Bergey Windpower Case Study

North Dumpling Island, New York

 Utility Bill Reduction + Fun

North Dumpling Island is a second home and retreat owned by Dean Kamen, best known as the entrepreneur behind the Segway personal transporter.  Dean Kamen is the founder and owner of Deka Research, which in addition to the Segway has also developed a number of widely used medical devices.  Mr. Kamen also owns a helicopter company and is the founder of the FIRST student robotics competition, which now attracts over 800 student teams in its annual competitions.  

Mr. Kamen installed a Bergey 10 kW turbine on an 80 ft. self-supporting lattice tower in 1992 to reduce the island's electric bill and reduce the load on the submarine cable supplying the island.  Since no crane could be brought to the island the tower and turbine were "stacked" in place using a gin-pole and winch system.

 Mr. Kamen has had a lot of fun with the island, which he refers to as the "Kingdom of North Dumpling".  The Kingdom has its own Constitution, ministers (for example, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield of Ben & Jerry's have served as joint Ministers of Ice Cream), currency, postage stamps, and 200-inch territorial waters.  Mr. Kamen also has a wind turbine at his primary home in New Hampshire.