Noted Icelandic wind-based renewable energy company IceWind recently announced its launch in the United States. IceWind’s groundbreaking products, the Freya, is for residential uses, while their Njord line is available for commercial applications such as powering telecommunication towers, outdoor advertising, on-site office trailers, and more.
“We are excited to bring our turbines to America,” said IceWind’s CEO Sæþór Ásgeirsson. “With a blustery midsection, gusty extremities, and an overall interest in renewable energy, we are looking forward to America embracing our unique wind turbines for both residential and commercial applications. Our recent demo event on the Texas coast over the Independence Day weekend proved that there is great interest among Americans for a robust individual solution to renewable energy.”
The U.S. operation will be based out of San Marcos, Texas, and helmed by Daryl Losaw, a modular home builder, investor, consultant, and entrepreneur.
“When I first saw the IceWind turbines in Iceland, I knew I had to bring them to market in the U.S.,” Losaw said. “They are perfectly complementary with solar, a great stand-alone solution for very windy places, and a handy answer for small-energy outdoor applications that will cut down on carbon from generators, diesel engines, and maintenance calls.”
The current residential model, the Freya, is useful as a supplementary power source, so it will cut users’ power usage and costs, but not fully power the average home. Should customers want or require a complete wind solution, two to three Freyas will power most average small-scale residential power needs excepting central air conditioning for a price comparable to installing photovoltaics (solar). Other residential applications include powering small vacation cabins, separately metered home offices, and small additional dwelling units (ADUs), and backup emergency power when needed. IceWind’s Freya is an excellent solution for residential renewable power as they are silent, aesthetically pleasing, have a 25- to 30-year lifespan, can work both on- and off-grid, require negligible operation and maintenance costs, and can generate power at wind speeds as low as 7.8 mph, a gentle breeze.
The Njord commercial models are ideal for many applications: powering telecommunication towers, electricity for outdoor advertising (lighting, mechanical features), replacing generators used at construction sites and other remote offices, and more. The beauty of IceWind’s products is how sustainable and hardy they are in challenging conditions. Unlike the diesel generators used in these applications, they never need refueling and rarely need maintenance.
IceWind’s turbines are built to withstand blizzards, dust storms, hurricanes, sleet, heavy rain, and more. IceWind’s proprietary generator seal protects foreign particles such as dust, ice, water, or dirt from entering the generator and interfering with the gearbox. The generator seal also prevents water from entering the gearbox and freezing gears, a massive problem in cold climates. The turbine is coated with a hydrophobic de-icing agent to protect against ice, preventing freezing and ice buildup. IceWind turbines use excellent material selection, including heat-treated aluminum outer blades and stainless steel inner blades that provide a long material lifetime with superb strength and stress resistance. To compare, many commercial vertical axis wind turbines and horizontal axis wind turbines are made of nylon fiber, steel, plastic, and fiberglass, significantly inferior materials than those used by IceWind.
“We are so thrilled to bring the power, beauty, and reliability of IceWind’s turbines to the U.S., and know that this will be just the start of a new pillar of renewable energy in the U.S., home installed wind power,” said IceWind’s U.S. project manager Samuel Gerbus, who spent several months in Iceland with the IceWind team last year.
MORE INFO www.icewindusa.com
