A Petaluma technology startup is working on a new way to harness wind power, backed by a $3 million research grant from the U.S. Energy Department.
"We're trying to create a turbine that offers reduced cost of energy," said Paul Lees, wind project manager at Caitin Inc.
Caitin is the second Sonoma County startup funded by Silicon Valley green tech mogul Vinod Khosla, whose $1.3 billion investment fund targets renewable energy ventures.
The Petaluma company is focused on "blown wing" technology, a new kind of turbine blade that redirects airflow and adjusts to different wind conditions. It's a smaller, lower-cost alternative to the giant fixed airfoils now used for wind turbines.
The new small-blade systems should be cheaper to manufacture and easier to deploy than existing technology.
"One of our concepts is to step back from the giant size," Lees said.
The blown wing design, with its unique slotted airfoil, has been used in fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft by the U.S. military. But it hasn't been adapted yet for wind energy, according to the Energy Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency, which is backing Caitin's work.
If successful, the Petaluma project could lead to a new generation of smaller-scale wind turbines in the U.S., the Energy Department said. Georgia Technical Research Institute in Atlanta also is a partner in the effort.
Caitin has about 10 engineers and scientists working on the project, using special computer software to design blades and simulate their performance. The company also has its own prototyping and testing facilities.
Caitin is an outgrowth of PAX Scientific, a San Rafael company that designs energy-efficient products using natural principles, a process called biomimicry. PAX was founded in 1997 by Jay Harman, an Australian naturalist and inventor with a series of successful technology ventures.
Harman's streamlining principle applies the physics found in nature to overcome friction, reduce drag and create streamlined flows of liquid or air, according to PAX.
Harman is Caitin's "chief inventor," while Khosla, a co-founder of Sun Microsystems, is chairman of the Petaluma company's board.
Caitin got its start from another PAX spinoff, PAX Streamline.
In 2008, PAX Scientific created PAX Streamline to develop super-efficient wind generators, pumps, heat exchangers, aircraft components and other products.
Novato-based PAX Streamline, led by Telecom Valley veteran John Webley, ran out of money earlier this year and closed its doors. But PAX Streamline's technology - including the wind blade project - became the basis for Caitin, which started in September.
Caitin didn't disclose the amount of its funding from Khosla Ventures. But Khosla invested $6 million in PAX Streamline, with the promise of another $6 million in the future.
Caitin also is developing a new cooling technology that eliminates the need for energy-sucking condensers and compressors. That part of the business will move to Fremont next year, because that area has a larger pool of technical specialists, the company said.
Caitin isn't the first Sonoma County startup in Khosla's portfolio. The green tech fund bankrolled Soladigm Inc., a Santa Rosa startup that moved to Silicon Valley last year.
Soladigm is developing switchable glass, an energy-efficient window technology that blocks light in summer and lets it through in the winter. The technology combines thin-film optical coatings and semiconductors to control light penetration.
UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy: