Slipstream Energy

Slipstream Energy was awarded the Young Innovative Company Award in 2009 and the four-strong company is delighted. Managing Director Philip Wilson comments, “Although we are still at trials stage with our main project, the award has already been helpful in taking our engineering development one step further. It has allowed us to put money into more research and development, which in turn has allowed for engineering work that we wouldn’t have been able to achieve otherwise. Part of the funding is planned to assist in crucial marketing plans and it will also be of further assistance in seeking additional investment.”

Watch our interview with Slipstream Energy after the awards.

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The problem

Inspired by a windy cycle ride over the Pennines some three years ago, Philip began to consider how wind turbines could be better optimised for urban environments. “Because the wind blows over and around buildings this more turbulent air stream would make conventional horizontal turbines much less effective,” Philip Wilson explains. “The turbine has to be able to track the wind in order to generate the maximum amount of power. If they’re misaligned then they lose efficiency.”

The solution

Philip formed the company, Slipstream Energy, and after two years of research and development, including collaboration with the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) centre at Leeds University and a research and development grant from Yorkshire Forward, the company is now working with leading product designers and carbon composite manufacturers. Along with Operations Manager Dale Barry, Mechanical Engineer Dale Jones and Technical Director Mike Roberts, MD Philip Wilson has succeeded in trialling the prototype of a vertical axis wind turbine.

Amidst the renewable technologies market Philip discovered suitable incentives with which to progress his company, “We could see that there were some good Government drivers in place, including a zero-carbon building programme set for 2016 onwards that demands the net energy per year is zero, which means that electricity will need to be generated using wind and solar power to offset the energy used in the building. So with rising fuel costs and growing concern about carbon emissions, research into clean technologies has never been more critical. There is a strong and growing market demand for clean power that is generated at the point of use.”

The company is not without competition but Slipstream Energy’s unique design is giving the firm confidence. Philip defines this uniqueness: “As the turbine rotates it generates electricity, but the output is of a variable frequency and changes with the speed of the turbine, making it difficult to connect directly to the main electricity supply. Slipstream Energy has designed an inverter, a sophisticated electronic device, which converts the variable feed into useable electricity. Many conventional turbines are modular in design and without expert engineering the differential between ‘blade and converter’ can make for less efficiency.  We solved this issue by designing our own matched system to allow for control of the turbine in turbulent wind conditions.” The high level of innovation in the on-board diagnostic control unit and high-strength carbon fibre blades has made the complete product one of exceptional quality and performance.
 
No one renewable technology is significant enough to offset a company’s complete energy requirement, but Slipstream Energy’s product can power about 10% of total energy output. “The turbine provides a valuable supplementary source of energy that connects to the national grid via the customers’ consumer unit. This can also be metered for customers to sell over-generated energy back to the grid. New legislation, in the form of a ‘feed-in tariff’, is to be introduced allowing for customers to re-sell their energy profitably. This helps to incentivise the installation of individual turbine products.” adds Philip.

The outcome

Slipstream Energy is planning for rapid growth and expects to generate rising staff levels and increased revenue. The company is already engaging with businesses and blue chip companies wishing to install renewable technologies. Their awareness of reuseable product processes balanced against the innovative use of materials and product design is admirable. The Young Innovative Company Award from Yorkshire Forward is already helping to move this intelligent and environmentally-aware team into the next phase of their business.

Find out what it takes to win an Innovator/10 award

Visit www.innovator10.com and find out more about the awards.