Mariah Power specializes in low-cost urban, suburban and rural vertical axis wind turbines for small business, residential and commercial applications. It has turbines installed across the United States.

The spires are designed and built in Reno, although the company plans to devote the Nevada plant to research and development when it opens a larger manufacturing plant in Michigan later this year.

The Windspire in Costa Rica is the first the Nevada company has installed in what is expected to be a fast-growing market for small to midscale renewable energy technology.

Costa Rica has already been ranked as the “greenest country” in the Americas by Yale University and has plans to further its environmental reputation by becoming the first carbon neutral country in the world.

In June 2007 Costa Rica set a goal of attaining net zero carbon emissions by the nation’s 200th anniversary in 2021.

The country hopes to achieve this by installing cleaning technology at its few fossil-fuel power plants, promoting a switch to hybrid vehicles and increasing reforestation projects.

Ninety-eight percent of Costa Rica’s electricity already comes from renewable energy, but as its tourist economy and American and European retirement communities grow, increased renewable energy installations will be needed for the country’s electric needs.

“Costa Rica is probably the most extreme example, but a lot of the strain on the grid is coming from growth and a lot of that growth is coming from foreigners who are establishing themselves there,” Mariah Power spokeswoman Tracey Trist said. “But the interest in renewable energy is often also coming from foreigners.”

The country also has hopes of becoming a net exporter of renewable energy.

The Costa Rica Renewable Energy Export Program bundles electricity from a growing field of geothermal, hydro, biomass and wind energy installations to sell to neighboring countries.

“We think Latin America has incredible potential for our product,” Trist said. “Much of Latin America is fairly windy, particularly Central America because it’s on a narrow strip between two oceans with mountainous volcanic regions. Those factors improve wind quality. Conditions are great in Central America.”

Increased sustainability in Costa Rica is expected to further boost the nation’s already robust eco-tourism industry.

And Mariah Power’s Windspire’s comparatively low price has the company well positioned for future growth across Central and South America as American and European nonprofit groups look to fund renewable energy installations in developing nations.

“In the future, the main issue has to do with the (price of the) technology,” said Constant Tra, an environmental economics professor at UNLV’s Center for Business and Economic Research. “Generally, the technology as it is now is still expensive. It’s less than it was 10 years ago, but in the context of developing countries, it still may not be cost effective. As we move forward with innovation in that area I would expect to see more renewable energy production in all of Latin America.”

And while Mariah Power is not focusing on expanding its sales south of the border, it expects increased interest from that part of the world when it launches sales of an off-grid Windspire (backed by battery packs) in the future.

The off-grid turbine could boost electricity availability at rural ranger stations, eco lodges, residences and ranches across Latin America.

“We expect that to be popular in Latin America because many countries there have a limited electrical grid, particularly in rural areas,” Trist said. “This will provide reliable power.”

For more information on Mariah Power, log on to www.mariahpower.com.

Source: Las Vegas Sun