USA - Magic wind system casts growth spell

The origins behind the name Accio Energy have some of the more random, yet interesting roots for a start-up.

The Ann Arbor firm takes its name for a spell in Harry Potter called Accio. Co-founder Dawn White's child was a big fan of J.K. Rowling's books, which means White knew more details about wizardry than the average Hogwarts student. That includes the spell Accio, which means "to summon".

Today, the start-up, which focuses on an innovative new form of wind energy system, thinks the moniker is a perfect match.

"In this case we're summoning electricity from the wind," says Jeff Basch, General Manager for Accio Energy.

The design of wind turbines has enjoyed long-term design stability, like the internal combustion engine or AK-47. But like those world-famous items, the wind turbine must evolve, too.

"Energy that is captured from the wind hasn’t changed in 700 years," Basch says. "There has to be a way to harness that energy without a moving propellor."

Accio Energy's wind energy system has the potential to do that. It doesn't have any moving parts. Instead it harnesses the static electricity created from wind, so it’s almost like it's magically creating the electricity.

White and David Carmein founded the company in 2007. Today it employs four people as it develops the prototype. They just proved the concept and are working on creating an alpha and beta prototype for testing. It hopes to commercialize the technology by 2011 and employ tens of people by next year.

"It will grow quickly," Basch says. "It’s a very large commercial market."