The Fort Wayne-based maker of geothermal heat pumps reported quarterly sales of $27.6 million, a 4 percent drop from the $28.7 million reported for last year’s first quarter.

Chairman Tim Shields listed several factors that fueled increased profits, including price cuts, new products and new business ventures.

WaterFurnace’s market share increased despite shrinking demand for geothermal heating, ventilation and air-conditioning products because of the shaky economy, the company said.

4 protesters arrested at BofA share meeting

Four people were arrested Wednesday as they tried to force their way into the annual Bank of America shareholders’ meeting in Charlotte, N.C. Police used a new ordinance to declare the gathering an extraordinary event subject to special restrictions.

Hundreds of people gathered on the streets as dozens of police officers worked to contain the protest.

Inside the auditorium at the company’s headquarters, the protests continued. Shareholder after shareholder took the microphone to berate the bank for its handling of foreclosures, its investments in payday lenders, and also investments in the coal industry.

Onstage, CEO Brian Moynihan’s attempts at sidestepping hard questions or deflecting answers were met with loud jeers. Attendees shouted “amen” after anti-Bank of America statements were made by other shareholders.

At least 20 shareholders spoke at the meeting. Almost all disapproved of various Bank of America practices.

Judge KOs award in hybrid mileage claim

A judge overturned a nearly $10,000 small claims judgment against American Honda Motor Co. that was won by a car owner who said the automaker misrepresented that her hybrid Civic could get 50 miles a gallon, according to a ruling released Wednesday.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dudley W. Gray ruled Tuesday on Honda’s appeal of a court commissioner’s award of $9,867 to Heather Peters.

Peters had opted out of a class-action settlement giving 200,000 owners between $100 and $200 each, plus a rebate if they buy a new Honda. She elected instead to sue the automaker on her own.

Peters, a lawyer, also urged Honda owners to take the small-claims route as she did, and her initial success led 1,700 other hybrid owners to opt out of the class-action settlement.

It was not clear how many have filed similar small-claims actions, but Honda said Wednesday it had prevailed in 16 of 17 cases in the U.S. since January.

Oh, what a feeling: Toyota profits rev up

Toyota’s quarterly profit more than quadrupled to $1.5 billion, and the automaker gave upbeat forecasts as it recovers from a sales plunge caused by the tsunami in Japan last year.

Japan’s No. 1 automaker forecast Wednesday that profit for its business year ending March 2013 would soar to $9.5 billion. Net profit plunged 30 percent to $3.5 billion for the just ended business year.

The annual results were better than the company projection for a $2.5 billion profit, as well as the FactSet estimate at $3.49 billion.

Chamber: Jobs Still No. 1 Heading Into Election

With a divisive primary campaign now history, the economy will clearly be the number one issue in the November general election, according to the head of the state’s largest business advocacy organization. Indiana Chamber of Commerce President Kevin Brinegar says Republican Richard Mourdock’s decisive victory over six–term Senator Richard Lugar “puts the seat in play” for Democrats. Mourdock will face Congressman Joe Donnelly in the November election. In a Studio(i) interview with Gerry Dick, Brinegar reacts to Mourdock’s victory and comments on how candidates backed by organized labor fared.

Das Dutchman Essenhaus Founders Win Koch Award

The owners of the state’s largest restaurant are the recipients of this year’s Will Koch Tourism Leadership Award. Bob and Sue Miller purchased a 24–hour truck stop 40 years ago and have developed it into Das Dutchman Essenhaus, in Middlebury, which will be featured this weekend on Inside INdiana Business Television.

Country Star to Sing Anthem at Indy 500

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway says country music artist Martina McBride will sing the national anthem before this year’s Indianapolis 500. The Grammy winner calls the selection a “huge honor.”

State Files Proposed Permit For Gasification Project

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management is filing a proposed permit with federal regulators for a massive coal gasification plant in Rockport. Indiana Gasification LLC says its proposed $2.65 billion facility could eventually create 500 permanent jobs.

Cancer Detection Firm Joins Purdue Research Park

A life sciences company that has developed new technology in the fight against cancer has become an affiliate of the Purdue Research Park. TeloVISION LLC says its device may be able to detect and monitor the disease less expensively and intrusively.

Working Families Report Shows Bleak Economic Picture

The Indiana Institute for Working Families says its 2011 Status of Working Families in Indiana report shows the state is suffering from a weakening labor force, a decline in wages and an increase in poverty rates. The Institute says Indiana must focus resources on improving the skill of the state’s work force.

Artists Chosen to Decorate New Hospital

The first group of artists can now begin adding creative touches to a future Indianapolis hospital. The Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital is expected to open late next year, with several areas adorned with artwork designed to create a healing environment.

Execs Receive Leadership Honors

Two senior executives at Indiana–based companies are being honored this week for their support of nonprofit organizations. Awards are being presented to Cummins Foundation Chief Executive Officer Jean Blackwell and Old National Bancorp. CEO Bob Jones.

IU Kelley Partners With Indian Institute

Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business is set to announce several teaching and research partnerships with the Indian Institute of Management–Lucknow. IU says the agreements mark Kelley’s first “significant foray” into India.

Waste–to–Energy Summit Scheduled For IUPUI

A forum discussing waste–to–energy technology is coming to Indianapolis. Next week’s “Waste to Energy, Chemicals, Fuels, and Heat” event at the Richard G. Lugar Center for Renewable Energy at IUPUI will examine challenges and emerging uses of the process.

“There was a lot of talk back in the fall that the clean energy economy didn’t exist coming out of the Solyndra situation didn’t exist coming out of the Solyndra situation. And we said, wait, that’s not true,” Environmental Entrepreneurs Executive Director Judith Albert says.

Albert says companies are announcing more clean energy jobs across the nation. Indiana has seen its growth in the wind turbine and automotive industry.

“As there has been a growth in electric vehicle production, there’s been growth in the supply chain to supply the parts and Indiana has had a long tradition of being a state which has been linked into and very vital in the whole automotive supply chain,” Albert says.

Ryan Krause with the Indiana University Kelly School of Business has worked with a team of researchers to track the trend of green jobs in Indiana. He says there are still some hurdles companies have to overcome.

“You have some limitations and we’ve seen that over the past year or so when you have an industry that is so dependent on either government funding or government backing for their debt or something like that where there is not yet enough demand for their products,” Krause says.

Two of these companies include rechargeable battery manufacturer Ener1 and the electric car company Bright Automotive, both which recently filed for bankruptcy.

Krause says the most potential is not in the direct production of clean energy, but in the jobs that are created when traditional manufacturers incorporate green practices into their existing businesses.

“These numbers show us that our nation’s investments in clean energy are paying off,” said Judith Albert, E2′s executive director.

“The jobs announcements over the three months feature a wide range of companies: major multinational corporations like GE, Nissan, and General Motors, as well as small, entrepreneurial start-ups,” the report states. “Innovative companies are also retooling their operations to take advantage of the growth in clean energy.”

Key findings from the report:

· Power generation companies announced the most clean energy jobs in the first quarter. Wind, solar, biomass, geothermal and other renewable energy sectors announced 68 projects that together would create more than 18,000 jobs.
· Manufacturing companies making everything from electric vehicles to solar panels and wind turbine parts announced 35 projects in the quarter that would create more than 10,000 jobs. “These announcements mirror findings recently released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which determined that the manufacturing sector leads in the creation of ‘green goods and services’ jobs that now employ a total of 3.1 million Americans,” the report stated.
· Many of the first-quarter job announcements were connected to federal, state or local projects, ranging from building and home efficiency programs in Chicago and Wisconsin to a county-backed solar farm in Florida.
· Connecticut led all states in terms of total clean energy jobs announced in the quarter. Other leading states include Illinois, Indiana, North Carolina and Texas.

This report is based on job announcements compiled from formal announcements and media reports. It includes projects and programs in various stages of development, mainly in the manufacturing, energy, biofuels and public transportation sectors.

E2, an affiliate of the Natural Resources Defense Council, is a nationwide network of business leaders who advocate for good environmental policy while building economic prosperity. To view E2′s report in full, visit http://www.e2.org/cleanjobs.

The forum series, being held throughout 2012 in collaboration with the DoD seeks to increase U.S. military effectiveness through the integration and deployment of renewable energy solutions on base and in the battlefield. The Department of Defense is the biggest single energy user in the U.S. and is expected to spend $150 billion on fuel and electricity over the next decade. In order to increase the energy security of its installations, DoD has embarked on an ambitious program of expanded renewable energy generation on base, coupled with focused development in enabling technologies such as microgrids.

The second forum today focused on outlining the specific technology and project priorities of each of the military services and the opportunities for integrated systems for renewables and on-site energy management; illuminating the procurement processes intended to reduce the cost of base and operational energy projects and facilitate renewable energy deployment; and leveraging private sector finance to allow the DoD to use both proven and innovative finance models to reach beyond its budgetary boundaries.

“America’s continued over-reliance on fossil fuel to meet our growing energy needs is a serious and urgent threat to our national and economic security. The DoD and military services know this and are working very hard to reduce this threat with energy efficiency and by diversifying energy supplies,” said Vice Admiral (Ret.) Dennis McGinn, President of ACORE. “These important forums bring together private sector leaders in renewable energy with key DoD officials to define the most effective ways to reach DoD’s mission goals and to create a more secure America with clean, sustainable energy.”

“The DoD’s commitment to renewable energy represents an important business opportunity for the advanced energy industry to support the cause of national defense,” said Graham Richard, CEO of AEE and former mayor of Fort Wayne, Indiana. “As in any large-scale transformation, finding new ways to meet the military’s energy needs requires collaboration between purchasing agencies and its suppliers, with focus on the details. By convening leaders from DoD and the advanced energy industry, these forums can help promote collaboration and streamline the procurement process to serve the military better.”

“In October of 2009 the Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus outlined five energy goals for the Department of the Navy which seek to enhance our combat capabilities, increase our mission effectiveness, and reduce our vulnerabilities to foreign sources of fossil fuel,” said Tom Hicks, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy.  “As we explore alternative and renewable energy technology, we have projects such as the 1 Gigawatt (GW) Initiative and the Experimental Forward Operating Base (ExFOB) process with our Marines to help achieve our energy goals.”

“The Army recognizes the strategic role that renewable and other advanced energy technologies can play to meet operations, transportation and installation requirements,” said John Lushetsky, Executive Director, U.S. Army’s Energy Initiatives Task Force. “It is a top priority to make sure we are leveraging all the private sector has to offer with both product and business solutions that can cost effectively meet Army needs, now and in the future.”

Col. Peter A. Newell, Director of the U.S. Army Rapid Equipping Force added, “Soldiers operating in Afghanistan today are doing so in smaller units, from increasingly isolated locations.  For these units on the “tactical edge,” the burden of providing power and energy relies primarily on ground forces where the operational costs to deliver power and water are the greatest. At the tactical edge, sustainment operations are operations that consume combat power, and savings will likely be measured in lives rather than gallons of fuel saved.”

ACORE and AEE are uniquely positioned to help DoD meet this challenge by drawing on the collective expertise and experience of their members, which include advanced energy industry associations, utilities, end users, professional service firms, financial institutions, educational institutions, nonprofit groups, and government agencies.

The first event of the forum series on January 26, 2012, “Collaboration on Technology, Procurement and Finance Solutions to Enhance National Defense,” focused on renewable energy integration and increasing U.S. military and warfighter effectiveness.  [See: "Powering America's Defense Today and Tomorrow" infographic; DoD Renewable Energy Primer; and Case Studies on Successful Renewable Energy Collaborations Between the Military and Industry: Lockheed Martin; Ocean Power Technologies; and SunPower]

The next forum will be held in conjunction with the Renewable Energy Technology Conference and Exhibition (RETECH), October 17-19.

A final report from the forum series will establish renewable energy requirements to meet DoD’s forecasted mission; identify and forecast technology gaps that are not addressed by off-the-shelf energy technologies and applications; define next-generation financing structures that will help DoD accelerate renewable energy at installation and operational levels will minimizing budgetary impacts; and define model procurement methodologies to accelerate project development, enhance value and maximize results for DoD and the taxpayer.

In one of the most common waste to energy examples, municipal solid waste – or trash – is delivered to a waste to energy plant, the energy content of the waste is retrieved, metals are recovered and recycled, and electricity is generated. Waste to energy in such applications has reduced 104,759,316 equivalent tons of carbon dioxide since January 1, 2009, according to the U.S. Energy Recovery Council. And, according to EPA reports, waste to energy now produces electricity with less environmental impact than almost any other source.

The waste to energy forum will cover current and future technologies in each major waste area, from agricultural waste and biomass, to municipal solid waste and more. Participants will discuss a variety of topics including emerging technologies, business challenges and opportunities, and key policy and regulatory issues. The waste to energy forum is part of the annual Lugar Center Renewable Energy Forum Series.

“This year’s forum will leave no table unturned,” said Peter J. Schubert, Director of the Lugar Center for Renewable Energy. “From a presentation of IUPUI-led research analyzing international waste to energy technologies, to discussions with business, economic and policy experts, to an optional tour of a landfill gas facility, the forum will equip participants to convert what they learn to energy gains in their spheres of influence.”

Speakers will address the economic and technological opportunities and challenges of waste to energy in Indiana, as well as the business and financial considerations related to waste to energy projects. John Hazlett, Director of Sustainability for the City of Indianapolis, will provide opening insights on these topics, and David Gair, Chief Executive Officer of Pacific Oil Products, will keynote a fresh perspective on our nation’s considerable waste to energy potential.

In addition to individual speakers, panel discussions throughout the conference will unearth the current state and anticipated future of the waste to energy industry, as well as recent developments, opportunities and challenges related to regulation and permitting. Representatives from Conversion Energy Systems, BSA Lifestructures, SAIC, TGER Technologies, NTH, IDEM, Keramida and others will share remarks and answer questions on the many facets of the industry.

Visit www.lugarenergycenter.org by May 11 to reserve your spot at the Waste to Energy Forum, or to learn more about the event. The cost is $85 for business professionals, $55 for government/NGO employees, and $35 for students/faculty and includes breakfast and lunch.
Fifty spots are also available on a first-come, first-served basis for a complimentary tour of the Indianapolis South Side Landfill facility, which includes a landfill gas system that in part supplies boiler and generator fuel to Rolls Royce facility in Indianapolis.

Speaker biographies and photographs are available upon request.

About the Richard G. Lugar Center for Renewable Energy: The Richard G. Lugar Center for Renewable Energy was established to address the urgent societal needs for clean, affordable and renewable energy sources, improve the nation’s energy security and reduce the negative impacts of climate change. Its primary mission is to promote research excellence in the area of renewable energy through collaborative efforts among faculty in the disciplines of engineering, chemistry, physics, biology, public policy and environmental affairs. It will promote renewable energy applications through teaching, learning, civic engagement and synergistic partnerships with industry, government labs and local communities.

About the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology at IUPUI: The mission of the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology at IUPUI is to be one of the best urban university leaders in the disciplines of engineering and technology recognized locally, nationally and internationally. The school’s goal is to provide students an education that will give them the leverage to be leaders in their communities, industry and society. For additional information on the School of Engineering & Technology, go to http://www.engr.iupui.edu.

About Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis: Known as Indiana’s premier urban research and health sciences campus, IUPUI is dedicated to advancing the intellectual growth of the state of Indiana and its citizens through research and creative activity, teaching, learning and civic engagement. Nationally ranked by U.S.News & World Report, Forbes and other notable publications, IUPUI has more than 30,000 students enrolled in 21 schools, which offer more than 250 degrees. IUPUI awards degrees from both Indiana and Purdue Universities. For more information, visit iupui.edu.

Two companies from Northwest Indiana — both involved in developing renewable energy technology — are featured in the story below from the Times of Northwest Indiana.

Local firm reflects push to boost exports and meet U.S. goal

ST. JOHN | Bill Keith’s business office is akin to a mad scientist’s lab.

Dozens of his more than 45 models of solar-powered attic fans are stacked neatly in boxes prepped for globalwide customers. Next to the fans are motors and other equipment from solar fans by competitors so he can see their progress.

Pins are scattered across a wall map in a second-floor room, representing the customers SunRise Solar Inc. has pursued. With a grin, Keith said his company plans to double its exports easily next year. It’s also possible the company could quadruple its exports by the end of this decade.

“I don’t care if you’ve only sold $5,000 worth of goods,” Keith said. “With good marketing material, a good website, have a good system in place,” you can export.

In President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address in 2010, he said the nation would double its level of exports in five years.

While multinational companies such as Ford Motor Co., Caterpillar Inc. and General Electric Co. are among the country’s export leaders, U.S. trade officials and business groups want more small and mid-size businesses to boost their export capacity.

Based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the United States exported $2.1 trillion of goods and services in 2011, a record for the country. To meet the president’s goal, the nation would have to reach $3.14 trillion of exports in 2015.

Mark Cooper, director of the U.S. Commercial Service’s Indiana office, said his goal is to spread the word about exports with the assistance of experts from the business community and entities such as the Indiana Economic Development Corp.

Now that the freeze of the recession is letting up, Cooper said he is finding more companies that are interested in jumping into the export market. With the international exposure Northwest Indiana businesses have, they could be well positioned to increase the number of overseas opportunities.

“The U.S. government has a large arsenal of tools that can help you compete globally,” Cooper said. “Not only do we do these programs, but we go door to door and tell them about it.”

Cooper said 58 percent of exporters sell only to one market. Through the National Export Initiative, he said, there’s a goal to boost the number of international markets that existing companies serve. Earlier this year, the U.S. Commercial Service and an affiliated volunteer nonprofit organization, the District Export Council, launched a program called Export University. It offers information for companies new to exporting and those that are veterans.

“Learning about payments and tariffs and documentation that’s required and regulations and rules and certifications, it’s actually a pretty exciting process,” Keith said. “There’s a lot of hurdles, but if you look at it as an obstacle course … you see progress.”

About 30 to 35 percent of Merrillville-based NuVant Systems’ electronics sales are to overseas customers, said Eugene Smotkin, NuVant’s founder and chief executive. Adding Canada to the mix, international buyers make up more than half of the company’s sales.

NuVant, a renewable energy electronics maker, plans to send three pieces of equipment to a Saudi Arabian company in a couple of weeks, but the process to send the products there started a year ago. Smotkin said the equipment had to be delivered with a manual published in Arabic and had to feature a CE label, a certification that shows the products meet certain European regulatory standards.

Keith Kirkpatrick, chief executive of the project management consulting firm KPM Group Inc. in Valparaiso, said he finds owners and managers who have success in international business tend to have a natural desire to learn about other countries and cultures. Kirkpatrick has owned a manufacturing firm, taught college students overseas and done international consulting work. He said it’s important for businesses to make connections in the markets in which they are interested.

Making those connections do come with caution, however.

“You can connect, but you still have to measure the credibility and viability of the person on the other end, whether that’s going to be a partner or supplier or a customer,” Kirkpatrick said.

Cooper said about a quarter of his office’s work involves refining business strategies. The Commercial Service also offers companies a survey on export readiness. Cooper said the the more a company’s product stands out in the marketplace, the more likely it could be successful in international markets. Companies also have to have an export strategy and long-term vision.

“We’re not in the business of promoting failure,” Cooper said. “We’re promoting global companies that can do well.”

With the success of his company and a burgeoning market for renewable energy technology,SunRise Solar‘s Keith said it’s important for him to stay ahead of his competition by continuing to develop more advanced solar fans. He has gotten help from business coaches and the U.S. Commercial Service, and he would like to see more mom-and-pop businesses become exporters.

“If our leaders could get behind more small business manufacturing, we could really go somewhere,” Keith said.

Dozens of his more than 45 models of solar-powered attic fans are stacked neatly in boxes prepped for global wide customers. Next to the fans are motors and other equipment from solar fans by competitors so he can see their progress.

Pins are scattered across a wall map in a second-floor room, representing the customers SunRise Solar Inc. has pursued. With a grin, Keith said his company plans to double its exports easily next year. It’s also possible the company could quadruple its exports by the end of this decade.

“I don’t care if you’ve only sold $5,000 worth of goods,” Keith said. “With good marketing material, a good website, have a good system in place,” you can export.

In President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address in 2010, he said the nation would double its level of exports in five years.

While multinational companies such as Ford Motor Co., Caterpillar Inc. and General Electric Co. are among the country’s export leaders, U.S. trade officials and business groups want more small and mid-size businesses to boost their export capacity.

Based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the United States exported $2.1 trillion of goods and services in 2011, a record for the country. To meet the president’s goal, the nation would have to reach $3.14 trillion of exports in 2015.

Mark Cooper, director of the U.S. Commercial Service’s Indiana office, said his goal is to spread the word about exports with the assistance of experts from the business community and entities such as the Indiana Economic Development Corp.

Now that the freeze of the recession is letting up, Cooper said he is finding more companies that are interested in jumping into the export market. With the international exposure Northwest Indiana businesses have, they could be well positioned to increase the number of overseas opportunities.

“The U.S. government has a large arsenal of tools that can help you compete globally,” Cooper said. “Not only do we do these programs, but we go door to door and tell them about it.”

Cooper said 58 percent of exporters sell only to one market. Through the National Export Initiative, he said, there’s a goal to boost the number of international markets that existing companies serve. Earlier this year, the U.S. Commercial Service and an affiliated volunteer nonprofit organization, the District Export Council, launched a program called Export University. It offers information for companies new to exporting and those that are veterans.

“Learning about payments and tariffs and documentation that’s required and regulations and rules and certifications, it’s actually a pretty exciting process,” Keith said. “There’s a lot of hurdles, but if you look at it as an obstacle course … you see progress.”

About 30 to 35 percent of Merrillville-based NuVant Systems’ electronics sales are to overseas customers, said Eugene Smotkin, NuVant’s founder and chief executive. Adding Canada to the mix, international buyers make up more than half of the company’s sales.

NuVant, a renewable energy electronics maker, plans to send three pieces of equipment to a Saudi Arabian company in a couple of weeks, but the process to send the products there started a year ago. Smotkin said the equipment had to be delivered with a manual published in Arabic and had to feature a CE label, a certification that shows the products meet certain European regulatory standards.

Keith Kirkpatrick, chief executive of the project management consulting firm KPM Group Inc. in Valparaiso, said he finds owners and managers who have success in international business tend to have a natural desire to learn about other countries and cultures. Kirkpatrick has owned a manufacturing firm, taught college students overseas and done international consulting work. He said it’s important for businesses to make connections in the markets in which they are interested.

Making those connections do come with caution, however.

“You can connect, but you still have to measure the credibility and viability of the person on the other end, whether that’s going to be a partner or supplier or a customer,” Kirkpatrick said.

Cooper said about a quarter of his office’s work involves refining business strategies. The Commercial Service also offers companies a survey on export readiness. Cooper said the more a company’s product stands out in the marketplace, the more likely it could be successful in international markets. Companies also have to have an export strategy and long-term vision.

“We’re not in the business of promoting failure,” Cooper said. “We’re promoting global companies that can do well.”

With the success of his company and a burgeoning market for renewable energy technology, SunRise Solar’s Keith said it’s important for him to stay ahead of his competition by continuing to develop more advanced solar fans. He has gotten help from business coaches and the U.S. Commercial Service, and he would like to see more mom-and-pop businesses become exporters.

“If our leaders could get behind more small business manufacturing, we could really go somewhere,” Keith said.

Computer science professors Jan Vitek, Ananth Grama and Suresh Jagannathan, and mechanical engineering professor Douglas Adams received the three-year grant from the National Science Foundation’s Division of Computer and Network Systems (CNS).

The team’s goal is to increase the performance of wind turbines by reducing downtime, improving the predictability of maintenance and enhancing the safety in operational environments.

“Improvements in the productivity and longevity of wind energy — the fastest growing source of clean, renewable domestically produced energy — even by a few percentage points will have significant impact on the overall energy landscape and decision making,” said Vitek, the project’s principal investigator. “Mitigating failures and enhancing safety will go a long way toward shaping popular perceptions of wind farms and accelerating broader acceptance within local communities.”

The project builds on years of research by Adams, who is developing “smart” turbine blades that use sensors and computational software to improve energy capture by adjusting for changing wind conditions. Adams developed these sensing techniques working with Sandia National Laboratories.

Sensor data in a smart system also could be used to better control turbine reliability by automatically adjusting the blade pitch and rotor yaw to reduce damaging operating conditions while also commanding the generator to take corrective steps.

Adams, the Kenninger Professor of Renewable Energy and Power Systems, said no high-tech tools currently exist for tracking and analyzing the coordinated behavior of wind farms. This project will marry those technological advances with a robust computer simulation network, emphasizing programmability, robustness, longevity and assurance of integrated wind farms.

But all of these new capabilities rely on accurate measurements. “It’s like the adage: ‘If you measure it, then you can control it,’ ” he said.

A wind turbine’s major components include rotor blades, a gearbox and generator. The wind turbine blades are made primarily of fiberglass and balsa wood, and researchers now are strengthening them with carbon fiber.

As the wind turbine blade is being manufactured, engineers can embed sensors called uniaxial and triaxial accelerometers. Research findings show that using a trio of sensors and “estimator model” software reveals how much force is being exerted on the blades.

The Purdue system, which has received support from Purdue’s Energy Center in Discovery Park, may help improve wind turbine reliability by providing critical real-time information to the control system to prevent catastrophic wind turbine damage from high winds or other weather event.

Such sensors also might be instrumental in future turbine blades that have “control surfaces” and simple flaps like those on an airplane’s wings to change the aerodynamic characteristics of the blades for better control. Because these flaps would be changed in real time to respond to changing winds, constant sensor data would be critical.

“We believe we can have a huge impact by essentially taking small steps to control how these wind turbines operate,” Adams said. “For example, a 2-degree error in the pitch of a single turbine blade can cause a 12 percent reduction in power.”

Grama said the scale and complexity of these wind power systems pose a challenge for computer scientists. Turbines in a typical wind farm would require as many as 3,000 sensors, all generating real-time data that must be captured and analyzed.

“It’s a tremendously sophisticated problem, requiring a comprehensive computational infrastructure for distributed real-time control,” Grama said. “Given the relative infancy of ‘smart’ wind farms, however, the potential of the project cannot be overstated.”

Indiana, which has gone from no turbines to more than 1,100 in three years, ranks as the third fastest-growing state for wind power in the country, the American Wind Energy Association reports. The association places Indiana 13th for most installed wind power capacity in the country.

Award-winning renewable energy authors and educators Dan Bartmann and Dan Fink of Otherpower.com and Buckville Energy will be teaching a series of two classes on small wind power for home and business owners in Brownstown, Indiana from April 13 through April 15, 2012.

The first class, “Wind Power Reality – An Introduction to Small Wind” on April 13, 2012, covers the basics and the economics of owning a wind turbine for anyone interested in powering a home, business or vacation retreat.

The class “Wind Turbine Towers and Installation” on April 14 -15, 2012, is two days of hands-on and hands-dirty wind power “boot camp” for anyone serious about producing their own energy from the wind, and for renewable energy professionals who are considering expanding their existing solar business into small wind.

“Wind is the least understood and most difficult renewable resource to harvest,” according to Dan Fink, Executive Director of Buckville Energy. “It pays to learn the basics before making any kind of investment in a small wind turbine. This short series of classes in Brownstown will provide home and business owners with the knowledge they need to make wise decisions about investing in renewable energy.”

Both classes are accredited by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) and the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) for required continuing education credit hours to maintain professional certifications.
Instructors Dan Bartmann and Dan Fink have been teaching wind power classes since 2004, and are co-authors of the award-winning book “Homebrew Wind Power.” They are frequent contributing authors for Home Power Magazine, Solar Professional, Back Home Magazine, the Journal of Green Building, and more.

For more information about these and other upcoming classes and how to register, visit http://www.buckville,.com or call 970-672-4342.