Rob Baxter is the president and founder of CBC Wind Energy Solutions, a Warwick-based company that won the 2015 Get Started RI pitch competition for its innovative Hidden In Plain Sight wind-turbine design for inconspicuous urban installation.
Baxter spoke with Providence Business News about CBC’s recent trial of the Hidden In Plain Sight prototype in collaboration with the University of Rhode Island, and where the company’s headed from here.
PBN: What has CBC Wind Energy been working on since winning the Get Started RI pitch competition in 2015?
BAXTER: Most recently, we have been working with the University of Rhode Island to secure proof of performance and validate our supply chain, while the support from Cox Business and the Get Started RI event helped us perform initial market research for potential sales channels. We completed our first pre-production unit in May and it resides at the URI Narragansett Bay campus, where its performance is being evaluated. We expect to have finalized data and test reports this summer and have started selling with the intention of booking our first orders by the end of the year.
PBN: What have you learned through the prototype trial with the University of Rhode Island?
BAXTER: The project with URI, funded with an Innovation Voucher from R.I. Commerce Corp., has been helpful in a number of ways.
- Proof of Performance. By the end of the project we will have third-party validation of our design and a working demonstration unit for potential clients.
- Scaling. The data collected over the course of our project will allow us to scale up our technology with confidence to units ranging from 20kW to 200kW.
- Proof of Supply Chain. We not only needed to demonstrate to customers that our technology worked, we needed to demonstrate that we are operationally capable and have the wherewithal and supply chain in place to fulfill orders. This project does just that.
- Transfer of Technology. A key component of our strategic vision is that Rhode Island becomes the metropolitan wind-energy center of excellence with suppliers and technology leaders in all segments of the industry. This project provided the valuable opportunity to expose engineers from URI and establish the nucleus of this center of excellence.
- Market Realities. The project afforded us the opportunity to ‘do a dry run’ and experience the pitfalls of bringing the product to market without having to jeopardize a customer relationship. These are probably the most valuable lessons, as satisfying our early adopters will be critical to establishing credibility and long-term success.
PBN: Who’s the target customer for the Hidden In Plain Sight wind turbine? What different size units do you plan to offer?
BAXTER: Our two primary target customers are commercial property owners and renewable-energy developers. While we can tailor production capacity to specific site requirements, our standard offering will center around 20kW, 100kW and 160kW units.
PBN: Do you see the Hidden In Plain Sight design eventually replacing more traditional wind-turbine systems, or simply providing another option for customers looking to invest in wind energy?
BAXTER: Traditional horizontal-axis wind turbines will always have a place. But that place is not in metropolitan areas. We see Hidden In Plain Sight taking wind-energy production into sites where traditional wind turbines cannot, such as providing renewable-energy developers an alternative to solar by producing more power in a smaller footprint.
PBN: Looking forward, do you have some kind of timeline for bringing CBC’s turbine to the general market?
BAXTER: We expect to start booking orders this year.
Kaylen Auer is a PBN contributing writer.
