line, Hastings says he believes it will generate valuable information that will help TriMet and others greatly expand their use of renewable energy in coming years.

jimredden@portlandtribune.com

Originally posted at PortlandTribune.com
Read the original post here.