Glit Report

Posted: Sunday, 18 October 2009 11:55

Oak Electric Tries Out Renewable Power At Its HQ

Waterford Township Oak Electric Service Inc. said Friday that it has installed a wind turbine, solar power system and energy-efficient lighting at its headquarters to collect first-hand data on the benefits and savings of renewable power systems.

The wind turbine is a Michigan-made Swift model from Grand Rapids-based Cascade Engineering.

“Green initiatives like wind and solar have created a whole new industry for electrical contractors who have the desire to expand their capabilities,” said Oak Electric owner Gary Pipia.  “We formed a new Green Division in 2008 to sell and install small commercial and residential wind turbines and solar systems along with lighting energy upgrades. In an effort to better understand the real benefits and cost savings for some of these small wind turbines, solar electric systems and high-efficient lighting, we decided to install them for ourselves at our main administrative and warehouse facility."

The company now has a 1.5-kilowatt Swift wind turbine, a five-kilowatt solar system and T-5 high efficiency lighting.

Pipia said that with state, federal and utility incentives, return on investment is significantly faster on the systems than a few years ago. Just how fast is open to question -- and Oak Electric aims to find out with its own installations.

Oak Electric has also dived deeper into the wind business than the Swift system.

"Wind turbines are application specific," Pipia said. "One size does not fit all. For that reason, we have become authorized dealers for Skystream, ReDriven Power and Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Swift."

Pipia said Oak Electric decided on installing the Swift unit "because its design allowed us to mount it directly on the side of our building without having to erect a separate pole. This turbine is designed to provide up to 200 kilowatt hours of power per month with an average wind speed of 14 mph. We know that at our location we do not have those kinds of sustained wind speeds, but we want to accumulate the data and find out what we are producing and how much power we are actually putting back into the electrical grid. Michigan is one of five states that have a utility ‘buy-back’ rate program to promote renewable, distributed generation technologies like small wind turbines. We know that this type of system has the ability to give back electricity to the power grid by relaying generated power not being used.”

Oak Electric has other wind turbine installations -- a homeowner in Howell that has a 3.7-kilowatt Skystream wind turbine on a 30-foot pole, Kettering University in Flint with another 1.5-kilowatt Swift on the fourth story on one of their classroom buildings, a soon-to-be-installed Redriven Power wind turbine on an 80-foot pole at a home in Ann Arbor, and a 2.4 kilowatt Skystream on a 45-foot pole at the Oakland Tech Center in Springfield Township.

Oak Electric Service is an electrical contractor that provides electrical service for the industrial, commercial and residential markets in Metro Detroit and Southeast Michigan. Over the past 10 years, Oak Electric has also specialized in stand-by generator installations for industrial, commercial and residential markets as well. They are a preferred vendor for DTE and one of Michigan’s largest dealers for Generac power systems.

WWJ Radio, All Rights Reserved.  

“Eliminate Your Electric Bill...Ask Us How Today!”

Call Oak Electric 800-964-7070