Interview with Paul A. Misso, CEO of Marquiss Wind Power - 2/6/08

Please give us a little background on you and how Marquiss Wind Power got started.

Marquiss Wind Power was founded in July 2006 as a joint venture between Velocity Venture Capital and Stanley Marquiss.  The company was founded to commercialize the inventions of Stanley Marquiss in the small wind industry.  Over the course of 20+ years, Stanley has built in excess of 40 wind turbines, culminating in his ultimate design that we are bringing to market.

I joined MWP in August 2007 as President and CEO, after a 24 year career with Intel and Flextronics.  Over those years, I held many different executive and leadership roles across Planning, Finance, Manufacturing, IT, and Supply Chain Mgmt.

Your web site states that the return on investment when purchasing your Ducted Wind Turbine is 2 to 7 years.  That seems to be outstanding compared to other alternative energy devices.  What makes your product have such a good ROI? 

We do truly have the fastest payback period of any renewable energy source on the market.  To achieve this, we have patented (patent number is on the web site) a creative integration of proven technologies to accelerate the wind flowing through our turbine.  Our uniquely stable design is optimized for performance on flat rooftops, where the inherently turbulent winds prevent other traditionally-designed turbines from operating effectively.  This is important because the rooftop effect (see Delft University of Technology study) results in a 50+% acceleration of the wind.  As the power potential in wind has a cubed relationship to the speed of the wind, this enables a 237.5% increase in power production vs the competition not operating on the rooftop.  In addition, the ducted design creates a low pressure zone behind the fan that results in an additional 20+% increase in wind speed through the turbine.

Your initial target market is commercial 1-3 story buildings in the U.S.  When do you plan to expand to taller buildings, which I assume offers more wind energy?

We do not intend to limit our market to 1-3 story buildings, although that is where the rooftop effect is optimal.  The turbine will be very cost effective on any rooftop and erected on 10' ground-mounted piers in windy areas.

The design of your Ducted Wind Turbine accelerates the wind as it enters the turbine.  Does that make your units more efficient that a conventional Wind Turbine? If so, how? 

YES…see response to ROI question above.

Is installation difficult and who installs the units? 

Installation is not difficult, but must be performed by a certified installer.  NMI Industrial has installed all of the initial units and will certify additional installers over time.

Do you market through resellers, affiliates or do you deal directly with the customers? 

We have a direct sales model.

How many units are there in the field right now? 

We have 2 prototypes in operation and will begin production installations in Q2.

Would your Ducted Wind Turbine be a good candidate for a wind farm? 

We are a good candidate, but not for the traditional wind farm that you might think of.  We are a good candidate for a small-scale wind farm on the roof of a warehouse, factory, hospital, large grocery, auto dealership, casino, etc that requires a large amount of power.  The benefit of on-site (distributed) wind generation is that it eliminates the need for ugly transmission wires that scar the countryside and avoids the long (2-4 year) lead time for the large scale turbines.  Such a small-scale wind farm would not replace 100% of the “load” of a business, but could replace a significant portion at a very attractive payback period.

Your Aeropoint T500 works well in zones where the average wind speed is 6-10 MPH.  Would that zone be considered the lightest wind zone in the U.S.?

No, there are many areas with less wind than a 6MPH annual average.  We do not plan to sell our products to customers where we can not provide an attractive payback period.

Do you have any plans for a residential version for the average person to apply to their home? 

We do, but it clearly will not be with the current version as it is 19' from the base to the top of the top flap.

Where do see the future of wind energy going?

I'm very positive about the viability of wind generated power, both centralized and distributed.  Each has its positives and its issues, but fundamentally, wind provides one of the cleanest and most abundant sources of renewable energy.  I am especially positive about distributed wind power generation as it eliminates the need for most of the transmission lines and the associated investment required there.  I read an article out of Denmark recently that estimated the U.S. will need to invest $60B to upgrade its transmission capabilities – a strong focus on distributed power generation could significantly reduce that requirement.

Back to the Wind Power Index