The UK's City University has granted an exclusive intellectual property (IP) license to and taken an equity stake in Totempower.

The company will focus on the fast-growing micro-generation market, developing wind turbines for individual households, small businesses and communities, based on an advanced University aerodynamics patent.
It aims to enter volume production by 2012, delivering turbines that it says will provide a much quicker return on investment for owners – both through cost savings and by selling surplus power back to the National Grid, under the UK Government’s feed-in tariff scheme.

At the heart of the new turbines, is a patented system known as the Passive Air-jet Vortex Generator (PAVOG), which was developed by Dr Simon Prince, Senior Lecturer in Aeronautical Engineering at City. This low cost technology increases the aerodynamic efficiency of turbine blades, enabling them to harvest more energy at lower wind speeds, whilst maintaining optimum efficiency in windier conditions.

Prince says: "City has a one hundred year heritage of teaching and research in the field of aeronautics. We are now exploring ways to use this experience in related areas, with wind and wave power being a prime example. We look forward to taking PAVOG to market via Totempower and making a real difference to how energy is generated tomorrow."

With significant testing already completed at the University, Totempower's focus over the next year will be securing additional funding for final prototyping and putting two turbine models into production – a 2,000 kWh pa version for individual households and a 15,000 kWh pa version for commercial or community use, with an average return on investment of around 6 and three years, respectively.

The company was founded and is being led by Wolf Dietrich – an experienced entrepreneur and Executive MBA graduate from City's Cass Business School – who is backed by a team comprising University engineering and business expertise, as well as cleantech industry specialists.