Green Energy

TechnologiesGreen Energy Technologies of Akron is marketing its WindCube, a wind turbine

designed for urban and suburban locations. The company's first cubes were made in Eastlake and
Euclid. Final assembly now is planned for Youngstown.
While the effort to attract manufacturers of giant wind turbines to Ohio continues, smaller, more
affordable, commercial wind generators are already selling.
See companies in Ohio's wind supply chain (PDF)
Related story: Wind turbines on Lake Erie could cost $93 million
Green Energy Technologies, an Akron start-up company, will unveil its patented urban "Wind Cube"
next week at the American Wind Energy Association's trade show in Chicago. It is is small enough to
sit atop a building and power the businesses inside.
Mark Cironi, the company's president and founder, is eager to get into the market. He will have
competitors.
Cincinnati-based Melink Co., an energy efficiency and alternative energy company, is already taking
orders for small, 6,500-watt wind turbines made in Switzerland by the Aventa Co. Company president
Robert Melink wants to build the small derricks and blades for the turbines.
Another Southwestern Ohio company, Twenty First Century Energy of Fairborn, is developing its
own prototype of a small wind turbine.
And in Erie County, a consortium of 17 communities has hired alternative energy consultant EPS Co.
to look into buying up to 20 small turbines to power public buildings and schools.
None of these small-scale turbines are intended for use on homes, but demand is growing among
businesses, industry experts say. And no wonder. They generate power at low wind speeds, the
velocities most prevalent in Ohio. And there is plenty of public cash available to help buy them.

There are grants available up to $200,000 from the Ohio Department of Development, a 30 percent
federal tax credit and the flood of Obama administration stimulus money. It just makes good business
sense to consider them.
"They are popping up all over Ohio," said David Rengel of Huron-based EPS.
"Companies are concerned about how they are going to keep costs in line. If you put a turbine up, the
cost of generating will stay the same."
EPS is working with several suppliers and manufacturers, including Wind Energy Solutions, a Holland
manufacturer.

Melink Corp.The Melink Corp. near Cincinnati has been

testing a Swiss-made Aventa LoWind turbine generator at its headquarters since last year. The turbine
tower is only 60 feet high and spins 20-feet-long blades. Melink is the exclusive U.S. distributor of
Aventa's small-scale turbines.
The ultimate goal is not just to buy turbines but to build them in northern Ohio, Rengel said.
Wind Energy Solutions has indicated it might be willing to move production here, he said. "Then we
hope they would attempt to procure components made in Ohio."
Cironi, of the Green Energy Technologies, will be in good company in Chicago.
Gov. Ted Strickland will co-chair the trade show's opening session Tuesday morning, showcasing
Ohio's manufacturing capabilities. More than 70 Ohio companies, most of them parts makers, will
have booths at the show. And the Ohio Department of Development plans a major exhibit.
Cironi laid the groundwork for his trip in 2006, when he founded his company and tapped Clevelandbased inventors and engineers to come up with a one-of-a-kind wind generator.
Now, with a $2 million investment from Youngstown-based Roth Brothers, an 83-year-old heating,
air-conditioning, roofing and construction company, Green Energy is heading into production and
sales. Cleveland companies, including Parker-Hannifin, are making or supplying parts for the wind
cube. Final assembly will be at Roth.
All of these smaller turbines look like their giant relatives that generate millions of watts, take up acres
of land and require stiff winds to work. The little turbines start producing power at 10 mph or less.
Cironi's wind cube is unique among them. And its story sounds like the kind of manufacturing rebirth
energy consultants and economic development experts have been hoping for.

The cube was invented by Clevelander John Fedor, co-founder and long-time owner of Masco
Machine, a former automotive machine tool company. Fedor hated retirement and began looking into
wind power.
Measuring 22 feet by 22 feet and just about 7 feet from front to back, Fedor's cube can generate 60
kilowatts, or 63,000 watts.
And it can do this sitting on top of a building or on a pole.
The system's five blades were designed with the help of retired NASA aerospace engineer David Spera.
The blades, with just a 15-foot diameter, act more like an airplane wing than a fan blade, adding lift.
Fedor's point: The blade design helps to increase the turning force, or torque, as they spin the
sophisticated Parker-Hannifin generator.
The cube also uses what Fedor and Cironi think is unique - a shroud protruding about 3 feet out from
the front of the blades. The shroud narrows as it approaches the blade, speeding up the air velocity.
The result: the turbine begins generating power at wind speeds as low as 5 mph because by the time
the wind hits the blades, it's moving faster.
Paul Belair, president of Roth Brothers, said his crews will be able to produce 100 wind cubes per
month by next year. He said his staff will install and remotely monitor the generators, just as the
company already monitors HVAC systems at commercial buildings across the country, including
Office Max stores.
Cironi said the company has already sold one machine to Crown Battery in Sandusky.
He is not taking additional orders yet, he said. "But I do have a queue of 75 to 100 customers right
now."