News

Sustainabilitylive! 2008

This show is at the NEC, in Birmingham, over three days, from 20th to 22nd May 2008. Our interest is in NEMEX - this is the UK’s longest running and largest exhibition and networking event for the energy and renewables industries. Click on the image below to visit the web site, for more information.

For FREE entrance to Sustainabilitylive! 2008, please visit the web site and register your details :
http://www.sustainabilitylive.com/slive08/common/registration.html

Homes for Good 2008

Homes for Good is already well known for showing ways to create sustainable buildings: from constructing buildings using local, natural materials, energy efficiency measures and renewable energy technology, to promoting lifestyles that help reduce consumption, save energy and make sustainable living easy.

This year’s exhibition is taking place in the Showering Pavilion at the Bath and West’s Royal County showground, at Shepton Mallet, over two days, from 28th and 29th March 2008. Click on the logo below to visit the web site for more information.

Microgeneration Certification Scheme

The Clear Skies certification scheme has now been replaced by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS). BRE Global are running a certification scheme for Microgeneration products and we are among the first installers in the UK to be approved under this new scheme. We have received Certificate MCS 1017, which means that we are certified for "Supply, Design, Install, Set to work, Commissioning and Handover of Micro and Small Wind Systems". For more details of MCS, visit BRE Global's pages at Red Book Live.

Shows in 2008

We are already booking shows for 2008 and we will keep the list up to date, once we have confirmed bookings.

The Dairy show, Bath and West showground, Shepton Mallet - Weds 30th January
Low Carbon Innovation Exchange, Bristol Marriott Hotel - Tues 11th March
Home For Good Exhibition at Bath and West Showground, Shepton Mallet - 28th/29th March
Environment Association for Universities and Colleges - Exeter University - 31st March to 2nd April
Devon County Show, Exeter 15th to 17th May inclusive.
Sustainability Live - Nemex, Birmingham - 20th to 22nd May inclusive. Come and see us on Stand X46 - NEMEX!
Royal Bath and West Show - Shepton Mallet - 28th to 31st May inclusive
Royal Cornwall Show - 5th June to7th June inclusive
Royal Show, Warwickshire - 3rd to 5th July inclusive
Royal Welsh show - 21st to 24th July, inclusive

Llandidrod Wells

We have also completed the following installations :

6kw x 15m mast - Sydling St, Nicholas, Dorset
6kw x 15m mast - Crediton, Devon
2.5kw x 9m mast - torquay, Devon
6kw x 15m mast - Llandrindod Wells, powys
6kw x 15m mast - Stratford-on-Avon
6kw x 15m mast - South Brent, Devon (on Dartmoor National Park)
6kw x 9m mast - Trellech, Mon.

The Spark

The Spark magazine is a free quarterly magazine about positive change for the West of England, especially the Bristol, Bath, Stroud, Taunton and Glastonbury area. It's packed full of information about personal, social and global change.

They've just launched a new section called planet spark, concentrating on how we move to a more ethical and sustainable world. As part of this section, they featured an interview with Christine, on the topic of wind turbines. This is a PDF of the article. You can also visit The Spark web site, where you can download a PDF of the whole magazine..

Prices

As Aeolus Power have now become South/South West Stockholders for Proven Energy, we are able to buy in sufficient quantities to obtain a discount, which we are happy to pass on to our customers. View our Price list.

targetNeutral

We have registered our two company vehicles with a scheme run by BP, offsetting the carbon emissions produced by the vehicles. The scheme is called targetNeutral and supports projects that reduce global CO2 emissions.

Find out more about targetNeutral : making a positive step towards conserving our environment.

Daily Telegraph

In the Daily Telegraph on 17th March 2007, there was a pull-out feature called "Saving Places", working with the Energy Saving Trust. There is a lovely picture of the house - only a little bit about the turbines.

If you go to the following link, it takes you to a picture gallery, with Previous and Next buttons, and each picture is about saving energy. All the pictures are attractive, featuring many beautiful spots in the UK. We are on page 13 of the slide-show.

Foxhole Farm

New installations

We have completed the installation of 2 new turbines in the last few weeks - a 6kW on a 15m mast at Wellington in Somerset and a 6kW on a 9m mast at Lanlivery in Cornwall. Both are working well and we would be happy to supply details if anyone is interested.

Soapbox: Home wind turbines

The piece in the Evening Post about our entry to the Evening Post Business Awards resulted in a letter written by S Jackson of Clifton. You can read the letter here :

SOAPBOX: HOME WIND TURBINES. There is a nice picture of Christine to accompany the letter.

We felt the need to reply, not least because we don't sell the turbines criticised in the letter. Our letter was published by the Evening post

TURBINES ARE AN OLD WAY THAT STILL WORKS

Here's my reply in full :

In reply to Mr. Jackson of Clifton letter as the "lady hoping to save money by installing wind turbines" I should like to make a couple of points.

I wholly agree with the points made with regard to small building mounted wind turbines - which is why we do not and have never sold them. The reasons for this are that they are "horizontal axis turbines". The propeller blades turn horizontally - and these turbines dislike turbulent wind. Therefore in an urban environment Ð Mr. Jackson is quite correct in his assumption that the majority of small building mounted wind turbines create vibration, noise and relatively little (if any) electricity.

However, there are companies at present working on the manufacturing of a 1kW building mounted Vertical Axis Wind turbine - these - because the blades are vertical work most effectively in turbulent air - making them ideal for the urban environment.

Secondly, the wind turbine in the photograph was manufactured by Proven Energy in Scotland (not a typically underdeveloped country) and is a 6kW turbine on a free standing 9m mast- I most definitely would not want this attached to my house and as can be seen in the photograph - we are in a "country" environment - and if Mr. Jackson would like to visit us - I would be delighted to show him exactly how much electricity our turbine produces.

In addition - since our turbine was installed approx 8 months ago we have produced almost 4,500 kWhrs of electricity - and have exported over 1,000 kW to the national grid (for which I am paid 7.5p per kilowatt).

Undoubtedly, wind turbines are not the answer to all our electricity problems - but for people with a large electricity consumption in the country they certainly offer an alternative.

And finally I cannot help but argue with this "whizzo" ideas - there is evidence of windmills in England from as early as the 12th century - a website Mr. Jackson may be interested in is www.windmillworld.com

I look forward to his comments.

Christine Griffiths
Aeolus Power Ltd.
www.aeoluspower.co.uk

The Independent

This piece was published in the Independent on Saturday 21st October 2006. It got a lot right. Christine Griffiths - check. Wind turbines -check. Gloucestershire - check. Company name - Aqueous Power. No! Aeolus Power. Aeolus was the God of the four winds. Aqueous? What sort of word is that for a wind turbine? A water turbine, maybe.

http://money.independent.co.uk/personal_finance/invest_save/article1914549.ece

So, if you saw the article and have searched on Google for Aqueous Power, then you've come to the right place - just that our name is Aeolus Power.

New convert puts faith in the wind

Two years ago, Christine Griffiths bought a grade 2-listed Gloucestershire farmhouse, and was shocked when the electricity bills began arriving. Her first plan was to use solar technology to reduce the farm's energy consumption, but her local authority said the building's listed status precluded the installation of panels of photovoltaic cells. It was then that she began investigating a wind turbine.

By the end of last year, work on a 9m wind turbine in Christine's orchard had been completed. When the wind blows well, the turbine can produce 6kW of power an hour, easily enough to make the farm self-sufficient. Excess electricity is sold back to Christine's local electricity company, through the normal mains grid connection. She also buys power when the turbine is not producing enough.

"We paid around £18,000 to install the turbine, but we got a £5,000 grant from the Government towards that cost," Christine says. "We reckon we'll break even in 10 years or so, but if we sell up before then, the drastically reduced electricity bills we now have would be a major selling point."

Christine has become such a convert to wind power that earlier this year she launched her own company Aqueous Power, which installs wind turbines across the South of England. Christine believes wind power is currently best-suited to rural locations, but expects new technology to make turbines possible for city dwellers soon.

source: The Independent, Saturday 21st October 2006