Second Wind second-guesses wind surveys

The economic crisis has prompted banks to demand increasingly accurate data on wind conditions before giving the green light to project financing, according to Larry Letteney, COO of Somerville, Mass.-based Second Wind.

Much of the traditional technology measures wind conditions at 60 meters, while 2-megawatt turbines can easily reach 120 meters. That leads to analysts estimating conditions in the interim elevations, he said.

"In the last 12 months there has been a pretty significant awakening to some of the missed expectations that were made in wind," Letteney said.
"Every industry has a dirty little secret. This happens to be wind's." 

The need for precise information on wind conditions such as speed and direction is creating a $1 billion to $2 billion annual global market for such instruments in the wind sector in 2009, Letteney said (see Investors pump up Wind 2.0). He estimated annual growth of about 20 percent.

Second Wind is talking to investors to raise $5 million in Series C funding by the end of summer to expand its efforts in this market.

Letteney said the company's technology could be used in all stages of wind farm development, including selecting sites, proving wind-energy yields to potential investors, and measuring whether existing equipment is operating optimally.

Second Wind has filed for eight U.S. patents for its modifications to existing sonic detection and ranging, or SODAR, technology. The resulting product, the Triton sonic wind profiler, measures 25 aspects of wind conditions up to 140 meters, including speed, direction, temperature and humidity. The company sells each customer a subscription to a Web-based system that provides the data.

SODAR is similar to the sonar technology used by submarines and ships. It sends an audible "chirp" through the air, and wind turbulence sends a portion of the sound back toward the ground. By precisely measuring the frequency and time delay of the chirp's echo, the SODAR device measures the wind speed and direction at various heights (see Largest wind industry event underway). 

Second Wind raised $3.5 million in two tranches from cleantech investor Good Energies in 2007 to launch and rollout the Triton sonic wind profiler (see Energy efficient lighting brightens with cash). Additionally, the company received a $500,000 loan from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative last year.

The company has 50 of the $50,000 Tritons in the field in the U.S., Canada, the UK, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Spain, Australia and elsewhere. The mandatory Web-based subscription service for the data is an additional $5,000 a year. Customers include Sequoia Energy, Horizon Wind, and Acciona. 

The new funding would allow Second Wind to expand sales and marketing, as well as develop a fleet of its wind-energy sensors to rent to customers—a move that Letteney thinks will be lucrative for the startup because it's already seeing a growth in the number of requests for such a service.

"There's an emerging and large market for small wind farms that don't want to buy the unit but are willing to pay for the data," he said. "That's the fastest profit growth area for Second Wind."

Each Triton uses 7 watts of power supplied by solar panels, making the device virtually autonomous, Letteney said. Second Wind expects to sell 100 Tritons this year but produce 10 to 20 to begin its fleet rental service.

Its manufacturing facility in Massachusetts has the capacity to produce about 300 of the units, each with a lifespan of at least five years. The company has the option to expand the 8,000 square-foot facility to 30,000 square feet to increase production, although Letteney said the company would consider outsourcing the components that don't involve Second Wind's intellectual property. 

Second Wind has 36 employees.

Second Wind is one of 18 potential new global investment opportunities that the Cleantech Group added to its dealflow database this week—available exclusively to members of the Cleantech Network. Members can click here to search the dealflow database.

Interested in investing in cleantech companies? Here are two other companies from the Cleantech Group's dealflow database also looking for funding:

• Canada-based Magenn Power is seeking to raise a $15 million Series B round for its tethered wind turbine that rotates on a horizontal axis. The power produced from turbines is transferred down the tether for use. The company has raised $9.5 million to-date, including $300,000 from a Discovery Channel grant.
• Massachusetts-based Recycline is raising $6 million in follow-on funding to develop a bioplastics material technology. Recycline develops green consumer products that are BPA-free and made form 100 percent recycled material.

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