Second Wind second-guesses wind surveys  

Cleantech.com has an article on new ventures to precisely measure wind patterns - Second Wind second-guesses wind surveys.

The economic crisis has prompted banks to demand increasingly accurate data on wind conditions before giving the green light to project financing, according to Larry Letteney, COO of Somerville, Mass.-based Second Wind.

Much of the traditional technology measures wind conditions at 60 meters, while 2-megawatt turbines can easily reach 120 meters. That leads to analysts estimating conditions in the interim elevations, he said.

"In the last 12 months there has been a pretty significant awakening to some of the missed expectations that were made in wind," Letteney said.
"Every industry has a dirty little secret. This happens to be wind's."

The need for precise information on wind conditions such as speed and direction is creating a $1 billion to $2 billion annual global market for such instruments in the wind sector in 2009, Letteney said (see Investors pump up Wind 2.0). He estimated annual growth of about 20 percent.

Second Wind is talking to investors to raise $5 million in Series C funding by the end of summer to expand its efforts in this market.

Letteney said the company's technology could be used in all stages of wind farm development, including selecting sites, proving wind-energy yields to potential investors, and measuring whether existing equipment is operating optimally.

Second Wind has filed for eight U.S. patents for its modifications to existing sonic detection and ranging, or SODAR, technology. The resulting product, the Triton sonic wind profiler, measures 25 aspects of wind conditions up to 140 meters, including speed, direction, temperature and humidity. The company sells each customer a subscription to a Web-based system that provides the data.

SODAR is similar to the sonar technology used by submarines and ships. It sends an audible "chirp" through the air, and wind turbulence sends a portion of the sound back toward the ground. By precisely measuring the frequency and time delay of the chirp's echo, the SODAR device measures the wind speed and direction at various heights (see Largest wind industry event underway).

Second Wind raised $3.5 million in two tranches from cleantech investor Good Energies in 2007 to launch and rollout the Triton sonic wind profiler (see Energy efficient lighting brightens with cash). Additionally, the company received a $500,000 loan from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative last year.

The company has 50 of the $50,000 Tritons in the field in the U.S., Canada, the UK, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Spain, Australia and elsewhere. The mandatory Web-based subscription service for the data is an additional $5,000 a year. Customers include Sequoia Energy, Horizon Wind, and Acciona.