Customer Hall of Shame

We love our customers, we really do! At Second Wind, working with our customers is generally one of the benefits of the job. But sometimes...our affection is sorely tried. Recently we received a Nomad 2 data logger back for repair and it was infested with a agitated colony of ants, ant parts, and extra gross maggoty pupae! The ants came in through the openings for cables at the bottom part of the Nomad 2 enclosure. We actually offer these neat cable grips (part #380) that would prevent the problem, but whatever - please don't send us bugs! We have bugs of our own, thank you, and don't need any more.

Green Porn...

and, no, we're not talking about the new Isabella Rosellini movie. This week in the Boston Globe in the business section there was a feature-ette on personal renewable energy devices. It touted something called a "HYmini" which captures wind energy while you walk, run, or bike. This, of course, is a completely silly product and has little or nothing to do with "going green". I was hoping Walter Sass would write this blog entry, but he was so disgusted that all he could scrawl was "This is green porn. I'm sorry, if you can't figure out that it's incredibly more efficient to hook a generator up to the drivetrain of a bicycle than is to put a little windmill on your handlebars, you shouldn't be writing little energy pieces for the Globe." Remember, kids, this energy isn't free - you have to pedal that much harder. As far as I know, the first law of thermodynamics is still in effect, although, as Walter said, "with this Supreme Court, you never know".

The discussion inevitably continued to the idea of harnessing the energy of children to provide energy for the home. There are many anecdotes about parents who only allowed the TV to operate when powered by energetically pedalling children. Go green, Mom and Dad!

"Why not First Wind?"

Working for a company named for an idiomatic expression has its challenges. On many occasions, while representing Second Wind at an event with international attendees, I have been asked in halting English, "So why not First Wind?" The best was a man from the Phillipines, who thought over the "second wind" concept and told me that "We have a saying in my country that when the typhoon returns a second time, it is stronger".

So it was with bemusement that I greeted the press releases from our Boston-area neighbor, the former UPC Wind, that they were renaming themselves First Wind. Now Boston has become like one of those towns with a First Bank and a Second Bank, or a First Church and a Second Church (I don't even understand how a company could be named "Fifth Third Bank". Why not First Bank?).

When I heard the news, I pictured an aisle in a trade show with us lined up in a row: First Wind, Second Wind, and possibly Third Planet Windpower. Instead, the juxtaposition happened much sooner than I expected. Walter was invited to give a talk for a group of Chinese wind companies this week. This is a return visit from when the Governor and dignitaries visited China in December to discuss reciprocal trade in renewables. When I got the agenda for the meeting, sure enough the CEO of First Wind, Paul Gaynor, and Walter are speaking in the same session, First Wind followed by Second Wind! I hope Paul Gaynor enjoys the irony, because I know Walter will.

Second Wind has become a different kind of company...

A truck owning company! After nearly 28 years with no form of vehicle at all, we are now a company that owns two trucks.

Truck #1 resides in Somerville, and is a silver Toyota Tundra. That one was purchased by the Consumer Reports aficianados here at Second Wind world HQ. It has 4WD and a huge engine and is ready to haul Tritons anywhere on the East Coast. Our Triton service team here reports that the new truck is much more comfortable on long trips than the truck we were renting.

The first order of businesss was of course to remove the tailgate. It was surprisingly easy to remove and even replace.

Truck #2 resides in Texas, and is a white Ford F250. Truck #2 was specified by Ruben, our Western operative. It's got diesel, for (marginally) better gas mileage, and tons of power for handling challenging wind sites. Truck #2 made its first official road trip to Kansas last week, and its itinerary is already filling up for the month.

Now that we have a truck at our disposal, I keep thinking of truckly activities, like piling the whole company into the bed and heading for the beach.

Clever solution to a common problem

Just last night at an event my dining companion remarked that she had a drawer full of T shirts from places and events past. She's sentimentally connected to them but has more than she can ever wear. Vaughn Nelson sent me photos of some amazing quilts and banners made from old wind energy shirts. He is donating the one made from AWEA T-shirts to AWEA. The seven banners are being donated to the American Wind Power Center and Museum in Lubbock, Texas. Note that two "collector's item" Second Wind T-shirts are featured in the banners. I guess he's still wearing the newer generation shirt.

Cavalcade of AWEA shirts...
Two of the banners. Note the "I want my Second Wind" shirt from the 90s. That was actually the "straight" version. Some had this slogan, but the favorite slogan at Second Wind was "It's the environment, stupid", riffing off of the Clinton campaign motto.

Note the original Second Wind shirt from the 80s with the original (well, actually second) logo. Other than that, there's little overlap between our collection and his collection (unless he's still wearing our favorites). My all time favorite, now consigned to the rag bag: "Glow in the dark..." (picture of a cooling tower) "or live with the wind" (picture of turbine).

Oh...My...God

When I opened my paper yesterday morning and saw this picture, my first words were "Oh...my...God". The first impression was that wind energy is really mainstream now. It's not that long ago that only a Ralph Nader would seek a photo op at a wind facility - renewables were the province of those latte-loving, Volvo-driving, elitist tree-huggers. And look at us now! A self-described conservative Republican is not only recognizing that renewable energy can be an economic force, but even acknowledging that global warming exists. Whether this is lip service or not, the idea that McCain perceives acknowledging the warming of our planet to be an asset, not a liability is a milestone. And even more, that it might be OK to stand with the rest of the civilized world that agrees with that idea.

Jon Stewart definitely agreed with me, as he used the same exclamation to greet the same photo on the Daily Show last night.

The second thing, that is definitely not on Jon Stewart's radar screen, is that Vestas is moving in a big way for national household recognition. Vestas ran a full page ad in the Boston Globe about the time of the MMS public hearings on Cape Wind with a photo of a worker buffing a big, beautiful blade and the simple headline "WIND = JOBS". This is the same message I've been trying to convey in the Cape Wind discussion and does deserve a wider audience. This week's New Yorker magazine had another full page ad. More power to them, I say.

Anemometer Quality Control

Our new C3 anemometer is meticulously manufacured under controlled conditions by highly qualified personnel in our specialized facility.

Step 1 is to inspect the sensor for visible defects, as our technician Ira Buchholz demonstrates.


Step 2 is to give the sensor a test spin under carefully controlled lab conditions.









Sensors are spin tested at varying speeds before calibration in our new indoor facility.








Finally sensors are calibrated by having a two-year-old run up and down the hallway with them. Our product is so tough it's ruggedized for toddlers!

(Just for fun, people!)