#1 · Oct 27, 2009 01:24 UTC
Although, as Hooky pointed out, if a website is up on the Internet then everyone can see it, I will only say that it doesn't matter much until people actually know it exists!
Anyway, I've still got a LOT of content to put up on our website, but the basics are getting there.
So what IS this venture that I've been working on for 2.5 months with my friend? (Pay attention Hooky, this is what you've been wanting to hear for some reason! ;) )
Well, it starts even before the company existed when I was helping my friend Ian prepare to start a new business (not knowing that I'd become his partner in the affair). He used to be the head of Sales and Engineering for the entire West Coast for an international electronic drives and controls company. During the economic downtrend, he was basically told he would have to move to Los Angeles to keep his position. Instead he decided to start his own company (for all the reasons that you'd want plus the benefit of not having to move). The company is called Energetic Drives and is primarily in the electronic controls industry, but concentrating on the so-called "Green" sector. We have a few PhD's and senior level engineers on the staff as contractors in the areas of math, mechanical engineering and electrical engineering. One of our selling points is that we are able to create custom solutions in addition to any "off the shelf" equipment that we need to provide. Due to my friend's last position (plus 20 years in the industry as both an engineer and sales rep), he has many connections and extremely favorable margins for the expensive electronics we use.
Our focus is on electrical generation from alternative energies (wind, solar and tidal) as well as electrical reclamation. I'm sure you've already heard about wind turbines, photo voltaic cells and maybe even tidal buoys, but probably not reclamation. In a nut shell, electrical reclamation is a method of generating electricity during times when the potential would normally be lost (usually as heat). One example you see every day now are hybrid cars (something we're not involved with). Whenever a hybrid car brakes, it uses the energy generated to recharge its batteries. In our case, you need to think bigger. For example, when a crane is lowering a load, the braking action can be used to convert a lot of potential energy into kinetic energy which we can capture. Another big sector we want to get into is reclamation of energy in elevators. 60% of the electricity consumed by an elevator can be reclaimed (even when going up!).
We're not about storing energy either (at least not yet), but what puts us ahead of most companies out there is our access to the latest cutting-edge technologies in drives, motors, relays, filters and grid-tie converters. Our drives, motors and generators (all of which could be the same device for you tech-heads out there ;) ) are super-efficient permanent magnet AC or DC motors that are fully programmable and variable speed. Our grid-tie inverters are so clean that they exceed every IEEE standard for grid interactivity (meaning that utility companies love us). The bottom line is that we provide energy outside the ranges of existing equipment AND can create more energy in the same ranges that they produce in. Add that to the fact that we can create custom solutions and that is what makes us stand out against other companies. Of course, the fact that we are restricting ourselves to the niche from 10 KW (kilowatts) to 1.2 MW (megawatts) means that we are perfectly positioned between the saturated low-stuff while avoiding conflicts with the relatively few power-houses that operate in the higher ranges (GE, Mitsubishi, Vestas, Enercon, etc.)
To give you an idea, here's our first project: We have been working with a couple of companies that buy used wind turbines from the farms down in California and refurbish them. Needless to say, the technologies have grown considerably since they were first put up 20+ years ago so provide them with the opportunity to completely replace the electronic guts with our new systems. These refurbished and improved turbines can now be sold much cheaper than a new turbine even though we can actually generate MORE energy than most of the new models of the same size. Plus, there's up to a two year waiting list for a new turbine while we can have one up and running in about four months (or less!). The sales approach is cake: Do you want a new turbine over a year from now for $3.5 million (the price for a 1 MW machine) or a refurbished one that is now just as good, but delivered in a fraction of the time for under $2 million? The first turbine that we will be working on is a 330 KW mid-sized job that sells for a little over half-a-million. The company that we're working with happens to have 80(!) of these 330 KW turbines ready to be worked on - not bad, eh? That doesn't include the almost 120 others in various sizes up to 750 KW that they currently have.
So far, the only snag has been something that on the surface sounds like a good problem, but can cause headaches later. Our first project consisted of two companies that had a joint venture together for two turbines (which have both already been sold). Evidentally, the JV was never signed correctly and the one company wanted to get into the larger turbine market (while using us to present to investors). The other company, the one who actually has the turbines and the facilities to work on them, wanted to stay the course and we were forced to choose (of course we went with the one who actually has the equipment). The problem? The other company, who is local to us, is realizing that they may now be out-to-lunch and was causing some issues that had to be resolved first (we believe everything's been sorted out between them now). In any event, we're going forward.
I've known Ian for over six years now (we're both dart players - he represented Wales once before moving to America). We get along just fine, but in business we're polar opposites. He's the emotional, master sales type and I'm the level-headed, jack-of-all-trades geek type. We're definitely like the "Odd Couple" (for those of you that remember the TV show). I'm the anal-retentive, overly organized one and I'm pretty sure he uses the terrorist filing method (where you put everything into a pile and blow it up). It's actually working out very well since he's strong in all the areas that I'm not (business and sales) and I've got the rest covered (project direction, math, information technology, artistic ability, etc.). People get a laugh out of our contrasts because, on top of it all, I'm pretty tall and he's short. ;D
And now... Here's our new website: www.energeticdrives.com I've designed almost everything that we've been using so far, business cards, stationary, banners, demo sheets, spreadsheets, project plans, agreements, etc. My partner makes most of the PowerPoint presentations (and does the bulk of the presenting) plus we get some material from our suppliers. This is my first real website so any feedback is appreciated!
Now you know. :)
Anyway, I've still got a LOT of content to put up on our website, but the basics are getting there.
So what IS this venture that I've been working on for 2.5 months with my friend? (Pay attention Hooky, this is what you've been wanting to hear for some reason! ;) )
Well, it starts even before the company existed when I was helping my friend Ian prepare to start a new business (not knowing that I'd become his partner in the affair). He used to be the head of Sales and Engineering for the entire West Coast for an international electronic drives and controls company. During the economic downtrend, he was basically told he would have to move to Los Angeles to keep his position. Instead he decided to start his own company (for all the reasons that you'd want plus the benefit of not having to move). The company is called Energetic Drives and is primarily in the electronic controls industry, but concentrating on the so-called "Green" sector. We have a few PhD's and senior level engineers on the staff as contractors in the areas of math, mechanical engineering and electrical engineering. One of our selling points is that we are able to create custom solutions in addition to any "off the shelf" equipment that we need to provide. Due to my friend's last position (plus 20 years in the industry as both an engineer and sales rep), he has many connections and extremely favorable margins for the expensive electronics we use.
Our focus is on electrical generation from alternative energies (wind, solar and tidal) as well as electrical reclamation. I'm sure you've already heard about wind turbines, photo voltaic cells and maybe even tidal buoys, but probably not reclamation. In a nut shell, electrical reclamation is a method of generating electricity during times when the potential would normally be lost (usually as heat). One example you see every day now are hybrid cars (something we're not involved with). Whenever a hybrid car brakes, it uses the energy generated to recharge its batteries. In our case, you need to think bigger. For example, when a crane is lowering a load, the braking action can be used to convert a lot of potential energy into kinetic energy which we can capture. Another big sector we want to get into is reclamation of energy in elevators. 60% of the electricity consumed by an elevator can be reclaimed (even when going up!).
We're not about storing energy either (at least not yet), but what puts us ahead of most companies out there is our access to the latest cutting-edge technologies in drives, motors, relays, filters and grid-tie converters. Our drives, motors and generators (all of which could be the same device for you tech-heads out there ;) ) are super-efficient permanent magnet AC or DC motors that are fully programmable and variable speed. Our grid-tie inverters are so clean that they exceed every IEEE standard for grid interactivity (meaning that utility companies love us). The bottom line is that we provide energy outside the ranges of existing equipment AND can create more energy in the same ranges that they produce in. Add that to the fact that we can create custom solutions and that is what makes us stand out against other companies. Of course, the fact that we are restricting ourselves to the niche from 10 KW (kilowatts) to 1.2 MW (megawatts) means that we are perfectly positioned between the saturated low-stuff while avoiding conflicts with the relatively few power-houses that operate in the higher ranges (GE, Mitsubishi, Vestas, Enercon, etc.)
To give you an idea, here's our first project: We have been working with a couple of companies that buy used wind turbines from the farms down in California and refurbish them. Needless to say, the technologies have grown considerably since they were first put up 20+ years ago so provide them with the opportunity to completely replace the electronic guts with our new systems. These refurbished and improved turbines can now be sold much cheaper than a new turbine even though we can actually generate MORE energy than most of the new models of the same size. Plus, there's up to a two year waiting list for a new turbine while we can have one up and running in about four months (or less!). The sales approach is cake: Do you want a new turbine over a year from now for $3.5 million (the price for a 1 MW machine) or a refurbished one that is now just as good, but delivered in a fraction of the time for under $2 million? The first turbine that we will be working on is a 330 KW mid-sized job that sells for a little over half-a-million. The company that we're working with happens to have 80(!) of these 330 KW turbines ready to be worked on - not bad, eh? That doesn't include the almost 120 others in various sizes up to 750 KW that they currently have.
So far, the only snag has been something that on the surface sounds like a good problem, but can cause headaches later. Our first project consisted of two companies that had a joint venture together for two turbines (which have both already been sold). Evidentally, the JV was never signed correctly and the one company wanted to get into the larger turbine market (while using us to present to investors). The other company, the one who actually has the turbines and the facilities to work on them, wanted to stay the course and we were forced to choose (of course we went with the one who actually has the equipment). The problem? The other company, who is local to us, is realizing that they may now be out-to-lunch and was causing some issues that had to be resolved first (we believe everything's been sorted out between them now). In any event, we're going forward.
I've known Ian for over six years now (we're both dart players - he represented Wales once before moving to America). We get along just fine, but in business we're polar opposites. He's the emotional, master sales type and I'm the level-headed, jack-of-all-trades geek type. We're definitely like the "Odd Couple" (for those of you that remember the TV show). I'm the anal-retentive, overly organized one and I'm pretty sure he uses the terrorist filing method (where you put everything into a pile and blow it up). It's actually working out very well since he's strong in all the areas that I'm not (business and sales) and I've got the rest covered (project direction, math, information technology, artistic ability, etc.). People get a laugh out of our contrasts because, on top of it all, I'm pretty tall and he's short. ;D
And now... Here's our new website: www.energeticdrives.com I've designed almost everything that we've been using so far, business cards, stationary, banners, demo sheets, spreadsheets, project plans, agreements, etc. My partner makes most of the PowerPoint presentations (and does the bulk of the presenting) plus we get some material from our suppliers. This is my first real website so any feedback is appreciated!
Now you know. :)
), but I just read about a new power plant that's being developed (in South America I believe) that uses solar reflectors to concentrate the sun onto a huge sodium-sulfer battery structure. Sounds interesting!