Truth About Skystream & SWWP

[Truth Squad]

Hello,

This is my first post. I am a former longtime Southwest Windpower employee. I worked there for 10 years. I was recently laid off by Southwest Windpower along with 13 other loyal employees and, knowing them as well as I do, know that they will not be bringing us back.

Therefore, I feel compelled to tell the truth about Skystream and, especially, Southwest Windpower. The truth is, Southwest Windpower has not truly been about reliable renewable energy ever since the new investors took over and Frank Greco became CEO. Granted, the Air 303 was unreliable due to the potted circuit without a heat sink. And the Air 403 was loud as hell. The early 403s had a circuit reliability problem. I know, because I am the guy who discovered it to be the triac pads. The Air-X had teething problems, too. Let's not even get into the fact that the Air Marine powdercoat lifespan was measured in weeks before it began flaking and peeling. Then we had the Air Marine blade disintegration issue.

We thought when the investors came on and we got a CEO, that everything would be great. Money for product improvements, and so forth. The investors probably don't know how their money has been spent the last few years. But I can assure you quite a bit has been wasted. We were told that with Skystream (it was called Storm back in the beginning), we were "going to do it right this time". Well, not long into the release of Skystream, the old-school employees there realized that, once again, we were decidedly NOT "going to do it right this time". To begin with, problems cropped up with Skystream right from the beginning. These were not discovered in the beta-testing because only a few months of beta-testing were done. By far, most of the testing was done at founder David Calley's house out in Cosnino. You see, this is why the "cold weather problem" never showed up in beta-testing----because the thing was never actually beta-tested in winter. But, you need to understand something. The job never was to actually ensure a reliable turbine. The main job was to do an IPO and take the company public so the investors could garner their profit. Skystreams were sent out the door that should not have. This still goes on, from what I hear.

From its launch, Skystream had serious problems. The engineers couldn't figure out what was going on. One of these problems, though not apparant to the owners, is that Skystream is not in compliance with FCC regulations regarding EMI interference. Southwest Windpower has shipped Skystreams anyway. Other problems are related to failures of the internal inverter and boards. Now, you would think that Southwest Windpower would have learned its lesson about putting the electronics inside the turbine from their experience with the Air series. But, they took it one step further with Skystream: They put the inverter inside it also!

Now, in the beginning, Paul Gipe correctly identified a major flaw with Skystream. It has no mechanical brake. The overspeed protection is strictly electronic. Kind of scary with a blade span such as that on Skystream. Southwest Windpower assured everyone it was almost fail-safe and dismissed Paul's concerns as they always do. Except Paul Gipe was right. Due to hardware, part, and engineering changes with Skystream that happen almost monthly, some of the hatchcover bolts were not snugged down tight in production. Rain would get inside the Skystream and short the electronic overspeed production, whose circuit was conveniently located in the bottom of the turbine where the water pooled. Some turbines "ran away" and the blades pretty much exploded. Exactly as Paul Gipe said it could. This is when Southwest Windpower sent out those notices to drill a "weep hole" in the bottom of the Skystream housing. But this didn't happen without a lot of "How is this going to look??!!" talk first, several meetings, and so on.

You see, the game plan was to hype Skystream, generate a bunch of interest, take the company public, and Frank Greco pops his golden parachute. Maybe if Southwest Windpower pumped as much money into actual beta-testing Skystream as they did in the marketing and PR, they would have a functional turbine. But that would first require a paradigm shift in the corporate thinking that goes on within Southwest Windpower. For one thing, none of the executive management at Southwest Windpower has any renewable energy experience. They were selected with the eye on "taking the company public". In fact, almost none of the managers had any previous renewable energy experience. Granted, that's not the be-all, end-all of qualifications. But you should at least have someone who knows what a wind turbine can and cannot do making the decisions. For example, you don't market the thing as a 1.8kw and then come back later with, "Gosh, it's really a 2.4kw...." when you learn it needs to be that for certain state incentive programs. You don't say it'll "spin your meter backwards" when anyone with a calculator can see it could take up to 25 years to pay for itself.

You'll see a lot of people saying, "Hey, I own one and it works great! It really does what they say and never has problems!" I can tell you that many of those people happen to be Southwest Windpower dealers. The fact is, there are a lot of very unhappy Skystream customers out there. The phone rings nonstop for Tech Support. I know because I've heard it. It can take several days for people to get a response at times due to the workload and number of cases. This is because the final verdict on Skystream is: SHIP PRODUCT. Period. No matter what, SHIP PRODUCT. Period. Might fail? Oh, well. Deal with it later.

And as far as the other wind turbines? The Air and Whisper? Well, all I can tell you is, buyer beware. I've seen what goes into them and where it all comes from. I wouldn't buy one at 1/4 the price. But, to be very honest, I wouldn't buy anyone's wind turbine. Too many companies run like Southwest Windpower. Fast buck first and damn the customer.

Some will say, well, you came on here and slammed Southwest Windpower. I was a loyal employee for 10 years. I gave them a month to do the right thing and bring back 14 loyal employees before I blew the whistle. They got $10 million dollars in new investment money and made it clear they're not hiring us back. They said so in the paper. They're taking that money to expand their operations in China. Hmmm......kind of like the companies Southwest used to slam for that same practice, eh? A couple days after they laid us off, they were advertising to hire ANOTHER manager on top of the several layers they already have. So, I am now officially blowing the whistle. Let me be the first to say that you should not even consider buying a Skystream. I've seen and heard. I was there. From the very beginning. So, I no longer owe this kind of company my continued loyalty or silence. Anyone here wants to ask questions, ask away. I know the truth. And I will share it.

[peakbagger]

Good luck on your future employment, depressingly the script is real familiar with only the names changed. Renewable power firms once they get the IPO bug typically will do whatever they have to go public, even if they ruin the future of the company . Even if the management doesnt want to, they typically have already sold their soul to the devil via their initial financing, so if the current management doesnt do it, the finance folks will find someone new to do it.

A friend of mine rode the renewable bandwagon for 20 years, he finally got off of it after deciding that having a company go out from under him every two or three years got old after awhile.

[niel]

although we here probably believe most of what you say based on the complaints we have seen here, but your employment for 10yrs can be viewed as hush money so i take it with a grain what it is you say because of that and that you are an admitted disgruntled ex-employee.

[Truth Squad]

Well, Niel, I started with the company thinking it was a good place to work. And while it did have its problems, it was a good place to work when David and Andy were running it. When you put years into a company thinking you can make a difference (and I did, when I could), it's hard to walk away from it. I did put my *ss on the line because people asked me personally about buying Skystream and I told them the truth. I have to see those people around town; what, I'm going to tell them to buy it? Of course not. I took a risk every time I told someone that. Nobody paid me "hush money". I earned a wage to do a job. There is a difference. The information is yours to do as you wish with.

There's a difference, also, between a disgrunted employee and one with a legitimate complaint. When loyalty is not rewarded, then to what extent do I owe loyalty to that employer? I now have the chance to tell the truth to people who might otherwise buy this product and find out the hard way. I have no reason to lie about Southwest Windpower. Sure, take it with a grain of salt. But I have been there. I have no need to make anything up.

[Truth Squad]

A bit off topic in a way. But there were some people among the 14 laid off who were affected in a very bad way by being laid off. You would have had to see the faces of the people you worked with for years and see what this did to them. SWWP didn't even have the decency to wait until the end of the month to lay off so people could pay their rent. We were called into a company meeting Thursday where it was announced there would be layoffs and, two hours later, those being laid off were told. This from a company running around with ads trying to tout themselves as being "responsible". Yeah, well, responsible isn't hiring another six-figure exec and then laying off 14 people a couple weeks after that. Responsible isn't saying you have a "hiring freeze" and keep on hiring admin and office staff, and then laying off 14 people. And as I said, they are advertising for another manager right now. How "Green" is running a company like that?

Again, people who gave their loyalty to that company were thrown out like the day's garbage. You need to ask yourself this: If they treat loyal, long-term employees like that, how are they going to treat their customers? That is pretty evident.

[backroad]

WOW....thems some pretty bad statements about SWWP, disgruntled employee or not. It's probably a good thing that wind power has such a bad rep as a whole and I'm not really in the market for this part of re-newable.....But as most, still hoping for something that will work with the wind. I do have a couple of neighbors that are happy with their small units...

Backroad in Bagdad..................................AZ....

[Truth Squad]

Generally, the Whisper 100 has been a fairly good unit overall, or at least it was (or can be). The Whisper 200, wellll......no.

The Air series is hit or miss. Depends on a lot of factors. You might have great luck with one and someone else have nothing but problems.

The point I'd like to make is: How long do you think you'll get parts for your turbine from SWWP? I was there when they stopped carrying circuits for the old Air 303. We sold 403 Upgrade Kits. People bought those thinking, ok, they'll just suck it up and have a 403. Well, later, 403 owners were then being sold on a "Air-X Trade Up". See, 403 circuits are going bye-bye. This within 10 years. Now, if they project Skystream as having a 20 year lifespan, yet the Air couldn't maintain parts availability for 10 years per version, do you really think that Skystream parts will be interchangeable some years down the road when your warranty expires? As I said, engineering changes happen on that thing quite often.

Ok, how many people bought Windseekers, raise your hand? Can you get parts for them? From SWWP?

This is what I mean. You sell a product that you run around touting "20 year lifespan" and so on, you need to have parts available at least that long.

I'd like to see small wind work. But it is 50 years out with the current crop of people running the industry. Look, Skystream was 5 years in R&D before it was released. I know, because I saw it going on from Day One. The Skystream (Storm, as it was called then) was a DOE grant that rode in as part of the package when Southwest Windpower bought World Power. So, it's now 2009 and Skystream still has major problems. So, the Skystream has actually been in development almost 10 years, since engineering work is still going on with it. So, this is why I say reliable small wind is at least 50 years out.

For small wind to work, there needs to be a paradigm shift in the way the manufacturers run. Like I said, you need to first get people in there who have experience in this field. You need to listen to the guys in the warranty department. You need to listen to your production crew. You need to listen to your engineers when they warn you something is not ready. But, most of all, you need to spend your money first in quality. Build a quality, reliable turbine and then test, test, test and make sure it IS reliable. Make sure the output is what you say it is. You need a solid year of beta-test units all over the country in every environment. And you know who you need to listen to? The dealers installing them and the customers. If the customer tells you something is happening, don't come back with, "That's impossible!" Investigate! If you need to shut the line down, then do it! Suck it up and make it right. Train your dealers on installs. Not everyone is cut out to be an installer now matter how good a game they talk. You don't go ahead and make them dealer-installers anyway. A bad install is as bad as a defective turbine. Then, once you've got your turbine solid, quality, and proven to be reliable and the output absolutely is what you say it is, THEN you launch your marketing blitz. THEN you make money.

People want to make a quick buck for the least cash outlay and the least effort. These people do not belong in small wind. I can't tell you how many people have almost banged their heads on walls in frustration because they want to build a quality product and the company thinks it costs too much money to do that. Even though warranty costs are eating the company alive. If you don't have time to build something right the first time, when will you have the time to build it right?

[niel]

for the record i have been in your position and you have straightened any misconceptions with me on the matter of swwp. i know you are mad right now and rightly so, but there will come a time to refocus forward. they will fall on their faces unless they get a bailout. there are many good people here and although this started off somewhat wrong, welcome. i would consider you an asset to this forum as you are in a position to help many who have these things and you can give inside advice to them concerning any possible solutions.

[backroad]

Niel....don't I remember you saying that you had one of SWWP's tubines doing dumpster time at your house? They wouldn't hardly give you the time of day over the phone and would not call back?????

[mike90045]

Too bad the plans for the Jacobs <sp?> aren't around. I've heard one of those is still spinning at the south pole.