Rudyard Business Owner Puts Windmills on Roof To Help Power Building
"I wanted the simplest, easiest way to get power," Mark Howland says.
By Paul Gingras

Mark Howland of Rudyard poses in front of his business Thursday, April 24, showing off the five homemade and purchased windmills that have helped cut his electric bill in half this winter. (Photograph courtesy of Mark Howland)

The wind is almost always blowing in Rudyard, and there is no excuse not to make use of it, says science buff and businessman Mark Howland, who began filling the rooftop of his business with windmills in February. Five units now spin atop Rudyard Auto Sales, helping cut the electricity costs at the store to less than 50% of last winter's bill, fulfilling Mr. Howland's goal to reduce pollution, decrease costs, and have fun tinkering with technology.

The nuts, bolts, wires, and gauges of science experiments have long been a part of his life. A race car mechanic when he was younger, Mr. Howland, 44, now focuses on green technology. Disgusted by the pollution of coalfired electricity plants, he began applying his mechanical skills to reduce his dependence on the fossil fuel.

"I wanted to do something out of the ordinary, something to help with this whole situation," he told The St. Ignace News.

He made and installed two 250- watt windmills on his roof in midwinter, and, he said, "They produce pretty decent power." They are made of car alternators modified with permanent-magnet rotors and stators, to which Mr. Howland added purchased blades. He said the devices were easy to build, but there were limits to what they could do, so he purchased three commercial generators over the next three months and plans to install another this fall, if his budget allows it.

The commercial units, he said, reliably produce power when the breeze reaches only six miles per hour.

The TLG windmills he bought are named after Terry L. Galyon, owner of TLG Windpower Products in Kansas.

Mr. Howland said in Rudyard, all of his windmills combined have produced up to 9,600 watts, instantly, in a 30-mile-per-hour wind. When the wind blows hard, he likes to watch the meter and note how much electricity the windmills produce.

For the quickest, easiest use of the power, Mr. Howland has spent about $1,000 for batteries, an investment that is being paid off steadily.

Unlike many electricity customers, Mr. Howland looks forward to receiving his power bill.

The payoff is obvious, he said. Owing to the windmills, efficient new light bulbs, and other conservation measures, instead of the $230 electric bill his power company estimated he would owe in February, he owed nothing and the company gave him a $2.25 credit toward his next bill.

Batteries are not the only way to use windmill power for customer benefit, he added. Companies or residents harnessing wind power can purchase a grid tie inverter, which puts power back into the electrical grid, reducing or eliminating electricity bills, Mr. Howland said.

The devices are more costly than batteries, however, and customers must negotiate with electricity companies to set up a plan, he said.

"I wanted the simplest, easiest way to get power," Mr. Howland said.

He uses the windmills to run his lights, the biggest energy draw at his business, but the windmills are strong enough to run machinery, and he is experimenting to find out what they can power.

"Customers love them," Mr. Howland said. He recommends windmills for both businesses and residents.

The wind in Rudyard has also drawn the attention of Wisconsinbased Half Moon Power, which is conducting a wind study in the area to determine the feasibility of building large wind-power generators, he added.

Other conservation and recycling projects are in place at Rudyard Auto.

After experimenting with several forms of lighting, he has settled on T8 fluorescent lights, which cost less to operate than traditional lights and are brighter than lightemitting diodes. To combat rising heating costs, Mr. Howland runs a waste-oil furnace which emits sufficient heat for his entire building, and he shuts off his lights and computers when not in use. Shutting off the computers saves the equivalent in power of running five, 100-watt light bulbs all night.

The wind in Rudyard tends to rise at about 11 a.m. and continues until sunset, and hardly a day passes that his windmills do not produce power, however, the wind seems weaker in warmer months and Mr. Howland expects less output as summer draws near.

"I have an answer for that too, though," he said. "I am putting up solar panels, one at a time."