I took one of those calls yesterday afternoon that makes the rest of the day go by quickly and pleasantly.  Mr. Keith Sanders with the Houston office of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) called to let me know that SkyDrill is one of 22 U.S. companies chosen for an all-expenses-paid trip to exhibit at a green business expo in Osaka, Japan in September.

As you may know, if you have been following our progress over the last year, that we were previously featured in the Fort Worth Business Press as part of a three-part series.  The series was written by the very talented John-Laurent-Tronche and featured quotes from just about everyone on the team, including Mr. Holt Hickman.

If you missed these articles, I have posted the links to them below.  Also, you can comb through our "Older News" from the news articles I post at regular intervals on the front page.

The SkyDrill VAWT produced nearly 100 W of renewable wind-generated electricity overnight in its first full trial.  This is extremely exciting news for SkyDrill and and everyone who has invested time, money, and faith in our ability to design and construct this highly innovative renewable energy system.  The video below, put together by the SkyDrill crew in Canyon, Texas, shows the new VAWT system operating in a 10-15 mph wind.

The SkyDrill VAWT is standing tall and is in the final stages of full functionality!  Tom and Roger allowed the turbine to begin spinning with no load (not generating electricity) in an 8 mph wind, which is right at the cut-in speed for the turbine.  Videos will soon be posted, so stay with us as we develop this exciting news for our company.

We got some great news coming out of the weekend, when we were notified that the team lead by SkyDrill (self-named the Fort Irwin Renewable Solar Technology or FIRST Team) has been chosen among a select, small group of teams to advance to the next phase of consideration. 

Assembly of the SkyDrill VAWT prototype is proceeding with hard work and enthusiasm.  Several people have asked me over the last week why we had not chosen either fiberglass or carbon fiber for the construction of our VAWT.  The answer to that really tells the story of the same technology that brought us so quickly through our design and construction process.

I thought this would be a good opportunity to take a break from watching the progress of our turbine construction.  So, I decided to throw in an update on Mike Wallace, SkyDrill's Vice President of Business Development whom we miss greatly while he serves a second tour in Iraq with the 2-142nd Infantry Battalion of the 56th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Texas Army National Guard.

The on-site assembly of the turbine started yesterday afternoon when the truck with the wings arrived in Canyon.  Tom and Roger (shown below; Roger has his back to the camera) organized the guys from GST  and Rod Bowers construction, and got immediately to work.

Today has been a really eventful day.  Not only did we accomplish the next phase of construction (thanks, to our contractor Rod Bowers Construction who has really been on the ball).  The tower is up, as you can see from the picture below.

So how do you turn the power of the wind into electricity that you can use? With the SkyDrill VAWT, the answer to that question can be found inside the box we call the "machinery housing" (shown below being loaded on the truck to headfor Canyon, Texas).