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Topic: Telcos

Wind technology game-changer snags another $15 million

Summary: By using magnets instead of conventional generators, Danotek helps build lighter turbines that are more efficient at lower wind speeds.

Heather Clancy

By for GreenTech Pastures |

Making wind turbine technology more efficient -- at any wind speed -- is the holy grail for the industry. So it is easy to see why Danotek, a start-up that uses magnets rather than traditional generations to harness wind power, has captured the attention of four prominent cleantech investors. That group -- Khosla Ventures, CMEA Capital, GE Energy Financial Services and Statoil Technology -- have put up $15 million to help Danotek scale up its production. The new gust of funding brings Danotek's total money raised so far to $41 million.

According to the investors, the reason that Danotek's technology is interesting is because it is lighter than traditional options, potentially can last longer because it has no moving parts, and can generate energy in even low wind conditions. The company already has orders of $50 million for the technology, which could help save up to $1 million per turbine over its lifespan on a typical wind farm.

Said Danotek President and CEO Don Naab:

"We are already contracted with some of the wind industry's leading turbine manufacturers, with our first systems going up-tower later this year, and we're engaged in multiple negotiations with several other globally recognized turbine manufacturers. Danotek is on track and well positioned for success."

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Topic: Telcos

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16 comments
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  • RE: Wind technology game-changer snags another $15 million

    A wind generator without moving parts? Hmm..Maybe with fewer moving parts, but it's got to have SOME moving parts.
    mmarquis
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Wind technology game-changer snags another $15 million

      It does have moving parts. It's a permanent-magnet generator, not some science fiction creation. The press release uses the term "no wear and tear parts," not "no moving parts."
      Robert Hahn
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Wind technology game-changer snags another $15 million

        @Robert Hahn
        quote"potentially can last longer because it has no moving parts,"
        labattomy
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Wind technology game-changer snags another $15 million

        @labattomy
        We already know what the article says. The point is, the article is wrong. There are two ways we can tell this. One, we can bring up the original press release on the company's site and see that the phrase "no moving parts" never appears, and Two, we can know enough physics to predict that turning wind into electricity is going to involve at least one part that is moved by the wind.
        Robert Hahn
        Reply Vote

  • RE: Wind technology game-changer snags another $15 million

    1. It has moving parts.
    2. ALL generators use magnets.
    3. Danotek uses PERMANENT magnets instead of electromagnets.

    Perhaps a quick visit to Wikipedia and the Danotek site would be in order prior to penning a technical article.
    bkfriesen
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Wind technology game-changer snags another $15 million

      @bkfriesen

      Perhaps a reality check on Wikipedia before offering them up as a legitimate resource?
      SonofaSailor
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Wind technology game-changer snags another $15 million

        @SonofaSailor Did it a long time ago. Check this article - might help to understand the dynamics of a collaboratively edited resource. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reliability_of_Wikipedia
        bkfriesen
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Wind technology game-changer snags another $15 million

        @bkfriesen

        LOL... citing Wikipedia on the credibility of Wikipedia, eh?

        Bravo.
        SonofaSailor
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Wind technology game-changer snags another $15 million

        @SonofaSailor LOL! You got me on the citing the citing the source for reliability. However, Wiki IS convenient - AND on technical issues, I've found it to be very accurate. But seriously, read the link that I offered. It cites a couple of different independent sources.
        bkfriesen
        Reply Vote

    • RE: Wind technology game-changer snags another $15 million

      @bkfriesen The use of permanent magnets in generators is old tech I have had motorbikes with permanent magnet generators and seen plans on the net for diy wind generators using permanent magnets,.
      johnhgy@...
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Wind technology game-changer snags another $15 million

        @johnhgy@... Yeah. I get that. I was in no way implying that permanent magnets were new tech. In general aviation and older auto tech generators have used permanent magnets for a long time. My assumption was that if Danotek states that they use permanent magnets, they're using them instead of electromagnets.
        bkfriesen
        Reply Vote

  • RE: Wind technology game-changer snags another $15 million

    A poorly written article.
    DLClark
    Reply Vote

  • None of which changes the fact that wind is unreliable,

    wind farms gobble up huge amounts of land, and that what they are most efficient at is chopping up birds. All because a bunch of evironazis have successfully convinced you that a vital plant nutrient is the most deadly substance on the planet.
    baggins_z
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Wind technology game-changer snags another $15 million

      @baggins_z Wow, that comment has about the lowest relevancy ratio of anything so far. Congratulations! And last I checked, coal mining, oil drilling, and similar activities gobble up a lot of land, too, not to mention polluting major bodies of water and filling the air with hyrdocarbons, sulfur dioxide, and a host of other poisons. And if carbon dioxide (which is what I'm assuming you mean by "plant nutrient,") is so harmless, I suggest closing yourself in a small room full of it for a few minutes and see how benign it is. Or you could check with the people living near Lake Nyos when it erupted a cloud of carbon dioxide in 1986. Oh, wait, you can't - they're dead.
      rationalcenter
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Wind technology game-changer snags another $15 million

        If you are proposing that industrial emissions are even remotely close to displacing sufficient Oxygen to suffocate large numbers of people, we may safely dismiss you as a moonbat. So don't go there. Using your method, we can drown a hundred people and then call for a ban on water.
        Robert Hahn
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Wind technology game-changer snags another $15 million

        @Robert Hahn

        ... and while rationalcenter was presumably exaggerating the effects of increased CO2 in our atmosphere on humans, the points he made about other harmful toxins, pollution and land usage are no less valid, yet were completely ignored by yourself.

        Do we even need to compare the damage caused by wind turbines, to the ravages of oil, coal and nuclear?

        coal, oil, nuclear
        *************
        Pros: jobs, we're used to it, lots of money!!!
        Cons: finite resource, costly, destructive to the immediate and overall environment, loss of human life, ukraine and japan!

        wind turbines
        ***********
        Pros: easy, renewable energy source
        Cons: some birds got chopped up
        12312332123
        Reply Vote
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