About Solatec
Solatec is an alternative energy business formed as a Nevada LLC in 2004 and reorganized in 2008 as a New Hampshire “C” corporation.
Solatec Corp. develops the inventions of our CEO, Howard Fuller. These designs include:
- Solar-Powered Variable Mass Aircraft (U.S. Patent No. 7,278,607) that utilizes thin-film photovoltaic panels and a fuel cell. This aircraft is particularly suited for use as a long-duration unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).
- Supplemental Power System for Gasoline-Electric Hybrid Automobiles, initially for the Toyota Prius but expanding our kit offering to other similar vehicles. This project is in active development with Konarka being our prime supplier.
- New type of Wind Turbine Power Plant (U.S. Patent No. 7,695,242) that is a low-velocity adaptation of one of Nikola Tesla’s designs for a steam turbine. This basic unit was patented in the early 20th Century, but was unsuccessful due to the lack of suitable high temperature alloys at that time. The Fuller Turbine alters the basic Tesla design to allow fast starting and high torque at low wind speeds, as well as efficient operation at high wind speeds.
Skyrocketing crude oil prices plus a general consensus on global warming have accelerated the development of alternative energy programs worldwide.
In the United States, wind turbine development has lagged Europe’s efforts, due in part to a perception that the current “windmill” designs are hazardous to birds and bats, noisy, aesthetically unappealing, interfering with military surveillance radars, and producing visually distracting “flicker” shadows. They are usually relegated to wind farms located a considerable distance from the end users, with transmission line permitting taking from five to 10 years and costing roughly $1.5 million/mile in installation costs alone. Standard wind machines also require extensive annual maintenance, repair and costly inspections.
The Fuller Turbine addresses all these negative factors.
Critical Advantages of Fuller Enclosed Turbine
- Same output, less visual impact, lower cost.
- Completely enclosed and screened to prevent wildlife injury.
- Not susceptible to high wind damage or wind gusts, so it can be mounted on shorter towers
- Operation is virtually silent.
- No shadow flicker is produced and no motion is visible from outside.
- Ideal for use by homeowners and in urban locations.
Lowest Cost to Purchase, Install and Operate
The Fuller Turbine has only one moving part: the turbine disk stack. This is supported by a magnetic bearing, turns a driveshaft that in turn directly drives a brushless generator. The driveshaft will be supported laterally by a number of alignment bearings, which are permanently lubricated and very lightly loaded. Additionally, in wind farm installations, our turbine requires far less real estate for adequate clearance from other units, thus maximizing power density of the farm.
- Because of the simplicity of design, with no gearing and the generator being at ground level, this unit is ideal for use in emerging nations with isolated populations who presently have no access to electricity. Used in combination with PV panels and battery storage it will provide low cost, dependable power for less than $2/watt installed capacity. Our unit is the lowest cost, so we will be the winning bidder every time in a fair competition.
No heavy cranes or complicated and expensive rigging required for installation or inspection.
- With no gearbox or highly-loaded bearings, this unit should operate without inspection or maintenance for at least two years between inspections, and will be much simpler and safer to inspect due to ground-level location of the generator itself. No routine lubrication will be required, as all the alignment bearings are sealed and the magnetic support bearing has no friction contact.
- Because the Fuller Turbine is uniquely suited to use in urban and suburban environments, it is not susceptible to the heavy costs and delays of transmission line permitting. In addition, it is readily adaptable to net metering tariffs and the feed-in tariffs found in European countries. It is much more cost-effective than standard turbines in the urban environment, thus lowering utility distribution costs and enhancing grid security.
- With very low routine maintenance required and the lowest purchase price, the Fuller Turbine should produce power for approximately $.02/ kWh, competitive with coal-fired power plants. Assuming that the current Federal Production Tax Credit (PTC) of $.02/kWh is extended, this yields the off-grid owner essentially free electric power. On-grid owners will enjoy regular profits from their local utility, using net metering.
Current Needs
Solatec Corporation has funded the proof-of-concept turbine, slated to be operating by June 2008. Beyond that milestone, we will require additional funding of approximately $250k in order to staff a small office and manufacturing facility. We hope to accomplish this in southern New Hampshire.
The Electric Light Department in the town of Princeton, Mass. has given us assurances that they would be willing to host our prototype 20 kW tower-mounted turbine at their wind farm located on the flank of Mount Wachusett. We look forward to establishing that relationship, which should generate (no pun intended) considerable publicity for us.
Future Developments
We intend to license additional manufacturers worldwide in order to maximize our market penetration.
With cash flow ensured through royalty agreements, our manufacturing facility will concentrate on development of larger (up to 4 mW capacity) turbines, scaled for the major utility markets.
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