XZERES seeks to make buying wind technology a breeze

Companies in the solar sector are doing pretty much anything within their power to make it easier and more cost-effective for businesses and consumers to invest in solar. It stands to reason that other renewable energy pioneers would seek to do the same.

Enter XZERES Wind Corp., which has come out with a slew of services over the past several months that are designed to get ranchers, farmers, small businesses and rural land-owners interested in investing in its small wind turbine technology.

Here are two examples of what the company doing:

1. Created a "Buy Direct" program: XZERES has developed a turnkey package for customers that are thinking about purchasing its XZERES 442 10-kilowatt or XZERES 110 2.5-kilowatt systems, or the equivalent marine units. The package includes a site assessment and prospect report based on its WindRx analytical tool. The report looks at wind resrouces in the area, along with the potential annual and monthly energy production. It also includes permitting guidance, financing options, installation and support. "Before we launched this model, wind energy was being sold only at the utility-scale level," said David Baker, XZERES chairman, when I spoke with him about the programs in December.
2. Developed a micro-generation utility model: Simply put, this means that the company has come up with a way of providing residential and commercial customers with power purchasing agreements (PPAs). Here's the statement from Frank Greco, the company's CEO: "Essentially, XZERES has entered the retail energy business serving as the energy provider to its customers, much like a utility. We are very excited to launch this novel business model, which represents the accumulation of months of work by our team. XZERES is the first small wind power systems company to adopt a 'wind-as-a-service' business model, taking advantage of a similar but uniquely different PPA financing mechanism that has accelerated commercial solar installations over the past few years."

I'm thinking we should expect more developments such as these, as smaller businesses and home-owners review their renewable energy options. XZERES is to be commended for getting out in front to deal with the biggest roadblock to renewable energy installations: how to finance them and get approval from your local community.